Light and Fast Cutting
Written: Sep 27 '08 (Updated Jan 14 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Light, Fast Cutting, Portable, One or Two Handed Operation
Cons: Weak Hinge Support in Handle
The Bottom Line: Buy it if you want a portable saw to cut wood under 8" in diameter.
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| tysonson's Full Review: Gerber 46030 Gator Exchange A Blade Bone Saw |
I bought this for the occasional trip into the Rocky Mountains with my family. I have owned several Gerber knives and one of their multipliers, so I had confidence in the brand and decided it was worth the $30.
The saw is made of a light-weight plastic (glass filled nylon according to Gerber) and measures about 8" long (folded), 2" wide, and 1" thick. On either side is a 5" long elliptical rubber gripping surface which is helpful in maintaining a positive grip on the saw. At the rear of the saw is a 1/3" lanyard hole while at the top is the blade hinge, plastic/metal screw, and lock button. The saw comes with two, 6.5" long (7 1/4" total length), 1/32" thick, high-carbon stainless steel blades and a nylon sheath that holds the saw and spare blade. The sheath has vertical and horizontal belt loops. One of the saw blades has teeth that are 1/4" in length, spaced about 1/8" apart, and are triangle shaped in a manner that alternates the triangle shape every other tooth, giving it aggressive cutting ability. The other blade has finer teeth that are 1/8" in length and spaced about 1/16" apart with the same alternating triangular shape to the teeth.
To operate the blade, you simply push in a 0.7" diameter metal button located on the left side of the saw, as held, and pull the blade, swinging it out until it locks into its open position. To close it just reverse the operation. To change the blades, unscrew and remove the plastic knob located at the hinge point for the blade, then slide the new blade in the slot, aligning the hole in the blade with the hinge hole, reinsert the screw, tightning it down firmly. The knob measures about 1' in diameter, is raised about 1/3", and has a metal screw that threads into a metal part of the hinge. It is knarled for grip and has a 1/2" slot on its side for tightening and untightning with a screwdriver, coin, blade, or whatever.
The hinge is the weak point for this saw. While it does use metal for the locking mechanisim, it seems to lack adequit strength in the plastic body, that holds the hinge, if the blade is bent left or right. How do I know this? I over stroked the saw and bent the blade a couple of times, causing the metal hinge to crack open the seem in the plastic body that holds the hinge in place. This is where I think there needs to be more strength. The saw is still funtional, just weakend at the hinge point, with the hinge guts a little loose since they were no longer held secureley by the plastic body. Tightning the knob down helps hold it all together, but the knob kept coming loose, requiring me to retighten it every so often while using it.
Experiance
As mentioned above, I managed to damage the hinge in the saw and bend a blade (breaking about 1" off the tip), but beyond that the saw works great. I bent the blade straight again, retightened the knob on the hinge, and kept on cutting. I cut several small logs for a fire. They measured about 5" to 8" in diameter and I made short work of them with this saw. I feel that this saw is much quicker, safer, more portable, and more efficient than an axe, which I have also used on similar logs. When I over stroked my cutting motion with the saw, I pulled the saw too far out of the cut in the log and when applying forward motion that wasnt aligned with the cut, bent the blade, causing the damage mentioned.
The handle is about 8" long which is enough for me, and my large hands, to use a two handed grip on the saw. Using two hands allows you to cut faster and with less fatigue since you are using both of your arms. However its not so large that its awkward to cut with one hand. This is where it has benefits from a survivalists perspective. You could have one wounded arm or hand and need to cut with only one or you may be fatigued and need to use both arms to cut with.
Overall I think 8" diameter logs is about the practical limit for this saw. I had to cut from two different sides to get through. The saw is lightweight, small compared to an axe, and fast cutting. Just be careful how you cut with it and it will work great.
Its also made in the US, which I like. Gerber is an American company that is now owned by Fiskars of Finland. Many Gerber products are made here in the US, but also have a knife that was made in Taiwan.
1 Year Limited Warranty
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tysonson
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Location: Denver, CO
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 3 members
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