Gerber Command 1

My Mark II keeps wanting to rust and I can't figure out why, when all three of my Gerber knives are stored together. I keep the blades oiled and out of their sheaths, wrapped in a silicone cloth. All of mine are from the early-mid 1980's and I regularly carried my Tac-II in my flight bag and Command I clipped to my boot during Desert Storm. I have a Benchmade very similar to the one you show except there is no serration on the blade. The other one was a gift that I don't use.
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Another well used Mk 2 there. Mine has the more pronounced wasp waist. If you notice the curve of the sheath, it molded to the area behind my left ankle from riding in my boot every time I put my flight suit on.
 
Those are some great looking knives, it is a shame they are not currently producing anything similar.
@robvious thanks for the valuable education on Gerber Logos.
 
Greyman50 said:
What I carried in RVN, Gerber was early cant blade but can not find one these days so as close as I can get. 1911A-1 was the only way to carry driving.
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They would not let us carry a 1911A1 in condition 1 for some reason. In fact, they didn't like us carrying 1911's at all. We were issued K38 M&P's, like the 10-5 or Victory model that I carried in my 1st unit.
 
I have an early 80s mfg Mark II I carried when I played army. I wish I’d bought a Mark I as it would have got a lot more use later as a boot knife. I do have a Guaridan from the same era. For whatever reason I never paid much attention the the Command series, but I do now. They were all interesting takes on trying to keep the Mark-series alive as survival knives - kind of what Hasbro did with the full sized GI Joe action figures in the same era.
 
I still have my MK1 it rides in my truck. At some point the tip of the blade was chipped. It's never rusted and it spent the first 5 years in boots, since then in my pickup.
 
Retired W4 said:
They would not let us carry a 1911A1 in condition 1 for some reason. In fact, they didn't like us carrying 1911's at all. We were issued K38 M&P's, like the 10-5 or Victory model that I carried in my 1st unit.
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We were an Ord. Unit so we had everything and then some. When unit stood down 4 M-2s got taken apart and dropped down an old well then dozed over. Can only guess were all the extra M-16s, M-79s, M-60s and 1911 A-1s went. Pretty sure another unit got most but were " off the books " as well. About all they were looking for in the mail was dope not weapons.
 
Greyman50 said:
We were an Ord. Unit so we had everything and then some. When unit stood down 4 M-2s got taken apart and dropped down an old well then dozed over. Can only guess were all the extra M-16s, M-79s, M-60s and 1911 A-1s went. Pretty sure another unit got most but were " off the books " as well. About all they were looking for in the mail was dope not weapons.
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One of our door gunners got busted as he took AK's apart and mailed them to his uncle. What would they do to him...bend his dog tags and send him to Viet Nam? He got an Art. 15 and lost a stripe. He later told me he was on his 3rd AK when he got busted. Those guys were all volunteers and did one bang up job. Saved my butt many times.
 
Retired W4 said:
One of our door gunners got busted as he took AK's apart and mailed them to his uncle. What would they do to him...bend his dog tags and send him to Viet Nam? He got an Art. 15 and lost a stripe. He later told me he was on his 3rd AK when he got busted. Those guys were all volunteers and did one bang up job. Saved my butt many times.
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" Heard" some guys sent " things home" but not sure other than 1 pot head we had sent " repacked" cartons of cigs home to his wife in Ca. We all said she was a very good wife or she was having Big pot parties every week. Had one E-5 get busted trying to send pot home in his set of speakers. Unscrewed the back, stuffed the bags of pot inside and screwed screws back in. Didn't paint screw heads and MPs caught it right off. IIRC he got busted to E-3 and spent time in LBJ. I sent several nice elephants home.
 

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I had a Mark one but a "friend" of mine stole it.

I told the story before taking for what it's worth. I was in Fort Lewis when Desert Shield kicked off. I was on the list to go I never did. I went to a mall in downtown Tacoma to get a "Deployment Knife".

I don't remember the name of the mall but they used to have a gorilla in a cage in the main Concourse and Michael Jackson ended up buying it and sending it to a gorilla sanctuary.

Anyway, there is a knife store in the mall. I was looking at knives and I had narrowed my choice down to a gerber Mark 2 and a K-Bar.

I'm sorry that's the guy running the knife store if he could offer any advice.

I didn't know the guy. I didn't know anything about it the guy he might have been jerking my chain but this is what he told me.

He said he had been a Marine and had served during the Korean War. At some point his unit's position got overrun by the Chinese and he actually had to defend himself against a Chinese Soldier with a K-bar. I'm going to assume that he killed the guy. I'm also going to assume that he was telling me the truth.

I seem to remember that both knives were relatively the same price so he didn't have a whole lot to gain by steering me towards the K-Bar versus a Mark 2.

Anyway, he told me that if he had to choose one or the other his choice would be the K Bar and that if he had to defend himself with a Mark II he would consider himself to be unarmed.

I was an idiot and I bought the Mark II.

If I had to do it over again I would have taken the K Bar
 
Greyman50 said:
What I carried in RVN, Gerber was early cant blade but can not find one these days so as close as I can get. 1911A-1 was the only way to carry driving.
Click to expand...
Gerber made some Mark II knives with the cat's tongue handle finish and a canted blade a few years back as an anniversary edition of some sort. They came with a display case as I recall. They appear with some regularity on Ebay. Sadly they won't be cheap. Several years ago they were cheaper than now. Good luck.
 
Smoke said:
I had a Mark one but a "friend" of mine stole it.

I told the story before taking for what it's worth. I was in Fort Lewis when Desert Shield kicked off. I was on the list to go I never did. I went to a mall in downtown Tacoma to get a "Deployment Knife".

I don't remember the name of the mall but they used to have a gorilla in a cage in the main Concourse and Michael Jackson ended up buying it and sending it to a gorilla sanctuary.

Anyway, there is a knife store in the mall. I was looking at knives and I had narrowed my choice down to a gerber Mark 2 and a K-Bar.

I'm sorry that's the guy running the knife store if he could offer any advice.

I didn't know the guy. I didn't know anything about it the guy he might have been jerking my chain but this is what he told me.

He said he had been a Marine and had served during the Korean War. At some point his unit's position got overrun by the Chinese and he actually had to defend himself against a Chinese Soldier with a K-bar. I'm going to assume that he killed the guy. I'm also going to assume that he was telling me the truth.

I seem to remember that both knives were relatively the same price so he didn't have a whole lot to gain by steering me towards the K-Bar versus a Mark 2.

Anyway, he told me that if he had to choose one or the other his choice would be the K Bar and that if he had to defend himself with a Mark II he would consider himself to be unarmed.

I was an idiot and I bought the Mark II.

If I had to do it over again I would have taken the K Bar
Click to expand...
I recall one account told from the Viet Nam War where a Green Beret ended up finishing an intense fight with a Mark II. There are probably a lot more but some things just don’t get discussed. I think the K-Bar vs dagger argument goes back to at least WWII where certain GIs didn’t see the beauty of the F-S knife design and broke them opening cans and crates. That mentality obviously hasn’t gone away. I recall a fellow LEO during firearms training wanting to use my personal EDC folder to bust open an ammo crate because he didn’t want to damage his company issued Spyderco.
 
Smoke said:
I had a Mark one but a "friend" of mine stole it.

I told the story before taking for what it's worth. I was in Fort Lewis when Desert Shield kicked off. I was on the list to go I never did. I went to a mall in downtown Tacoma to get a "Deployment Knife".

I don't remember the name of the mall but they used to have a gorilla in a cage in the main Concourse and Michael Jackson ended up buying it and sending it to a gorilla sanctuary.

Anyway, there is a knife store in the mall. I was looking at knives and I had narrowed my choice down to a gerber Mark 2 and a K-Bar.

I'm sorry that's the guy running the knife store if he could offer any advice.

I didn't know the guy. I didn't know anything about it the guy he might have been jerking my chain but this is what he told me.

He said he had been a Marine and had served during the Korean War. At some point his unit's position got overrun by the Chinese and he actually had to defend himself against a Chinese Soldier with a K-bar. I'm going to assume that he killed the guy. I'm also going to assume that he was telling me the truth.

I seem to remember that both knives were relatively the same price so he didn't have a whole lot to gain by steering me towards the K-Bar versus a Mark 2.

Anyway, he told me that if he had to choose one or the other his choice would be the K Bar and that if he had to defend himself with a Mark II he would consider himself to be unarmed.

I was an idiot and I bought the Mark II.

If I had to do it over again I would have taken the K Bar
Click to expand...

The Mk II Gerber is an interesting little dagger and that’s about all it’s good for.

A KA-BAR is so much more. A TREMENDOUSLY superior tool and also a fantastic fighter.
 
Glenn R. McMannly said:
The Mk II Gerber is an interesting little dagger and that’s about all it’s good for.

A KA-BAR is so much more. A TREMENDOUSLY superior tool and also a fantastic fighter.
Click to expand...
If I knew everything then that I know right now I would have gone with the K Bar because it would have been a much more useful field knife.

Of course, had I known then what I know now I might not have bought either because I never ended up going to Saudi Arabia.
 
Gerber has always made some great knives, and although I don't have any daggers, I have used their folders for almost 50 years! My first Gerber was a 97223 lockback folder with brass/wood scales (leather sheath) that I bought in 1978. I prefer the Gerbers to comparable Buck Knives because the Gerbers have much thinner scales and are much more comfortable in my hands. This well worn knife was my constant companion for many years while working offshore as an environmental contractor in support of Navy projects and oil companies. I later picked up a Gerber Gator 650 lockback folder, and it's been extremely durable and the non-slip grip is outstanding for use in all types of weather. Neither knife is worth a lot, but they've been completely dependable for many years! Enjoy!
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At least some of Gerber's knives are being made in China and are a sad representation of what they have offered in the past. For at least the last 15 years I have daily carried a Gerber Fast Draw Assisted Opening plain edge knife and I have been very satisfied with it. The assisted opening mechanism is very smooth and quite quick. All that I have to do every so often is blow out dust and pocket lint and apply a light lube film. I am not particularly skilled at sharpening a knife and I have struggled to get my old knife sharpened to it's original keen edge no matter how many new gadgets I have tried, so I ordered a new one off the large jungle website. The new knife was a cheap piece of garbage. The opening mechanism was GRITTY and almost unusable. I disassembled the knife to try and clean up the mechanism and found the bearing track was very poorly machined (more like gouged out of the steel) and the bearing looked like the surface of the moon. No matter what polishing I tried to perform, nothing improved the GRITTY operation of the mechanism. About the only good thing I can say about the New Fast Draw was the blade had an extremely fine edge and it wasn't an expensive loss.
 
Just before I began Ranger School, summer '69, I bought a 110, and a Buck General, which has a long blade. Bought a custom nice leather sheath for the General at Ranger Joe's, and carried it for my year in the Delta. Also wore and used daily my 110 in that War and later in Desert Storm. The 110 was an incredibly useful "tool." I don't recall ever using the General for anything, never had to hack my way thru vines or similar. But felt nice to have on my pistol belt. I did not take it to DS, as by then I was a MD, and did not expect to be in any situation where the big Buck would be necessary. While I was in Ranger school, another student standing beside me stabbed his K Bar into a tree trunk for some reason, and it immediately snapped off the blade. Ever since while I have several K Bars, just for the memories, I think they are a bit fragile for a utility knife.

I don't wear any kife now, as the clip would wear or tear the seat on my car, or scratch the paint as I walk by. I do take a small blade when we are going out for a steak dinner, though.

I was at the Ft Jackson PX yesterday, and looked over their blades, and decided I just don't need any more. I have collected about a half dozen for my 8 and 11 year old grandsons, and they are proud to wear sheath knives when we are out in the woods or at the range.

I think if I were to be limited to one blade or tool, it would be some sort of multi-task tool, a Leatherman-like "tool." Here, a picture of me and my senior Major (he and I never got along very well), out on some mission, of course with all the children standing around, there was no threat then. I just had one of them take the Kodachrome with my Pentax after I put my General in the ground, just for the picture.

Like others, someday my grandsons will have it. NAM VET
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You ground pounders have different needs when it comes to knives than pilots like me. In addition to the Mk II Gerber I also carried the issue multi-blade pocket knife in my survival vest and an Al Mar Eagle. That was mostly around Ft. Rucker and 6 months in Panama. In Panama I also carried a 4th blade...a Columbian made machete. I believed I had my basic knife needs met.
 
Family portrait from top to bottom:
Mark II
Command I
Mark I
Command II

Gerbers.jpg


The Command series was introduced as single edged alternatives to the Mark series. The Mark series double edge blades were just too deadly looking in some places. This was before bayonet lugs and flash suppressors turned perfectly acceptable guns into assault weapons.
 
paddlingman said:
I've still got one early 80s Mk II.

If ya just want the feel of an original wasp blade Mk II, you can't beat this. Quality is good for a knife whose only real purpose is a dagger and not any real utility.

https://milarmamentcorp.com/mac-mk-ii-knife/
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Odenwolf Is a German knife company that uses D2 steel and full tang blades on all their knives. They have something similar to the Gerber as well.

https://odenwolf.us/products/w-sow-catcher?variant=42289157406911
 
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