Gerber Gear Hinderer CLS Tactical Pocket Knife, 3.5" Serrated Blade EDC Folding Knife, Survival and Camping Gear

This is my first knife to actually carry on me every day and not just put in a drawer at home. It is very heavy duty and NOT lightweight, but I found that after 2 weeks I became used to the weight and it was no big deal. The clip works really well on the pocket of my jeans and the whole knife feels sturdy and rugged.It does take two hands to open, which may be a drawback for some, but it closes easily without fear of cutting your hand. I also love all the different features such as the glass break and seat belt cutter...haven't used these yet (and hope I don't have to!), but it's reassuring to know they are there since I spend a lot of time in my vehicle and have witnessed several car accidents.

I bought this knife with very high expectations, so, naturally, I was dissapointed when the knife did not live up to my expectations. One, the lock was loose(meaning the blade would wiggle the tiniest bit when in the open and locked position). So I took it apart, removed one of the thicker Teflon washers, left the paper thin washer in it, and put it back together. Just like that it was fixed. Two, I had bought 2 of these, one as a gift for my dad(who is a former firefighter), and the other for myself. The one with the faulty but fixable lock is mine, and the other is obviously my dad's. The fault with his is that the cutting edge was WAY off center! So I had to fix that too! So, although it is a great product put out by Gerber, I expect a little bit more out of their knives. But overall, past the faults and issues, the CLS is an awesome knife. It retains its edge pretty well, strong lock-up(once it's fixed), the seat-belt cutter is very sharp and works extremely well for cutting zip-ties and random things that a blade is too large for, solid frame, and fills the hand well and is very comfortable. Oh, and you CAN open and close the knife with gloves on...if the gloves fit and aren't too big. So would I buy another? Yes I would because if it doesn't work right, I know I can fix it.

I am a US Army Veteran, and one of the many hats I had to wear was being a Combat Lifesaver.A Combat Lifesaver is not highly trained as a Combat Medic or even a paramedic, the program was designed to provide advanced first aid until a medic could arrive on scene. That being said, everyone in my company still called me "Doc".I fell in love with Gerber Knives when I first joined the US Army, but those were all the fixed blade knives. My first Gerber folding knife was the original E-Z-Out made back in 1995. Unfortunately it is now at the point to where it has to be sharpened weekly to keep that shaving quality edge. So I finally decided to upgrade.I was first looking at F.A.S.T. series knives when I saw the Hinderer Combat Lifesaver by Gerber, and immediately fell in love. I was not disappointed.As always, my knife arrived wickedly sharp as one expects from a Gerber product. I noticed that it was easy to open with my thumb, so I decided to give it the E-Z-Out flick and was happily surprised when it opened. It was a little stiff, but a dab of Liquid Wrench fixed that stiffness. Then I decided to test the seatbelt cutter on an old cargo strap and it worked properly.I have not been able to test autoglass breaker and oxygen tank screw, but the autoglass breaker is well designed and placed and should be easy to use.I am sure my buddies in my volunteer fire department will be impressed to see this knife and will recommend it to all my friends and family.Update: 1/9/16I just visited the Gerber Gear website and found out that they are asking for $90 for the Hinderer CLS, so this is definitely a bargain.

This is a well-designed knife and I depend on Gerber to do excellent designs and if i had not purchased the Buck Tops rescue knife (it did cost $35 more) at the same time, I may have given this one 5 stars.Gerber has been one of my favorite knife manufactures for the past few years with some great designs and pretty good quality, but not the quality of the products they used to make here in the USA. This is made in China from what I understand. It is good quality and should hold up for a number of years with normal use, but not a knife that would last long enough to pass down to your grandkids.This knife has a full steel lined frame and I have used the blade and cord cutter a few times. It was shipped very sharp and looks great as well. It feels good in your hands, but is very hard to open without gloves on. It wears the skin off your thumb if you work it more than a few times in a row. I understand the design for gloved hand opening and that is great too.On the plus side it is much lighter than the other knife I purchased at the same time, but that is good and bad depending on how you look at it. If you are looking for a knife that is a lower price with some excellent features and design and do not care if it is made in the USA this is a good choice. If you are looking for a knife that will last a lifetime and can be passed down to your grandkids, but is much heavier and costs more this may not be your first choice.

I work as an EMT and respond to 911 emergencies and wanted a knife capable of auto rescue. My father gave me one of his which had a smooth blade and I found that to be unable to cut some of the things I came into contact with often so I knew I needed either a serrated or partially serrated blade. Our company also only keeps our Oxygen wrenches on the ambulance keys so if we need to swap out a tank mid route (and yes it has happened before) we can't because the driver is using the keys to drive the ambulance. I found this knife online and saw it had not only a partially serrated blade but also an oxygen tank wrench on it I thought it was too good to be true, so I ordered one to try it out. By far this is the BEST knife I have owned. The blade feels like a higher quality than the other knives I've used, the seat belt cutter on this is the best one I have come across so far and the oxygen tank wrench works on all of our tanks! Plus Gerber made it so you can access every part of the knife while wearing firefighter gloves; that's a HUGE and necessary bonus! By far this knife was made for EMS and you cannot go wrong with this one.