CasualNerd wrote:I got a Gerber US1
I have a similar knife as well. The old model Gerber Compact Scout (branded as Bear Grylls). I got my first one back in 2013, but have lost one and have picked up 2 more of them since then. Weighs about 25g. It is a pretty cheap knife, but unlike the US1 or the LST knives, this one is not made in the USA (mine was made in China), the steel is ok for the price, and mine held its edge for a while. I wasn't sure about the serrations, but they have proven useful, just a bit more difficult to sharpen.
I've used mine for repairs, cutting straps/rope, cutting fruit, cutting meat, gutting fish, whittling wood.
While using my little metal foldable wood stove I used it to whittle some damp wood down to make a feather stick firestarter. Bushwalking locally I tend not to use it as often as I have used it hiking overseas.
- Gerber Compact Scout 25g & folding scissors 18g
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I tried swapping it out for a 18g pair of folding scissors but found out that while the scissors were handy, it couldn't always do what I used the knife for.
Last year I hiked around the Azores Islands, and I one place I camped had a plantation of passionfruit. The guys working there said I could help myself to any that had fallen on the ground, so I had quite a few in my backpack. My little folding scissors wouldn't have worked so well in opening these up.
- Opening Passionfruit - some unripe fruit still on the tree and a freshly cut one
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On the island of Graciosa, I met some locals who were having a BBQ. They fed me, but gave me some pork to take as well. I didn't have anything to keep meat cold so only took two small chops and some ice and cut them up with the pocket knife to cook on my tiny titanium pan when I got back to camp for the night.
- Frying up some pork on the tiny titanium pan
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I lost that first Gerber Compact Scouts somewhere in Hungary in 2016, and ended up buying a single blade Victorinox Sentinel to tide me over while I was still walking over there. But at about 75g, I don't tend to carry the Sentinel anymore. I missed the little Gerber, so I bought 2 more. I think I got mine from Anaconda, but they discontinued the old Compact Scout, and the newer Compact Scout II looks more like the US1, with rubber on the handle, and the weight went up by about 10g.