[wheelgunslinger]

I bought one of these off Amazon after I saw one online and then read about them on blade forums.
bought from Red's Gear on Amazon.

1. The thing ain't so bad. The blade/grip angle is neat and really helps with cutting. The blade seems to be sharpened differently in certain areas. The tip is somewhat sharp while the area closer to the handle is sharper.

2. The sheath is a piece of junk. I do leather work, so I'll probably build a new one for it or rehab the one that came with it since the fasteners are really the culprit in the quality dept. It's cordura(tm), so it's light, and that's good. Just needs better rivets and closures.

For camping where a big fire is needed or limbing trees, or whatever else you'd use a machete for, it's a pretty good tool.

I'm going on a backpacking trip this weekend, so if anyone is interested I'll update this after I see how it does in camp.

[B yond]

http://www.koldsmoke.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/1_Parang-gerber-Bear-Grylls1.jpg

I'm intrigued. Please let us know how it holds up.

[451 Detonics]

I understand it can really chop those plastic bamboo plants in the hotel lobby really well....:rolleyes:

A classic design that should chop well, be interested in knowing how well the edge holds up.

[jmr40]

I lost all respect for Bear Grylls when he did his show about Little River Canyon in North Alabama. I live just across the state line in GA and have spent many days in Little River Canyon. I was lost from the opening scene when they showed him jumping off a helicopter skid to get to the edge of the canyon. There is a paved road that runs the entire length of the canyon and is only a few yards from the edge in most places. They likely had to stop traffic to film that scene. He tried to make viewers think he was miles into the wilderness.

The final straw came near the end of the show when he swam across the river near where it empties into Weiss Lake. They made a big deal about the alligator infested swamp waters. Little river is a mountain river just south of the Tenessee line that is cold enough to support trout. No alligators within 200 miles of here.

If they went to that much trouble to fake wilderness scenes at a place I am quite familiar with I'm sure he does it on all of his shows.

[BHP FAN]

Looks like a lawn mower blade.

[KodiakBeer]

In the very first season, he demonstrated how one could pick up a fresh pile of elephant dung and squeeze the moisture directly into your mouth if you were dehydrated. Is there anyone here that doubts that 10 minutes after drinking a pint of elephant dung "moisture", you'd be doubled up on the ground in agony blowing your own "moisture" out of every body cavity? And if you were in a survival situation, you'd now find yourself lost, even more dehydrated and violently ill to boot.

That was the last time I ever watched the show. The sad part is that some lost soul might actually think Bear Grylls knows what he is talking about and die because of this TV show.

[hso]

Folks, we're not going to have another "Bear Grylls is an idiot" thread hijack.

Anyone that doesn't know that what Grylls does is entertainment as opposed to education isn't paying attention to the internet discussions of the show. Since we're not an entertainment forum, let us just stick to the tool made by Gerber instead of the one "made" by the producers of the TV show.

Anyone interested in "traditional" parangs, in their various forms, can find a nice assortment here - http://www.valiantco.com/

You can see the inspiration for the Gerber Parang in the traditional tools, specifically the Golok Potong.

[wheelgunslinger]

I bought it because it looks like a neat backwoods tool, and my camping partner carries a sven saw for cutting wood to length. So, basically it would be for shelter building and wood splitting, I suppose, in the deciduous forest of the southeast where I spend most of my time.
I didn't get to go packing this weekend, thanks to the combination of some bad food at a restaurant and a massive hailstorm that blew through with tornado watches being shouted over my weather band.
I'll get some real world experience with it this weekend and write up something since I see there are people interested in this tool and it's uses.

[Cosmoline]

basically it would be for shelter building and wood splitting, I suppose

Wouldn't a mini-axe do better for that?

[hso]

Cosmo,

Small springy material cuts better with a "machete" than with an axe. More rigid materials respond better to an axe. Edge geometries are different and play a big role in how each performs with different material.

[ArfinGreebly]

Plus one on that.

I spent a summer working USDA Forest Service Survey crew in the Sierras in my youth.

Manzanita everywhere.

http://gardencoachpictures.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/arctostaphylosmanzanitadrhurd2.jpg

Trying to cut that stuff with an axe was just plain dangerous. Axe head would rebound violently or glance off at funny angles -- like toward your feet and shins.

It was like someone had found a way to bake a leaf spring into a bright red gnarled bush. It would block your path and just dare you to take a swing at it.

A machete would work on it, and brush hook worked even better. An axe was simply out of the question. The crew chief had to brief every new guy on that stuff.

So, yeah, there are plants that cut way better with a slim, sharp blade and can hurt you bad if you try that with a wedge-headed tool.

[wheelgunslinger]

I'm actually quite axe friendly, Cosmoline. I've professionally restored log cabins using period tools and techniques, split a bunch of firewood, etc. I like axes.

I'm just curious to put this tool to work and find its sweet spot of usage as well as where it doesn't work so well.

[feedthehogs]

HSO,
Have you ever bought from the company in your link?

[MCgunner]

I like the show. As the man says, it's entertainment.

Looks like a lawn mower blade.

I call it a sling blade, uh, huh. :D

[lobo9er]

shouldn't the blade bend the opposite way to aid in chopping seems like you would loose power having it like that.

[MCgunner]

BTW, I just HAD to have the BG Gerber sheath survival today at Walmart. It's gimmicky as hell, but I kinda like the sharpener in the sheath and I've used a metal match for years to light campfires afield. The whistle, though, is a bit much. :rolleyes: Had to chuck that one. Yeah, I paid about probably twice what the thing's worth, yeah, paid for the endorsement. But, in my defense....I WANTED IT! :D I mean, is there a better reason? And, well, it's a Gerber, my fourth, like Gerbers. I have Bear's other Gerber, a Gator Serrator, has field dressed and skinned many a deer and hog over the years. It's over 20 years old and still going strong. It has NOT worked loose, either, like my Buck 110s and Schrade Uncle Henry did.

I have a decent machette, don't really need this thing, but if I did, it IS a Gerber. :D

[Limeyfellow]

There a big difference between Gerber of twenty years ago and Gerber of today. They used to be a quality product, with decent steel and heating treatment. Nowadays it cheap crap especially since they sold the brand name.

[MCgunner]

Gerber is STILL good quality. Is it a Case Kodiak (only knife I have that was over 100 bucks)? No, but hell, it's a tool, not something that sits around looking pretty like my case has since I got it for Christmas in 1975. And, hell, damned near everything is sold by a company that bought the brand that has it made in China now days. Hell, CASE is probably crap now days! ROFL! Unless it's a custom made knife that costs more than my Remington M7, it's probably made in China. :rolleyes: I ain't that into knives, anyway, so I ain't gonna spend 500 bucks for one when I can get a new revolver for that.

[hso]

They used to be a quality product, with decent steel and heating treatment. Nowadays it cheap crap especially since they sold the brand name.

People keep saying this, but it is incorrect.

Pete sold the company, not the brand, to Fiskars. Fiskars and Gerber had a rough honeymoon and then a rougher early marriage. They worked things our a few years ago and the quality has come back. Like any company producing mass market cutlery they have low end products well below the original quality of the Pete Gerber days but they also have some as good as what was produced.

[rcmodel]

Walmart had a shelf display half full of various Bear Grylls knives when I went in there yesterday.

If Walmart sells it, it has to be top of the line stuff.
Right?

rc

[wheelgunslinger]

The Parang in question here is reported by Gerber (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/796143-Gerber-Bear-Grylls-Parang-Machete?p=9003801#post9003801) on bladeforums to be AISI 1055 Steel.
It's full tang and not junk steel in my opinion. So, if the material is good and it's full tang, so as not to break off in one's hand, that leaves what, the grip material in question?

The grip is actually some polymer with a rubberish feeling insert, so it will likely do well in diverse weather conditions. It's also held on by two allen heads. It has finger swells and a thumb brace.
So far the sheath is the only part of this thing of which I can be critical. Regardless of the parent company, it is turning out to be pretty hardy and well constructed.

It's hard to find an angle to detract from the workmanship, considering the price point. No one expects hand forged steel and cocobolo for 30 bucks.

[MCgunner]

Walmart had a shelf display half full of various Bear Grylls knives when I went in there yesterday.

If Walmart sells it, it has to be top of the line stuff.
Right?

Everyone seems to laud the Buck 110. I had 'em back when they were American and didn't care much for the way they held (or didn't hold) up. The edge IMHO was way behind that of my Gerber Gator Serrator or my other Gerbers. Walmart still has the 110 along with other Bucks on display. They do also have these crappy "Winchester" brand knives for less if you want what most anyone here would call junk. :D

[ArfinGreebly]

Everyone seems to laud the Buck 110. I had 'em back when they were American and didn't care much for the way they held (or didn't hold) up. The edge IMHO was way behind that of my Gerber Gator Serrator or my other Gerbers. Walmart still has the 110 along with other Bucks on display.

You are certainly free to hold whatever opinion you like about the Buck line of knives.

However, a point of order on the bold text above: "back when they were American" would be right up into the present day. Walmart sells -- that I know of -- three American-made Buck knives: the 110 (Folding Hunter), the 119 (Special), and the newer Vantage line. All of those are made about 15 miles from where I live. Most of the other Bucks at Walmart are imports.

For what it's worth, Buck has been working on bringing its import lines back into the USA, but that effort has been subject to a couple of economic speed bumps. They have managed to keep nearly all of their new designs here in Idaho. They've recently phased out a few patterns, and most of those were imports.

The 110 and 119 have always been made in USA. That includes the ones they sell at Walmart.

[MCgunner]

Good for 'em. I'll keep my Gator, thanks.

[hso]

feedthehogs,

Not yet, but a lot of people have and I've read a lot of reviews without any negatives. I wouldn't hesitate at this point to do it if I was buying in that genre.

[wheelgunslinger]

This tool worked really well for me so far.
This time of year is when the briars are growing full speed ahead, and most established trails begin to get choked with them as they take advantage of being first in the spring growth race.
It had no real trouble hacking briars. The smaller ones tended to rebound and not be cut, but the large ones were cleanly cut away with an easy stroke. They're the ones you worry about anyway, so the small ones are no big deal. No big briars, no problem.
Cutting deadfall out of trails, as long as it was small enough, was no sweat. It chopped through red oak, hickory, and even dead hardwoods that would rather shatter than be cut cleanly. It also did great limbing conifers for pine boughs or chopping overgrown saplings to clear a trail.
I used the Parang to fashion some crude stakes from some fallen white oak that had been sitting around. I choked up on the blade, holding it by the area above the orange grip, and cut with the blade area closest to the grip.
The blade's weight helps it cut when you chop with it, and the end weight of the blade helps keep it balanced when you're doing more exacting work with the mid or lower blade sections.
Cons:
You get some hand shock when you chop with it, but that's kind of how it goes with a full tang cutting tool that has a plastic grip. Still. If you're shock or recoil sensitive, you may not want this.
Horizontal cutting is a bit difficult if you're used to using a machete. The weight works against you. It shines in vertical or 1-40ish* angular cuts, mostly because of the weight. This makes it a poor tool, somewhat, for horizontal chopping. Though, I have to admit that the trail maintenance and camp tasks I've had it doing didn't require that. I was just doing horizontal cuts to see how it felt and reacted.
The blade shape makes sheathing and unsheathing it a bit of an exercise, given the design of the sheath itself. Granted, I'm not Inigo Montoya. I don't need to whip the Parang out at a moment's notice, so I didn't sweat it too much, but the volume and frequency of briars had me using it and then putting it back until I tired of the ritual and just hung it from my wrist by the lanyard.

All in all, a useful tool that answers the riddle I've had for some time wherein I wanted a machete when I carried a tomahawk and a tomahawk when I carried a machete.
It can hammer with the blade flat. It can dig a cathole. It can split open a coconut with the back of the blade. It chops well. It handles brush well. And, it manages to not dull the moment you start using it. Seems like a nice camp or "survival" tool for my part of the Southern Appalachians as it's well suited to the woody surrounds and the tasks one encounters here.
So far, so good for this tool.
I'm ready to take it on my next weekender and see what happens.

[PcolaDawg]

Quote abuse.
Nice report. I'm getting my youngest kid the parang and the 'Ultimate' knife for his birthday in the first week in May. He's a big fan of the show and loves knives, machetes, and such.

[wheelgunslinger]

Took the Parang out this past weekend and used it in the rain to make tarp stakes, chop firewood, etc.
It did fine until I got overzealous whacking away at a pine stump for some heartwood.
Now it has a bit of a small bend in the blade where it met with a limb section in the heartwood and proved to not be sharp enough to cut it.
It doesn't get slick in the rain or unmanageable. I'm wondering how to get the little dip out of the blade, but I'll put something up over at blade forums and see what happens.

[hso]

If the blade body bent or is there a dent in the edge?

[wheelgunslinger]

It's a dent in the edge. The blade body is fine.
I don't know enough about metalwork to speak about the dent intelligently, so I'll post a pic of it.

[hso]

You'll have to reprofile the edge.

Tell Gerber exactly what happened and they may sharpen/regrind the edge for you or send another to you when you send it in.

[taozen79]

Bought one..

Hey , I cord wrapped the handle... (I have large hands) I was amazed at how this thing can cut... Sharp right out of the package... I did tune it up to my usual hair shaving sharpness ( I call stupid sharp) just of kicks...

I put it to use in a small field test.. Did great... Cuts better than any machete I have used and I think would make a fairly good survival tool...Especially considering how cheap it is...

Didnt like the orange handle but the cord covered most of it expect the front and end...so I give it a thumbs up...

[Backwoodsmike]

Marbles makes some very nice machetes for under $20.00. The seath that comes with them is very nice and thick with three pockets and comes with a sharpening stone. I've had mine for five years and use it weekly very good products.

[jahwarrior]

i saw them at Gander Mountain last week. i'm a fan of the golok profile, and smaller machetes. it looks like a winner, to me. considering how cheap it is, i don't have an excuse not to buy one. not a fan of Grylls, but then i don't have to watch his show to enjoy this blade. i plan on some camping/hiking this summer, so this will come in handy.