Short article on the Blackie Collins Gerber LST folder

Status
Not open for further replies.
hso

hso

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 3, 2003
Messages
66,098
Location
0 hrs east of TN
http://www.blademag.com/knife-colle...urce=newsletter&utm_campaign=bl-bso-nl-180327

history-of-gerber-lst-knife.jpg

BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Pete Gerber knew he was onto something with the FS1, a knife he remembers as “dandy” and one of three in the Folding Sportsman line that debuted with Gerber Legendary Blades beginning sometime around 1980.

“It was just a little heavy,” Pete recalled. “Blackie Collins was working with us on some projects then, and I asked him for help with it. I said, ‘Blackie, this is a nice knife. How can we take some weight out of it and put some pizzazz into it?’”

The knife engineers at Gerber Legendary Blades had been working with Micarta handle slabs, rather labor intensive at the time since the plastic laminate had to be machined to the appropriate shape.
Click to expand...
 
hso

Great article; thanks for posting it. I don't have a Gerber LST but do have a Schrade version of the same type of knife. A nice choice when you really want to go the lightweight route.

GWGB1Wn.jpg

cPdkeYi.jpg
 
I remember when those first came out. Nice article, very interesting.
The,personal,downside to the lightweight EDC knife is that my Leek slipped out of my back pocket while camping last weekend and I didn't notice... :oops:
 
I have an early one in the collection. Blackie's wife showed me a pickup of them in that Corvette. They were quite the industry power couple.
 
Last edited:
It's a good article, but the biggest innovation was a light, quality product, which seems just an incremental step from other extant knives. The first first modern EDC I would argue to be the Spyderco Worker in 1981, with one-handed operation and a pocket clip.
 
I was at SMKW back in the mid 90s looking for a small lightweight locking knife that wouldn't fold up on me like my Old Timer did, when I discovered the LST.

I still carry one to this day.

They obviously can't handle heavy duty usage, but for basic sharp edged needs they are handy to have and weigh almost nothing. As a plus, the 2 5/8" blade allows it to be carried into the federal building where I occasionally do some contract work.

Funny thing about that federal building is that the security guy takes the LST and holds it up to the piece of tape on the security desk to determine if it is of legal length to bring in every single time I'm there even though he carries one in his pocket too.
 
Last edited:
JShirley said:
The first first modern EDC
Click to expand...

I agree that the pocket clip innovation from Spyderco brought in a new generation of EDC folders changing the industry, but the LST changed the traditional to the modern era of lightweight materials prior to that. The Worker changed EDCs again to pocket clip folders. Both Sal and Blackie earned their places in the Hall of Fame for their innovations that changed the folder industry, just at different points as they revolutionized the EDC.
 
It really did change the pocket knife. Before Gerber brought them out, my EDC was a Normark folder. Good pocket knife, but kinda bulky. I went through about a half-dozen LST's over the years. I haven't had one in about 5 years, because my EDC is a Gerber FAST 06, and sometimes I add my Leatherman, but yes, I am a fan of the LST.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top