Why are these so valuable?

In 1939 Joseph Gerber (advertising agency owner) had custom knife maker David Murphy make 24 sets of carving knife for some of his select customers. Catalog retailer Abercrombie & Fitch saw them and was so impressed with the quality of the knives they wanted to sell them. Thus was born Gerber Legendary Blades.
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WilValOr
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Why are these so valuable?

Post by WilValOr »

I see the old Gerber Sportsman's Steels regularly on auction sites for crazy prices. Like well over $100 is normal. Why?
These:

[image]https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http ... 50.jpg&f=1[/image]

Does anyone know why?
Are they made of unobtanium?

This makes no sense to me, unless knife makers want them for the steel they're made of.
Which I would think would be too brittle, but,...

Can anybody lend some insight?
kennedy knives
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by kennedy knives »

There rare , hard to find, Japanese drove the price up
kootenay joe
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by kootenay joe »

I would like to see a picture to know exactly what you are speaking of.
kj
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by kootenay joe »

Is this what you are asking about ?
OAL ~ 17"; "Made in USA" is there but in a tiny font and hard to see in my picture.
I bought this for my father about 50 years ago.
kj
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Case V42
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by Case V42 »

Gerber produced several variations of the Sportsman Steel. There are both 5 and 8 inch models. If you notice, there are leather sheaths that the steel slips into, and others that the steel pivots on a chicago screw. Mint and near mint examples are quite hard to find, so us crazy Gerber collectors tend to pay those high prices. Prices paid for collectibles of any sort mostly reflect nothing but demand.
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks Case. So is the 17" Gerber steel i show above of little collector interest ?
kj
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by Montanaman »

Here is a pic of the Sportsman Steels, they are Chromium carbide bonded to O1 steel, made hard to sharpen the M2 HSS Gerber used.
GerberSS.jpg
kootenay joe
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks Kris. Somewhere i have one of those steels as well. I did not know that Gerber knife steel needed a special steel or stone. Wonder if it was mostly marketing ?
kj
WilValOr
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by WilValOr »

Montanaman wrote:Here is a pic of the Sportsman Steels, they are Chromium carbide bonded to O1 steel, made hard to sharpen the M2 HSS Gerber used.

GerberSS.jpg
Thank you. That's the one (one of them) I was talking about in the OP.
So yes, they are indeed made of unobtanium! (sort of)

And that explains why, despite the age of some of the ones I've seen, they never seem to show any wear. Even the ones I know for a fact have been used regularly for 40+ years.
I've got a couple of steels (kitchen grade) that have the ridges worn almost completely off, but I've never found one of the Sportsman's Steels looking like that.
WilValOr
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by WilValOr »

kootenay joe wrote:Thanks Kris. Somewhere i have one of those steels as well. I did not know that Gerber knife steel needed a special steel or stone. Wonder if it was mostly marketing ?
kj
It was more than just marketing. The original Gerber line was made of HS Tool Steel recycled from industrial power hacksaw blades. The recommendation for sharpening that came with them said to use a Gerber steel or the bottom of a ceramic plate, rather than a conventional oil or water stone.
They were hard chromed to prevent rusting, but the edges were unprotected and required immediate drying after washing. In later years after auto dishwashers became common they were never to be washed that way.
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by Case V42 »

Kootenay,

The Gungnir steel is part of Gerber's "Presentation" line of kitchen knives. The Gerber kitchen knives are great cutting tools, but like most kitchen cutlery don't command very high prices.
kootenay joe
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by kootenay joe »

Thank you Case. I bought my father a Gerber carving knife & fork in a wooden box about 50 years ago and then bought him this steel separately as there was no 3 piece set. This was in Montreal and i think Gerber was fairly new to Canada at that time ( ~ 1968-70).
kj
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by Case V42 »

Ah ha. Your purchasing the steel in Canada explains the tiny, "Made in USA" stamp. I have a scant few Gerbers so marked, and have always suspected they were also exported to our northern neighbor.
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orvet
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Re: Why are these so valuable?

Post by orvet »

I'm just reading through this older topic. I managed a Cutlery store in the 1980s and early 90s that was about 40 miles from the Gerber Factory, Gerber was one of our main brands because it was made locally.
One of the reasons the Sportsman steel was so popular is because of its versatility. Yes it would sharpen the Gerber knives and just about anything else you wanted to sharpen on them but they also had a secondary function the deerhunter's loved. If you look at the one shown in the picture, the end opposite from where it is attached to the sheath is tapered. It doesn't have an edge but it is definitely a wedge. The deer hunters like that because they could use the Sportsman Steel and a rock or piece of wood to pound the tapered end of the steel through a deer pelvis to split the carcass and make it easier to carry.

On the rare occasion that I find one of these at a flea market or yard sale there is often marks on the end of the steel that indicate it is definitely been pounded upon, often you can see pieces of softer rock still on the end of the steel, or you can see marks on the end that definitely speak to the fact that it has been hit with a large heavy object like a rock or hammer, maybe a hatchet, etc.
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