Whether you are law enforcement, military or just the common civilian, a decent pocket knife is nice to have around. We all want a good quality knife without spending a fortune. Gerber who is known for producing quality knives is introducing the Paraframe II Tanto that fits that bill. It is so new, Gerber doesn’t even have it shown on their website yet.
The Paraframe II Tanto is part of Gerber’s Tactical line, which tells me that it was built to withstand the abuse that law enforcement and military will give it. That said it doesn’t have any features that would prohibit a civilian from having one, although you should check your local and state laws. Why shouldn’t a civilian have a good quality knife that will take the abuse?
Specifications are as follows: Blade Length 3.5” (8.9cm), Closed Length 4.75” (12.1cm), Overall Length 8.13” (20.7cm), Weight 4.3oz (121.9gr), Stainless Steel (7Cr17MoV) Blade, Stainless Steel Handle. This knife features a partially serrated Tanto Blade that is coated for corrosion resistance; dual thumbstuds, pocket clip and frame lock safety function.
After removing this knife from the packaging, I looked it over and noticed how light it was for it being all metal. Personally I’m not a huge fan of all metal knives, but that is just me, partly because of the weight. It was comfortable in my hand, and in my opinion it is a right handed knife. Although it does have dual thumbstuds, it is hard to get your left hand thumb on the stud because of the pocket clip. The pocket clip is situated on the right side and would be carried tip down. Although you can remove the clip, the pocket clip cannot be moved for another carry configuration.
As mentioned above, it has a frame lock safety function. This is similar to a liner lock in its function, but is part of the frame itself. When the blade is in the open locked position, the lock is very solid. The lock is fairly stiff, so there shouldn’t be much chance that you will unintentionally unlock it. I noticed that when I closed the blade, it kind of snapped in the last little bit. When opening, it took a little more force than I’m use to for opening a blade. I inspected the pivot point area the best that I could without disassembling the knife, but couldn’t see what was causing this. I suspect that there is some sort of detent, to prevent the blade from opening on its own. It took a little use to, but I liked this feature. I have had many knives over the years that would partially open and slowly wear a hole in my pocket or give me a little poke as my hand went in my pocket. It isn’t a big deal, but this also prevented me from flicking the knife to open the blade; you know what I’m talking about. No matter how hard I tried, it would not open in this manner.
Since getting this knife, I have used it to cut numerous things. Cardboard and 550 cord weren’t a challenge - just sliced right through. I pulled out some ½” utility rope and cut through it with no problem. Then the other day I had to cut some notches in a plastic battery box. I didn’t have the snips handy; so I pulled out this knife. The plastic was a bit flexible, but it was fairly thick. With just a little pressure and a sawing motion, I was able to cut the notches pretty fast. I was quite impressed. As I was writing this, I picked up the knife and inspected it again. I’m finding no wearing or scratches in the finish on the blade. I also tested it again in some cardboard that was pretty thick and stiff. It sliced through it just like the day I pulled it out of the package.
Other than the Paraframe II being all metal, I have been very happy with it and will be added to my EDC (Every Day Carry) items.
Steven Forgues
Steve Forgues started his career over 18 years ago in Arizona. Over the years, Forgues has worked contract security, police, corrections and tactical operations. Forgues has been an instructor in various disciplines since 1998, and has been working and training with canines since 2000. Forgues has also been writing for law enforcement since 2005. He is currently working as a police officer and firefighter in Pennsylvania.
