EAB

I love this little clip on utility knife. I have purchased probably at least 8 of these before and I keep coming back for more. They are simple to use and light weight and look very nice and I have never had any problems with any I have owned. The only reason I keep buying them is I have lost and misplaced several over the years. But they are my go to small pocket knife. I have also used the clip for a money clip before as this knife is so slim and light weight you can just slip it into your pocket and forget that it is there. One of things I love about it the most is that it is never dull because you just simply take one of the utility blades out and replace it with a new one whenever it starts to dull.

This is a very good product. Read other reviews for that. To me this is an excellent travel blade. If you’re flying pack it in your checked baggage. It’s the perfect size and price to to tuck it away somewhere for occasional use when you’re away from home. Think glovebox, office top drawer, shaving kit, tackle box, trunk tool bag, center console, etc. They’re high quality yet inexpensive. If you lose it.. well, so what? Irritating but not a big loss. I’ve got several tucked away as a just-in-case utility blade away from home. The blades are common, disposable, replaceable, and dirt cheap. It’s stainless steel and folds up very small. It’s also a great choice for EDC pocket carry. You can’t beat it! I love it.

I love these little things so much that I give them as gifts to pretty much everyone. The form factor is perfect for a EDC knife that you'll actually use all the time because it's always with you. Folded up, it fits neatly in the coin pocket of most jeans and it opens to provide just enough handle length to be safe to use without serious concern. You never need to worry about sharpening it since you can just reverse and eventually change the standard utility blade it uses. A dime is perfect for use as a screwdriver for undoing the little blade retention screw. Additionally, that little screw protrudes just enough that one handed opening with your thumb always just works. I've been using one as my daily driver for a few years and the hinge and liner lock are both as solid and smooth as when I got it. It may be a small little thing, but the aluminum body is tough where it counts. Between the compact size and ease of blade replacement, it's just about the perfect carry knife to keep with you all the time for those daily pocketknife tasks. On top of that, it's inexpensive enough that even if you were to lose it, it wouldn't be a huge deal. Huge value and a quality product that receives top marks for just being a useful tool.

I've been carrying my Gerber EAB for a few years now and now my wife wants multiple to carry and keep around the house. I carry four knives, a stainless CRKT drifter, a black tactical Cold Steel Recon tanto, this Gerber EAB, and a really expensive custom Microtech Ultratech OTF automatic knife. I like this Gerber EAB more than all of them. The tanto blade is pretty useless for a lot of applications, and sharpening is a chore, so this acts as a survival knife for me. The Microtech OTF is too expensive and too hard to sharpen for me to be willing to casually use it. The CRKT drifter only acts as a food knife for me, because I don't want to dull the blade with other tasks that are better accomplished by the Gerber EAB. The Gerber EAB takes standard trapezoidal utility blades. You can find them at Walmart, at any hardware store, and here on Amazon. You can open letters, packages, and blister packs without worrying about dulling the blade. You can cut through tape and adhesives without worrying about getting sticky residue on the blade. You can use the knife freely without worrying about having to clean, sharpen, or restore the blade. Why? If anything happens, you just remove the old <$1 blade and put in a new one for less than $1. It is that peace of mind that makes me love it so much. Before getting this knife, I avoided using my knives unless absolutely necessary. If I had to open a package, I would go out of my way to get "the bad scissors" (you know, that crappy pair at the back of the drawer that gets abused, as opposed to the nice scissors) so I don't have to worry about dulling the blades of my knives. Now, my Gerber EAB is my go-to. Sharp, strong, and easily replaceable, it's the perfect knife for such tasks. I also think that the knife is really nice looking. I love the brushed look. I like the angles. I like the size. Pros: - Small - Light - REALLY affordable - Nice looking. I personally love the brushed look. - Comfortable and easy to carry - Well made - Replaceable blades that are common and affordable - Never need to resharpen - Blades are easily replaced - You use it without hesitation, unlike other knives where you worry about denting or wearing the blade - Thanks to the short blade, it is legal in every US state. - Rugged, strong, and durable - Non-threatening. Due to the blade shape, small size, and utilitarian nature, it doesn't look threatening. People, even anti-knife people, don't really freak out if they see this knife, as it's just a small utility knife. - Even if you forget and accidentally bring it through airport security, they won't freak out on you. They'll confiscate it, as they do all other knives, but you won't have any problems from it, because it's just a utility knife. It's also easily replaceable, at only a few bucks. - It's cheap enough that you don't really care about it much, so you use it freely for everything. Cons: - It's not perfectly suited to long extended projects or hard work. It could work, but it might not be comfortable. The liner lock makes it not well suited to really abusive work (construction, cutting lots of drywall, etc). The small, non-ergonomic grip makes it not really comfortable when you are putting a ton of force into it. Great for normal casual cutting, not great for cleaving through things with all your strength. - The blade shape and size make it ill-suited as a food knife or survival knife. You won't be chopping wood with it. You could easily cut an orange or banana with it, but the short blade would make it not very well suited to cutting through an apple. I absolutely love it. For an EDC (every day carry) knife it is absolutely perfect, and I would trade it for nothing. For keeping in the house for opening packages, it is also awesome. If you are considering buying it, do it. You will love it. In the miraculous event that you somehow don't like it, the thing was only a few bucks, so not much was lost. But that won't happen. You'll love it.

Amazing little knife, folds down so flat and small with a solid clip. Seems very strong, has a great feel both closed and open, nice sized handle. Deploying the blade is simple but releasing the catch to fold it back is recessed into the mechanism too far and is way too stiff, for me and two other men who tried it, this isn't a knife for opening & closing routinely, requires two hands. The blade is a box cutter blade fully exposed, seems like it would be easy to cut yourself by accident (i haven't). It will NOT close by accident which is the point I'm sure. I cannot see the average woman being able to do it, tho, nor wanting to. This is a purpose-built box cutter, it will not adequately replace my Kershaw Leek knife (which I lose so often, decided to try a $14 replacement) but the Kershaw is $70. Definitely keeping it, people who hold it closed or open marvel at it until they go to close it.

This is a wonderful knife to have on you all the time, but a terrible knife to use all the time. If you are looking for something to subject to frequent, heavy duty use, this is not the knife for you. That's not to say it's not durable.. it seems plenty durable to me, but it just doesn't have the ergonomics for it. I'm a graphic designer/production manager. I need to open a few packages a day usually. Sometimes cut off strapping, tape, or other mounting. In my office I had one of those cheap snap-off cutters, but if I was out of the office it was always a total pain to find a cutter. In a warehouse you keep things in one spot generally, but with daily use they get scattered. Every time I needed a knife I had to spend a few minutes just looking for one. It was a massive waste of time. My warehouse manager got me a decent little collapsable knife, but it was too big to keep on me all the time with my keys, wallet, phone, etc. That's where this comes in! You know that little pocket-within-a-pocket on your jeans that no one ever has a use for? This fits perfectly in there!, clip it on with the knife inside, clip out and it is so tiny you'll forget it is there. Now whenever I need a cutter I just reach down and it's right there. I haven't found another knife that is this compact that still has a full-sized blade. There are a few that are close to this size.. but they have mini blades that impair their functionality. The blade on this is extremely high quality, it is full sized and actually quite a bit thicker than the bulk blades we normally buy for our warehouse. Now for it's short comings.. I don't see these as marks against it (per my 5 star rating). They are just design compromises that needed to be made to reduce the size: * This is a two hand open, two hand close knife. If I know I have a number of packages to open, or I have to cut down a lot of corrugated for flat-packing, I'll grab a larger, better suited knife. There's not room for a complex locking mechanism.. so deal with it if you want a knife this small. * The blade is much more time consuming to change than the alternatives. If you're doing a lot of cutting, this isn't for you. This is something you keep on you for when you need it, not something you use as your workhorse. * Price. This isn't a $3 knife. if you're going to keep it on you, $12 is not a lot for the utility and engineering of this thing.. but if they start disappearing it's going to get costly. Keep it on you. Don't lend it out. Keep track of it and it is more than worth the cost. * The clip?? People keep complaining about belt-clip issues. The clip is designed to be very slim-one of my problems with a lot of other folding cutters is how fat the clip is. I had to take it off my previous ones and they were STILL fatter than this one with the clip. This clip is not designed for a full-thickness leather belt-that is going to wreck it! I've put it over the edge of my pocket every day for months with no issues.. with a thinner woven belt thrown in for good measure! If you try to use this knife like a contractor-grade cutting tool, you are going to have a bad time. If you want to have an ultra-compact, high-quality cutting tool on you all day, every day, for as-needed use, this is the perfect tool. I love this thing and I never leave home without it clipped inside my pocket! (unless I know I'm going somewhere with tight security!... be careful, it's easy to forget it's there!)

My favorite Every day blade. This is the third one I've bought, I lost the other two. one thing I would change or add is a piece or two of grip tape, makes it that much easier to open and close one handed. I use this by flicking out the blade, the weight is good enough so that it doesn't need too much force to open and close and I can one-hand the open close process. The trick is releasing it enough from the closed position to flick it out. Super smooth and works every time. body/handle is too smooth and has an awkward feel to it, Really not comfortable to grip, but I don't hold it for very long so it doesn't bother me too much, you just figure a way to hold for whatever you're doing. Certainly not ergonomic for a hand grip. The belt/money clip portion had gotten so loose on my last one that it just came off, I had to bend it so that it would stay on, but it would still come off again, so this one I'm careful of what and where I clip it, nothing too thick, like the pocket of my jeans. That's really where I'd prefer to keep it but that's where I kept my last one all the time and likely why the clip bent out so much. One thing I like about it is the minimalist design, there isn't much waste here, the weight is good and the best quality blade is included with it, I've switched out blades on my last two a few times, but I would come back to the thick heavy duty blades these come with. You have to look up the model number to get the right ones though. I think that info is in the Q&A section. Another negative is the way the blade is held in, if you lose that screw, good luck finding one that fits the same. also I would like to grind down the screw face to be flush with the surface, although I use my middle finger to push against the screw to open the blade, I'd rather have a flat piece of grip tape to assist in this. I don't want to mess with this screw if I don't have to so it won't get loose and get lost. The price is also great, I really hated to lose the last two but it's not so bad to replace it. One more thing, I had to make a "key" to open my last one to lube it. and I have no idea if there is some sort of commercial screw driver you can purchase for this. But when you need to open it you will likely want to find the right tool for the job instead of having to make one like I did. Also I will never be able to find this key I made the next time I need it so I'll have to just make another, why not just use allen keys(hex) like most other manufacturers? Just one of the lame things about this knife, not a deal breaker but annoying.

I absolutely love this little knife. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when I first got this knife for two reasons. However, both of them I was able to resolve pretty easily. 1- The blade holder did not line up in the center of the handle when the knife was closed. Actually it was pretty far off and bad enough that the blade itself would slide against the inside of the handle when opening and closing. To fix it, I removed the blade and screw, put the blade holder in a clamp, and applied pressure to the handle til the two were properly aligned. 2 minutes. I then had to tighten up the pivot screws as the plastic compressed a little leaving it a bit loose. I didn't have a bit handy to fit the screws, so I bent a paper clip and gripped it with some pliers. 2 more minutes. Now the blade fits perfectly in the center. 2- I found, like other people, that when closed the blade edge contacted the handle. At first I was pretty upset, but then thought about it for a minute and solved the "problem". Before you tighten the blade screw all the way, the blade has a lot of play in each direction. Just hold the knife with the blade edge facing up when you tighten the screw, and you will have plenty of clearance. Also, I have never found the tip of the blade to stick out as others have said, but this type of adjusting the blade position would likely solve their issue. The blade screw can easily be used to open the knife with your thumb. However, the blade that comes with the knife is fairly thick, and if you replace it with a thinner blade, not only will the screw be more recessed, the slot in the head will be angled in the wrong direction (it's amazing how well that slot catches your thumb when it's angled right). I have a generic blade in there now, but will probably buy a pack of heavier blades soon. Use a penny to change blades it's fast and really easy. I don't use mine enough to change blades more than once a week, but if I was using it all day long, and had to change several times a day, it might get a little old. If that were the case, I'd probably have a bigger utility knife. There have been a couple of people who have had the clip brake. I don't think it's much of a risk if you're just clipping it in your pocket. I wouldn't recommend clipping it on to your belt, as it's a bit too tight for that. The clip is not welded or riveted in place. It basically clamps itself on, so if you wanted to remove it, you probably could, and if it ever broke, there wouldn't be a broken edge left behind, and Gerber would certainly replace it for you. I believe someone posted a negative review about the position of the clip and the direction of the blade opening, saying the blade could open in someones pocket, or snag on something in someone's purse. That will never happen. There is a bearing/divot retention mechanism to keep the blade closed, and there is absolutely nothing on the blade part of this knife to snag and pull it open (it will not just flop open on it's own either). My only complaint about this knife, and I think it's this way with all of them, on the pivot end of the knife, when closed, there is a really ugly grinder mark on the blade holder. This is between the two sides of the handle, so you would really have to be looking in order to find it, but it's there, and it is ugly. It took me a day to notice it. I don't know why they didn't at least make it a straight edge. I would certainly recommend this knife. Hopefully you won't have to tweak the alignment on yours like I did, but if so, it really wasn't a big deal. Well worth $10-$15. 3/19/13 update: Gerber has redesigned the clip since my original review. It looks like they've gone back to the clip used on the original EAB, which is much wider, and probably about twice as strong. The clip on my first EAB Light held up fine until someone dropped it from the top of a 10 foot ladder and the clip broke on impact. I'm on my third knife now. I keep the one without a clip at home, and I lost one while helping someone push their car out of an intersection. I've bought a few for family members as well, and I still use mine daily.