Review: Gerber Fast Draw Clone

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers
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Review: Gerber Fast Draw Clone

Rating: ★★★★

Model: Fast Draw (Clone)

Brand: Gerber (Clone)

Lock mechanism: Switch

Opening mechanism: Thumb studs, assisted open

Steel: Unspecified

Handles: Plastic

Color: Black

Pocket clip: Tip up

Vendor: FastTech

Price: $11.37

Greetings everyone, this is my review of the Gerber Fast Draw (copy).

I've been using this knife for a month and a half to get to know it better and see how it fares over the time.

First, we have the basics. This knife caught my attention because it was an assisted open knife with thumb studs. FastTech didn't have a clear description of it at the time, but I didn't think it was an automatic. The knife arrived in a small cardboard box shown in FT's photos. I think this is a clone because it's way too cheap compared to what the real Gerber Fast Draw is being sold for, and this one actually had serrations, unlike in FT's photos.
It can be classified as a middle sized knife, smaller than my full sized knifes such as the Enlan EL-01 or the Ganzo G704.

Here is the folded length:

And here is the open length:

The wavey texture provides a good amount of grip, and the cutouts provide a nice spot to place your index finger in the front.

Here is a close up of the scales:

The knife weighs 97 grams.

The pocket clip is very thin, and consequently does not exert a lot of force.

After a couple days in my pocket, it became loose and I was able to tap it and hit it against the scales.

It's not reversible, but it does allow deep pocket carry, as simulated here:

The blade came decently sharp out of the factory, but quickly became dull after some use.

It could initially slice through paper with ease, but now, the non-serrated part of the blade cannot, while the serrations still can. (Probably because I haven't used the serrations much.)

The blade seems to be coated with a layer of semi-glossy grey paint, and can be scratched, as seen in the photo:

Here's how the locking mechanism works.

At the folded position, you can either slide the switch up or down.

Sliding it down locks the blade securely, so it will not open ie) in your pocket.

Sliding it up reveals the red dot, indicating that it can be opened.

You can open it like how you would open any other knives with thumb studs, but the internal tension will accelerate it very swiftly and it will fully open with a satisfying click.

When open, the switch is in the bottom position, and to close it, you move it upwards and push the blade back in.

Folded, locked:

Folded, unlocked:

Opened:

I thought it was a pretty interesting mechanism, and the rate of opening can be adjusted via the torx screw.

One major gripe I had with this knife is that the blade play is horrible.

When I first got it, it surprisingly had no blade play, but over the many "assisted opens," the blade started to wiggle more and more, and now it's unusable because it literally rattles when I shake it. It has ridiculous vertical blade play.

Adjusting the pivot screw didn't help at all, as it seemed to slow down the deploy speed. When I loosened it, it introduced horizontal side to side blade play as well.

All in all, this is a fun cheap knife to play with, but certainly not a work horse. It will suffer even when all you do is open and close it, so definitely not recommended for real world usage. I would estimate that I have opened and closed the knife at least 800 times, and is worth the $11.34 at FT IMO for the sheer joy of tinkering with it.

That's why I give it a ★★★★ rating. Thanks for your time!

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looks sharp !

3

I have a real Gerber Fast Draw and it is an great knife. It gets dull after using it to cut heavier stuff like cardboard. The clip is still tight and I carry it almost everyday. It also has some side to side play in the blade, but it is not that bad. The one you got looks exactly like mine. Thank you for the review. I was wondering if these were as good as the real thing. I’ve owned it for about a year or so now.

4

I have the non-serrated version from FT. Mine does not have all the problems you have had. The clip is still tight enough and I don’t have any significant blade play. I really like the assisted-opening and locking mechanism. It has been trouble free over the last two months or so. Hopefully, it will continue to hold up well.

5

This sort of product disgusts me, it’s bad enough to copy a design but to clone trade marks of well known products is just plain theft |(

6

I don’t think it is a copy. Gerber makes knives in China and I think these are rather gray market blades, perhaps diverted from the factory. The legit Fast Draws are not expensive knives to begin with.

7

I bought one…Was there a discount code I could have used? (Now I think to ask…)

8

As for the copy/genuine topic, I’m honestly not sure.
It sure doesn’t feel flakey or cheap, but does suffer from a lot of blade play.

Since FastTech did not mention “Gerber” or “Fast Draw” anywhere in their product description and only refers to it as “Stainless Steel Foldable Tactical Survival Knife,” I’m inclined to believe that it is indeed a copy.

Maybe I’ll shoot Gerber an email for identification?

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I know that many U.S.A knife manufacturers get their knives made by Chinese companies, Gerber has used Ganzo and Spyderco uses SanRenMu for production of their budget range and their Byrd line. Once the original run of, say, 10,000 knives for the U.S.A. market is complete then it is an easy matter to produce more “Grey” copies for the Asian market, ask Benchmade who has licensed the Axis lock for sale in Asia. Some of these will naturally filter back to the European and U.S.A. markets via ebay, Amazon, and the rest.
When I see the prices being charged by the large knife-makers for sometimes not very good products then it’s no wonder people buy Enlan, Ganzo, SanRenMu, Harnds, Navy etc. They offer very good value for money.
I will not buy counterfeits that pretend to be a named maker and are not - Striders, Hinderers, Spydercos that sell from Chinese based webshops that are obviously, or sometimes not so obviously, fake. Here’s a clue - you will not get a genuind Strider or Hinderer for $100 or less, same goes for the expensive Spydercos et al.
I will buy from the larger Chinese knife-makers with no problem.

EDIT……. Forgot to say thanks to ryansoh3 for a great review.