Obviously, the first thing you notice about any Gerber Paraframe knife is the handle. With the open design, there's more air than metal, making these knives lightweight and easy to keep clean. However, the functionality of the Paraframes is as efficiently elegant as their form. Clip Point Blade
First, let’s look at the blade. Paraframes have clip point blades, which means they slant downward from the middle to the tip and a cutout (the "clip") along the top of the blade. Clipping the blade produces a finer and more useful point, brings the point of the knife lower for better control, and makes the tip sharper. The clip point blade lets you focus a lot of cutting power in a small space, or use the knife effectively as a pick. These blades are made of high-carbon stainless steel, which combines the hardness of carbon steel with the rust-resistance of stainless. Steel blades may not hold an edge as long as more exotic materials like titanium or ceramic, but you can get a sharper edge on them; they are stronger; and they are much easier to sharpen.
Framelock
Paraframes have a framelock design. When the blade opens, one entire side of the frame springs over behind the tang (end) of the blade. This design provides the easy one-handed opening and closing you get with a liner-lock, but is much more secure. For added security, Gerber has also included a notch at the back of the blade that keeps the frame even more securely in place. This is a great combination of safety and ease of use.
This set includes a Paraframe II with a half-serrated edge and a fine-edged Mini-Paraframe. It's good to have both, because the serrated edge on the larger Paraframe II is great for sawing through webbing, braided ropes, or plastic. The base of this blade is fine-edged for smooth slicing, but you're only getting a few inches to work with. So, having the fine-edged Mini-paraframe is perfect when all you need to do is carve wood or make smooth slices (e.g in cloth you don't want to fray or a sandwich). --Tod Harrick
Paraframe II
- 3 1/2-inch high-carbon surgical stainless steel blade
- total length: 4 3/4-inches closed; 8 1/4-inches open
- total weight: 4.1 ounces
- half-serrated edge
- dual thumb studs for ambidextrous one hand opening
- pocket/money clip mounted at the pivot end
Mini-Paraframe
- 2 1/4-inch high-carbon surgical stainless steel blade
- total length: 3 inches closed; 5 1/4-inches open
- fine edge for slicing, carving and whittling
- all-over gun metal Titanium Nitride coat
- nail nick for opening
- pocket/money clip mounted at the pivot end
What's In The Box
Paraframe II knife, Mini-Paraframe knife
