Today I’m going to do a review of the Gerber EAB pocket knife. It’s constructed of stainless steel. Weighs in at 2.2 oz and uses regular contractor blades. The closed length is 2.4 in and open is 4.1. The EAB is liner lock knife.
I picked up the EAB about a year ago when it was on clearance out at a local Walmart. I had heard good reviews on it and at the $10 bucks I spent on it I figured I could not go wrong. Basically it is a very tiny utility knife. By far the smallest and lightest I have seen. I was not disappointed by this purchase at all.
The main purpose behind getting the EAB was blade economy. My blade philosophy is to always save my primary blade for last. I suck at sharpening and don’t want to further ruin a blade in an emergency rubbing on a stone. So this gives me a very tiny blade to do small everyday tasks. I’ve carried this to work in addition to my Kershaw skyline before using the EAB to open boxes, cut cardboard and any other cutting tasks and save the Skyline for emergencies or self-defense. In the role of additional EDC it excels. If you carry and main pocket knife with you and hate dulling your edge cutting tape using the EAB and it’s easily replaced disposable blades works excellently. If you don’t care to carry a main pocket knife but do a lot of box cutting the size and weight if this knife could work for you. I would not choose this to be my main and only carry option however. It’s does very well in its niche. Anything you need a utility knife for this does however it does not translate into all functions I expect in an EDC knife. As a self-defense option the EAB is borderline worthless. It does not posses enough blade length for a useful slashing attach not is the blade geometry optimal for a stabbing move. It fares even worse in an outdoors trip. It’s too small and thin for most wilderness tasks. Once again though as a backup knife it could do well for small game skinning.
To do a run down on the pro’s and cons of this blade. The size and weight are huge pluses. It clips well and rides with a fairly low pocket profile. It’s so small and light that it works well as a pocket knife. As long as you change the blades regularly they remain sharp. The ease of finding replacement blades is a real benefit you can almost stock up for life for twenty dollars. Not having to sharpen it. Did I mention I hate sharpening knives?
On the con side it does not really have an opening system. No thumb stud or real indention. You can kinda push open with you thumb then flick it open. Otherwise its best you use two hands to prevent getting cut up. the shape of the knife when open it very angular and sharp and is not a very comfortable grip.
So if in your daily routine you have a lot of box/ package opening to do and want to save your main knife blade pick up a Gerber EAB. Online they still sale for around $10.
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