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When Gerber showed us the brand new Fastball knife with a ball bearing action, we saw folding knives in a new light.
It shouldn’t sound too dramatic, but I’m honest when I say the new Gerber Fastball folding knife highlights one of the most interesting styles of knife actions I’ve come across. I wasn’t familiar with a finger flip folder that uses ball bearings to smooth out the deployment, but now that I have, I’ve looked at the rest of my knives a bit differently.
That’s not to say a more traditional folding knife, like many of Gerber’s previously proven designs, isn’t useful and effective, but seeing something so simple, able to be used with one hand, made me rethink what I typically carry as an EDC knife.
We got an exclusive look at the knife, available February 13, 2019, at this year’s SHOT Show. Their booth was a busy place, complete with free tattoos for those who waited, but the Fastball was among the attention grabbers as well.
The Fastball utilizes Gerber’s B.O.S.S. tech, in which the ball-bearing system serves as the opening mechanism for the S30V steel wharncliffe blade. The handle is aircraft-grade aluminum.
There’s an easy-off liner lock and three-position pocket clip, and it’s small enough to stay stowed away with a 3-inch blade length and 7.1-inch overall length. You can get the Fastball knife in flat sage, urban gray, or black with a black oxide blade.
I could see this serving well as a pocket knife that just about anyone could get great use out of. The intuitive finger flipper opening really can’t be understated, and it’s got a rather accessible price point at $110.
For something American made that’s this promising, we’d consider it a good deal.
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