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A lot of Gerber's metals seem... mushy. I do have the Freeman fixed blade, and it's not bad for a $20 knife, but it does require frequent TLC while better knives may not need as much pampering. I have not messed with the BG Ultimate Survival Knife, but the Scout was my first EDC pocket knife. I looked at getting the BG USK, but after a lot of reading and research, decided not to get it. Here are some of my **perceived** pros and cons.
Pros:
>Handle ergonomics are really nice. It feels good in the hand.
>Orange touches make it easy to see if dropped in grass or leaves. Easily accomplished by adding a bright lanyard or fob or something, though.
>Whistle and firesteel are nice, but you can add those easily.
Cons:
>Even the revised version is just a rat-tail tang, though apparently now full in that it contacts with the hammer metal at he butt end. But definitely not the handle of an "ultimate survival knife" in that you can't simple remove or replace the scales if something happens to it.
>Made by Gerber. Not the end of the world, but they just don't seem all that great these days.
>Why did they coat a "survival knife?" Most buying it probably won't be great about maintaining a knife, so they probably did it to idiot-proof the thing. But they deprive the user of one resource for signaling.
>BG logo just looks kind of silly and, even if the knife were great, makes the user look kind of like a poseur.
>Likewise, the BG name just jacks the price up unnecessarily.
If it's your first knife, you can go cheaper until you determine your genuine needs in terms of length, accessories, plain vs. mixed blade, etc. Then, for the price of the BG knife, get one that will hold up better based on what you determine from reviews and research.
All in all it's not bad. It's just that for its price it's a rip off. For the other BG stuff like the emergency kits and such you can put together ones that are better and for less on your own.
