Gerber for the win. The AFO's construction is more precise, but over time the 06 will prove to be the better knife. Benchmade is great for EDC, but for HARD use, get the 06. Benchmade's 154CM can't keep up with Gerber's S30V. The only Benchmade I use at work is a Contego with M4. I have four 06's and have not seen any of the issues he's talking about, but for some reason, my drop points are slower than my tantos.
Had a Gerber 06 and lost it. Now I have a Benchmade Claymore. Huge action! Just watched a vid. on a spring upgrade on the Gerber. Seems to have worked. However, I’m going to say if anyone is on the fence between Gerber auto and Benchmade auto, go with the a Benchmade. You won’t regret it.
I guess I got lucky. I have an 06 Auto and mine is really snappy. And it is centered damn near perfect. I have the drop point, half serrated model. I have several autos and my 06 Auto is among the best I own. It replaced my Microtech Ultratech Tactical OTF as my EDC option. And I occasionally carry a Gerber Covert Mini auto as well. Thank you for the video.
I've had my AFO2 for about 4 years now n it's been my EDC since then. In my opinion the afo was and still is the best automatic tactical knife you can use every day.
I been carrying an AFO 2 all black non serated for 16 years. At first it seemed big and clunky but after owning it a few weeks, no other knife felt as solid. Best knife I've ever owned. Gerber is trash in comparison. P.s. the glass breaker is at the bottom of the knife on the AFO. Well, mine has it. It isn't a tonto blade either.
My favorite knife for sure, and it is the best knife I've owned as well. Unfortunately in the non serrated version they are getting hard to come by. Thank you for sharing👍
The only downside to the Benchmade is there's no glass breaker. I don't feel like this quite a good comparison for that reason - the frame and heaviness is bulkier on the 06 for this reason as well. You can also replace the spring on the 06 though it's a pita. But yeah unfortunately quality in Gerbers is just not consistent, where I've never had a bad Benchmade yet
Yeah I like the 06 but the execution on it wasn't 100%. The Benchmade afo2 does have a glass breaker and you can put a new spring in it as well. Though I've never needed to. The good thing about the benchmade is it's two handle slabs and a spring, lock, and blade whereas the 06 appears to have a thousand parts including liners and standoffs as I recall. The benchmade in my opinion is by far superior in every way though the Gerber is a good knife.
I've been looking at a drop point 06 actually. They always catch my eye. The benchmade is being discontinued unfortunately so may be time to grab one if need be.
I think your bias, I have the Gerber 06 and I love it the benchmade is a great knife and the Gerber 06 to me is absolutely awesome. Just my opinion. Put the safety on and what you have is NO wiggly at all with the Gerber 06. It does just what it was intended to do.
I could tell almost immediately the BM is a better build-- more contoured handle, much snappier deployment, recessed button, safety on the spine, *and* an adjustable pin? Yeah I'll take it. Great comparison. Word is Gerber is getting their act together but this suggests otherwise. A blade with that centering shouldn't have gotten out at all.
I do like the AFOs for sure. I've been carrying the gray one now daily and the Microtech actually got benched. I've found it's actually my best cutter in addition to its other attributes you pointed out. Kind of brilliant. I've always preferred them but now I have one with no serrations which really brings out it's performance. The Gerber is a clunker without doubt. Even with proper centering it'd still lag I think. It's got some charm but I think overpriced due to the obvious lack of care it saw from the factory and shortage of necessary hardware. The Benchmade on the other hand I personally find to be perfection if all necessary traits taken into consideration and aggregated. For my preferences, and opinions of course. And my true bias for it. I'm sure you know what I mean and have something similar. Only way to go!
I've had the budget version of the 06 and it was crap, low quality steel with a bad heat treatment. It was very soft, while tough.. it would not keep an edge. I had used it often and had it for a little over a year when the button lock failed while carving tent stakes out of a hickory branch. I did find the handle to be comfortable while whittling though.
I just received the 06 auto Multicam. Love it already but, the blade is absolutely horribly off center. So much that it's rubbing the blade. And the spring load, wheww, ive seen turtles faster. That's alright with me though. Just want to get blade fixed to center. Don't let any if this discourage ya to buy though. Great knife with great history. Same with the AFOII. I'm sure it'll be hit or miss also. I have a Benchmade 9400 auto and that thing is perfect in every way. Take that as you want. Give two of the biggest American knife companies a try.
Im getting the AFO next, I had the aluminum 06 I got one from there Pro Program, some zip-tie I was cutting got in between blade and handles and locked it up, tried disassembling to fix it and all those little extra parts shot everywhere my fault of course but still the spacing with handle scales and the blade is too wide there was crud occasionally accumulating in between all the time.
I think you'll be happier. The AFO (in my opinion) is the much better knife all around but if you still have your 06 I'd check on sending it in to get it fixed so you have a backup. AFO is my absolute favorite knife and if you like the way it looks I can safely assume you'll love it.
Lol Gerber vs a Black Series Benchmade? Ive had both of these and dont have anything bad to say about the Gerber, but the Benchmade has been my EDC, including Active Duty Military EDC for probably 12 years, and it is a tank. I cant recommend it enough! I only wish I had chosen the plain blade instead of the serrated.
Agreed. It is a tank, and my personal favorite. The plain edge does open it up to better overall cutting and sharpening but those serrations are nice in a pinch. I've been going for the plain blades lately.
Couldn't agree more. I have had mine for I think 2 years. Used it nonstop and it's still going. I personally like my AFO 2 more than the auto socom. I had all but given up on benchmade. Then I got the afo2. I did have problems with mine when I got it. The hardware was so caked with locktite I stripped 2 of the 3 pocket screws. And 2 take it apart for cleaning the pivot had so much locktite I had 2 heat it up for 15 mins and crank on the pivot 2 get it out.
My 06 is centered. It's snappy enough, being the blade has so much mass to it. I have found the harder you hold the knife, the more snappy the action. Action vs reaction and weight.
Why do you think it's better than both? I have an afo 2 I got for 100 and looking to get another auto. Was looking at those Kershaw's before I got the afo.
What do you mean by adjustable stop pin? I have the same AFO and it seems that the main torque screw by the deployment button if tightened down it doesn’t open I have to keep it lose for it to deploy then I have blade wobble
Almost thought this was a rough attempt at a troll. I apologize otherwise. If your knife has another torx head on the off side along with a hexagonal stop pin then it's adjustable to account for wear. If stop pin is round theoretically it's still adjustable by loosening everything up and manually spinning the pin. That probably wouldn't solve side to side play however.
Great Northwest thanks. I’m just confused on why the main big torque screw by deploy button can’t be tightened on mine. Never noticed it before but I just noticed blade wobble when opened and thought it needed tightened. So I did and it made it very stiff. So I have to keep the screw semi lose for it to perform properly. Seems kinda strange to me that the screw could eventually work its way out completely. Almost like there needs to be washers on each side of blade but there aren’t. Have you had this issue?
@@skipmcgripcunningham9897 so no hex stop pin I take it? I would remove pivot bolt from knife. Just the bolt, and clean it off. Use blue loctite and let it sit. When adjusting the bolt after that use extremely micro turns. I have one knife that always has a little tick of play and that's as best as I can get it without it binding up.
Great Northwest there is a hex stop pin that can rotate when loosened but doesn’t stop blade wobble. Maybe I need to take whole knife apart and clean it up. It is old so maybe it’s just worn down. But thanks for the help
@@skipmcgripcunningham9897 I feel your pain. While blade is open turn the stop pin torx clockwise until very snug. While pivot is adjusted as well of course. If that doesn't solve it I'd consider sending it to benchmade for them to fix it.
I own the aluminum handled version with the spear point, I upgraded the spring. Now it's an awesome knife with snappy action. Your title should have been ( Geber 06 and everything that sucks about it) Benchmade Company is a bunch of posers 😀😀😀
@@TheScottyp1 that sucks, depending on how much you paid and where from there are other options hopefully. I do prefer that Benchmade option if it's close to same price. Or try again with another Gerber.
Waaaaaay late to the party🎉, though after seein so many dogsh!t💩 YTube knife vids, I had to drop in to say excellent video!! As former Federal LE, having spent 2+ years in undercover and been in three knife/punch dagger skirmishes in that capacity, I only used/use fixed blade pocket knives/punch daggers for self defense blades, though I did/do carry either an OTF/OTS auto as my daily EDC. That said, I too was gifted both the standard 06 Tanto auto that you reviewed, along with the olive green 10th Anniversary issue, while also having a number of 9400 BM autos, and I'd take ANY Benchmade over this Gerber 06, and I wanted sooooo badly to have the Gerber be at least the equal of the BM, however, even if I was delusional & drugged out, these knives are in two different leagues, lol. While my unit had our choice of the knife brands for our service blades(I used Cold Steel Customs), guys that initially chose the Gerbers were always tryin to swap em for the Benchmades, lolol. Again, great review🤙 Continued Success Brotha👊 RP
Dude, everyone knows that Benchmade produces great knives and Gerber has been sub par since their beginning. Why are you wasting your time? Further more, why would you ever buy a Gerber? It just doesn’t make any sense!
Gerbers are junk-you couldn't pay me to carry one.You want budget,get a kershaw,or a civivi,both make quality peices at reasonable prices.Benchmade and Spyderco have good to high end peices
So many guys on the teams run the 06 auto. That’s it- battle tested and a beast.
Really? I’d think Benchmade is more common nowadays
Gerber for the win. The AFO's construction is more precise, but over time the 06 will prove to be the better knife. Benchmade is great for EDC, but for HARD use, get the 06. Benchmade's 154CM can't keep up with Gerber's S30V. The only Benchmade I use at work is a Contego with M4.
I have four 06's and have not seen any of the issues he's talking about, but for some reason, my drop points are slower than my tantos.
Had a Gerber 06 and lost it. Now I have a Benchmade Claymore. Huge action! Just watched a vid. on a spring upgrade on the Gerber. Seems to have worked. However, I’m going to say if anyone is on the fence between Gerber auto and Benchmade auto, go with the a Benchmade. You won’t regret it.
I guess I got lucky. I have an 06 Auto and mine is really snappy. And it is centered damn near perfect. I have the drop point, half serrated model. I have several autos and my 06 Auto is among the best I own. It replaced my Microtech Ultratech Tactical OTF as my EDC option. And I occasionally carry a Gerber Covert Mini auto as well.
Thank you for the video.
I've had my AFO2 for about 4 years now n it's been my EDC since then. In my opinion the afo was and still is the best automatic tactical knife you can use every day.
I have never owned a Benchmade. I just ordered my 3rd Gerber. It is a tank.
I think for the Gerber the tonto is a little shorter than the other blade types available for the 06, and they don't list this in the stats.
I do like the look of the drop point on that knife.
I been carrying an AFO 2 all black non serated for 16 years.
At first it seemed big and clunky but after owning it a few weeks, no other knife felt as solid. Best knife I've ever owned.
Gerber is trash in comparison. P.s. the glass breaker is at the bottom of the knife on the AFO. Well, mine has it. It isn't a tonto blade either.
My favorite knife for sure, and it is the best knife I've owned as well. Unfortunately in the non serrated version they are getting hard to come by. Thank you for sharing👍
06 takes my vote
The only downside to the Benchmade is there's no glass breaker. I don't feel like this quite a good comparison for that reason - the frame and heaviness is bulkier on the 06 for this reason as well. You can also replace the spring on the 06 though it's a pita. But yeah unfortunately quality in Gerbers is just not consistent, where I've never had a bad Benchmade yet
Yeah I like the 06 but the execution on it wasn't 100%. The Benchmade afo2 does have a glass breaker and you can put a new spring in it as well. Though I've never needed to. The good thing about the benchmade is it's two handle slabs and a spring, lock, and blade whereas the 06 appears to have a thousand parts including liners and standoffs as I recall. The benchmade in my opinion is by far superior in every way though the Gerber is a good knife.
I’ve never known BenchMade had any government contracts
Personally, I live my gerber O6 Auto. Never had that benchmade though.
I've been looking at a drop point 06 actually. They always catch my eye. The benchmade is being discontinued unfortunately so may be time to grab one if need be.
I think your bias, I have the Gerber 06 and I love it the benchmade is a great knife and the Gerber 06 to me is absolutely awesome. Just my opinion. Put the safety on and what you have is NO wiggly at all with the Gerber 06. It does just what it was intended to do.
I did do a follow up review with a different 06, which was a much better knife but I do still highly prefer the Benchmade.
I could tell almost immediately the BM is a better build-- more contoured handle, much snappier deployment, recessed button, safety on the spine, *and* an adjustable pin? Yeah I'll take it.
Great comparison. Word is Gerber is getting their act together but this suggests otherwise. A blade with that centering shouldn't have gotten out at all.
I do like the AFOs for sure. I've been carrying the gray one now daily and the Microtech actually got benched. I've found it's actually my best cutter in addition to its other attributes you pointed out. Kind of brilliant. I've always preferred them but now I have one with no serrations which really brings out it's performance.
The Gerber is a clunker without doubt. Even with proper centering it'd still lag I think. It's got some charm but I think overpriced due to the obvious lack of care it saw from the factory and shortage of necessary hardware. The Benchmade on the other hand I personally find to be perfection if all necessary traits taken into consideration and aggregated. For my preferences, and opinions of course. And my true bias for it. I'm sure you know what I mean and have something similar. Only way to go!
I've had the budget version of the 06 and it was crap, low quality steel with a bad heat treatment. It was very soft, while tough.. it would not keep an edge. I had used it often and had it for a little over a year when the button lock failed while carving tent stakes out of a hickory branch. I did find the handle to be comfortable while whittling though.
The American version may be a bit better. But the button does seem to be a weak point all around.
I just received the 06 auto Multicam. Love it already but, the blade is absolutely horribly off center. So much that it's rubbing the blade. And the spring load, wheww, ive seen turtles faster. That's alright with me though. Just want to get blade fixed to center. Don't let any if this discourage ya to buy though. Great knife with great history. Same with the AFOII. I'm sure it'll be hit or miss also. I have a Benchmade 9400 auto and that thing is perfect in every way. Take that as you want. Give two of the biggest American knife companies a try.
Im getting the AFO next, I had the aluminum 06 I got one from there Pro Program, some zip-tie I was cutting got in between blade and handles and locked it up, tried disassembling to fix it and all those little extra parts shot everywhere my fault of course but still the spacing with handle scales and the blade is too wide there was crud occasionally accumulating in between all the time.
I think you'll be happier. The AFO (in my opinion) is the much better knife all around but if you still have your 06 I'd check on sending it in to get it fixed so you have a backup. AFO is my absolute favorite knife and if you like the way it looks I can safely assume you'll love it.
I loved my afo till I lost it but come Monday we will be reunited
send it in to gerber
benchmade 4ever, quality on first place...
True
I live next to both Gerber and Benchmade factories, I wonder if they sell wholesale.
The Benchmade looks solid, looks better and screams quality knife.
Very solid knife. Definitely built to last.
@@greatnorthwest667 how did you did pay for the AFO?
@@apocalypticredix8538 how do you mean?
@@greatnorthwest667 price
@@KimballPrecision I'd think there are several places online.
Lol Gerber vs a Black Series Benchmade?
Ive had both of these and dont have anything bad to say about the Gerber, but the Benchmade has been my EDC, including Active Duty Military EDC for probably 12 years, and it is a tank. I cant recommend it enough! I only wish I had chosen the plain blade instead of the serrated.
Agreed. It is a tank, and my personal favorite. The plain edge does open it up to better overall cutting and sharpening but those serrations are nice in a pinch. I've been going for the plain blades lately.
Couldn't agree more. I have had mine for I think 2 years. Used it nonstop and it's still going. I personally like my AFO 2 more than the auto socom. I had all but given up on benchmade. Then I got the afo2. I did have problems with mine when I got it. The hardware was so caked with locktite I stripped 2 of the 3 pocket screws. And 2 take it apart for cleaning the pivot had so much locktite I had 2 heat it up for 15 mins and crank on the pivot 2 get it out.
I like them both .but I got the benchmade afo.great auto knives.
My 06 is centered. It's snappy enough, being the blade has so much mass to it. I have found the harder you hold the knife, the more snappy the action. Action vs reaction and weight.
Benchmade is better!!! way better!!! In my opinion
Much better 👍
metal or g10 for badboys situation choice is clear
Wish you lived near me, I'd buy that Gerber from you. :)
Not a bad knife at all.
Great Northwest interested in a trade or selling the 06?
Have you ever tried the Kershaw / Emerson Launch 5 Auto with CPM-154 steel for about $100.00 ?? Better than both , for the money , imo.
I have not but that is a good looking knife. I've always been interested in trying the cpm-154, and kershaw is supposed to have good steel.
Why do you think it's better than both? I have an afo 2 I got for 100 and looking to get another auto. Was looking at those Kershaw's before I got the afo.
It’s not better then both.
What do you mean by adjustable stop pin? I have the same AFO and it seems that the main torque screw by the deployment button if tightened down it doesn’t open I have to keep it lose for it to deploy then I have blade wobble
Almost thought this was a rough attempt at a troll. I apologize otherwise. If your knife has another torx head on the off side along with a hexagonal stop pin then it's adjustable to account for wear. If stop pin is round theoretically it's still adjustable by loosening everything up and manually spinning the pin. That probably wouldn't solve side to side play however.
Great Northwest thanks. I’m just confused on why the main big torque screw by deploy button can’t be tightened on mine. Never noticed it before but I just noticed blade wobble when opened and thought it needed tightened. So I did and it made it very stiff. So I have to keep the screw semi lose for it to perform properly. Seems kinda strange to me that the screw could eventually work its way out completely. Almost like there needs to be washers on each side of blade but there aren’t. Have you had this issue?
@@skipmcgripcunningham9897 so no hex stop pin I take it? I would remove pivot bolt from knife. Just the bolt, and clean it off. Use blue loctite and let it sit. When adjusting the bolt after that use extremely micro turns. I have one knife that always has a little tick of play and that's as best as I can get it without it binding up.
Great Northwest there is a hex stop pin that can rotate when loosened but doesn’t stop blade wobble. Maybe I need to take whole knife apart and clean it up. It is old so maybe it’s just worn down. But thanks for the help
@@skipmcgripcunningham9897 I feel your pain. While blade is open turn the stop pin torx clockwise until very snug. While pivot is adjusted as well of course. If that doesn't solve it I'd consider sending it to benchmade for them to fix it.
I own the aluminum handled version with the spear point, I upgraded the spring. Now it's an awesome knife with snappy action. Your title should have been ( Geber 06 and everything that sucks about it) Benchmade Company is a bunch of posers 😀😀😀
How is the glass breaker in your way, it's on the back end of the knife.
would you go aluminum or g10 on the gerber?
I prefer aluminum and on this knife I think it would be best, especially going off what I've seen with my knife.
@@greatnorthwest667 i went with alum. thabks
@@TheScottyp1 excellent choice!
@@greatnorthwest667 no it has to be returned. i have never had a blade with so much blade play. no matter how tight it flops around.
@@TheScottyp1 that sucks, depending on how much you paid and where from there are other options hopefully. I do prefer that Benchmade option if it's close to same price. Or try again with another Gerber.
Maybe gebar got the bugs out it.
Waaaaaay late to the party🎉, though after seein so many dogsh!t💩 YTube knife vids, I had to drop in to say excellent video!!
As former Federal LE, having spent 2+ years in undercover and been in three knife/punch dagger skirmishes in that capacity, I only used/use fixed blade pocket knives/punch daggers for self defense blades, though I did/do carry either an OTF/OTS auto as my daily EDC.
That said, I too was gifted both the standard 06 Tanto auto that you reviewed, along with the olive green 10th Anniversary issue, while also having a number of 9400 BM autos, and I'd take ANY Benchmade over this Gerber 06, and I wanted sooooo badly to have the Gerber be at least the equal of the BM, however, even if I was delusional & drugged out, these knives are in two different leagues, lol.
While my unit had our choice of the knife brands for our service blades(I used Cold Steel Customs), guys that initially chose the Gerbers were always tryin to swap em for the Benchmades, lolol.
Again, great review🤙
Continued Success Brotha👊
RP
AFO all the way ⚔️
Very much so👍
Anyone willing to sell there afo 2 non serrated please get in contact with me
Dude, everyone knows that Benchmade produces great knives and Gerber has been sub par since their beginning. Why are you wasting your time? Further more, why would you ever buy a Gerber? It just doesn’t make any sense!
Gerbers are junk-you couldn't pay me to carry one.You want budget,get a kershaw,or a civivi,both make quality peices at reasonable prices.Benchmade and Spyderco have good to high end peices