Gerber Zilch Review

Blade Quality

The Zilch's blade is long and narrow, which makes it a good choice for delicate finesse cutting tasks, not brute force. The spine of the blade flows elegantly into the handle, with a low-angle sweep from the tip down along the cutting edge.

The factory grind is fairly sharp, and it does a decent job of cutting paper and cardboard right out of the box. However, because of the shape of the blade, it does a much better job with smaller strokes while whittling, which shows its penchant for more nimble tasks.

The stainless steel alloy (7Cr17MoV) is known mainly as a mid-range kitchen knife steel. It was developed specifically to strike a compromise between hardness and ease of sharpening (which we'll discuss later). Like other mid-range kitchen knives, the steel is acceptably corrosion resistant. But if you leave it in a bucket of saltwater, you can expect some discoloration.

Saltwater spray testing the Zilch's blade.   Credit: Kyle Hameister

A couple blemishes did start, which we were disappointed to see.   Credit: Kyle Hameister

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Ease of Use

Though the Zilch isn't tiny, its blade is thin and light. Combined with some considerable friction in the pivot, we were worried that it might be difficult to open the blade. Thankfully, a well-placed thumb stud gives you some great leverage – we're pleasantly surprised how quickly and reliably the blade pops open with just a flick of your thumb. (Alternatively, you can use a prominent 'nail nick' cutaway along the blade to open the knife with two hands.)

The blade lock is a common liner-style lock, where a thin section of the metal handle skeleton springs into place under the blade automatically when opened. Sometimes, this style of lock is too stiff or too difficult to access, but the Zilch has one of the best liner locks of any knife we've tested. The blade releases and folds away painlessly.

Carrying Comfort

This is a perfect everyday carry (EDC) knife. It all but disappears in your pocket – it feels more like a pen or a car fob on a key ring, rather than a bulky pocket knife. It's sleek enough to share a pocket with a wallet, but the texture pattern on the handle is weirdly 'sharp' and tends to catch your knuckles if you're trying to reach past it into your pocket.

The pocket clip is strong enough to clip onto a pocket without feeling loose, but it is a little small. The position of the clip also means the top of the knife sticks out of a pocket 1/4" or so. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but considering the other design choices all geared towards carrying comfort, it's a bit baffling.

Grip

There are some tradeoffs due to the Zilch's slim figure, and grip quality is a notable one. Even if the scales are rounded and comfortable to hold, it's just too skinny to feel truly secure for anything other than light cutting tasks. The plastic handle offers little assistance to improve the grip, though it doesn't get worse when wet, at least.

The handle is long enough for most people to fit four fingers around the grip, which makes the Zilch feel less like a mini knife. Still, it feels weirdly small in your hand. This perhaps has more to do with the length of the blade than the handle – the handle is actually 1" longer than the blade!

We wish there was a larger finger guard between handle and blade, which would make cutting feel a bit more secure. There's essentially no dedicated thumb rest to help apply pressure and stability to cuts, again, solidifying the Zilch as a light-duty knife.

Sharpening & Cleaning

The steel should be 'soft' enough to work without issue. However, it was challenging to pull the long, straight edge through our sharpener consistently – it only felt 'normal' at the sweep up towards the end. It took us about 20-25 minutes to get the Zilch back close to a factory edge, which is longer than most of the knives we tested.

Cleaning is easier – the Zilch is a simple knife without many nooks and crannies for gunk to collect in. The handle is open for about 1/2 its length, so it's fairly easy to wash out. However, there are some puzzling zig-zag-like teeth partially closing the back end, which makes it a bit harder to wash out than it would otherwise.

Should You Buy the Gerber Zilch?

This is a pretty perfect everyday carry (EDC) knife – it's so affordable that it can be lost or misplaced without being a huge deal. It's built well enough, and opens quickly enough to make it fun and practical. While it's not designed for heavy-duty cutting, you can't expect that from a knife with a plastic handle.

What Other Pocket Knives Should You Consider?