The Gerber Obsidian packs useful extra features into a small pocket clip folder, including three basic tools along with the drop point blade.
Only four inches long when closed, the knife conceals three blades within its black ballistic nylon handle. The main blade is a three-inch-long, plain-edged clip point of 440A high carbon stainless steel with two thumb studs for either right or left-handed opening. Two locks control that action — a slide lock to prevent accidental opening in the pocket and a plunge lock to fix the blade in the open position. Depress the plunge lock at the rear of the handle to release and fold the knife blade.
The two other handy blades include a Phillips screwdriver bit and a combination bottle opener and flat bit screwdriver. Using nearly every multi-blade pocket knife I’ve owned quickly turned at least one knife blade into a flat tip bit anyway. To have one designed for this task actually works a lot better. Neither of the tool bits locks in place, but neither has a sharp edge, so an accidental fold-up won’t hurt much.
The action of the knife is fairly smooth, but it probably will need some breaking in for true one-handed opening. Keep it clean and oiled, and practice often. The closed design of the textured nylon handle doesn’t add noticeable weight — the knife weighs only 4.6 ounces — and does keep out a lot of the interfering debris that fouls the swivel bearings of skeletonized knives.
A lanyard hole in the bolster offers a handy security option if you take the Gerber Obsidian into awkward places like roofs or mountain trails. Otherwise, the full-length pocket clip keeps it at the ready. It’s not a fancy knife, but it does more than one job well.
