Hands-On: Gerber’s Fastball Urban Grey Edition Is a Versatile American-Made Workhorse

Since its inception in 1939, Gerber has developed a reputation for churning out hardwearing, built-to-last knives and tool sold at a fair price. Case in point; the Gerber Fastball — a high-end workhorse of a flipper knife with American craftsmanship and powder metallurgy blade steel. Since its release in 2019, the Fastball has quickly become one of the Portland brand’s most popular everyday carry knives — a fact that’s now prompted it to debut several limited edition versions of the blade, the latest of which is the Gerber Fastball Urban Grey Edition.

Breaking Down The Basics

Spanning 7.10” overall, the Fastball is constructed around an aerospace-grade aluminum handle with an underlying stainless steel liner lock. The handle comes paired with an 0.11-inch-thick, 3.0” flat-ground Wharncliffe blade that’s deployed via a flipper tab and forged in top-shelf CPM S30V powder-metallurgy blade steel. Tipping the scales at only 2.75oz, the Fastball also boasts a three-position stainless steel pocket clip (that ships in a tip-up configuration). 

Everyday Workhorse

Far more than a good-looking folder, the Fastball was legitimately engineered from the ground up to deliver an enormous amount of utility — and an equally impressive level of versatility. This bonafide workhorse of a flipper can be opened or closed using just one hand. Backed by the Gerber’s Guarantee, the Fastball also comes loaded with a pointy Wharncliffe blade that gives it excellent piercing abilities while its long, lightly-curved belly makes it super proficient at slicing. What’s more, over 3/4s of the blade’x length boasts the CPM construction’s beefiest thickness, resulting in a heavily-reinforced setup with some real structural integrity and strength. The stonewashed finish on the blade also helps to conceals scuffs and scratches. 

The Fidget-Friendly Factor

After spending a few days carrying and using Gerber’s Fastball, it becomes abundantly clear that another one of the knife’s primary highlights is its ridiculously-well-dialed-in blade-opening action. Guided by Gerber’s B.O.S.S. (balls of stainless steel) system, the Fastball’s action is remarkably snappy — an area at least partially owed to a perfectly-tuned detent. I’d actually go as far as to say the factory-tuning on this knife results in an action that’s legitimately comparable to that of knives costing two-to-four-times as much. It’s consistent, buttery-smooth action also makes for a super fidget-friendly knife that’s incredibly satisfying to open and close. Even the sound the lockup makes is pretty gratifying. 

Punching Above Its Weight

The Gerber Fastball Urban Grey Edition is the very epitome of an everyday carry knife that punches well above its weight. Not only is its material selection and build quality actually comparable to that of markedly pricier, USA-made pocket knives, but it also offers a level of performance and utility that’s more commonly-reserved for ultra-high-dollar small-batch blade. Additionally, though it’s by no means a budget knife — far from it, in fact — the Fastball nonetheless affords some pretty stellar bang-for-your-buck, especially when you consider everything that its $125 MSRP gets you, from the domestic manufacturing to the top-notch build quality to the anodized aluminum handle-set to the decidedly premium USA-made CPM S30V blade steel from Crucible Industries. 

The Devil’s In The Details

At first glance, the Fastball looks like a fairly run-of-the-mill folder, though closer inspection reveals a host of impressive minor detail that help to collectively elevate the knife as a whole. This includes the light jimping on the flipper tab and liner lock that make both easier to manipulate, as well as the contours on the outside of the scales that make this otherwise flat, low-profile handle incredibly ergonomic — even when carried in a reverse grip. The Fastball’s B.O.S.S. system sits beneath a custom bullseye-style pivot collar, the the knife’s ridged back-spacer clearly takes ample inspiration from aftermarket spacers. It doesn’t end there, however.

Meticulous Manufacturing

Made in America, the Fastball boasts what can only be described as a top-shelf level of craftsmanship and build quality. Everything from the fit and finish of the handle to the blade’s centering is just perfect. Not only is it meticulously pieced together, but the Fastball also arrives from Gerber with a ridiculously-sharp factory edge.

Custom-Ready Cutter

Since its original debut in 2020, the Fastball has become an immensely popular knife for Gerber. This influx of interest has not only prompted the Portland-based brand to produce the knife in a variety of different color-anodized handle finishes — with the latest being the Urban Grey Edition (seen here) — but it’s also resulted in Gerber adding the USA-made workhorse to its range of knives that can be customized on the brand’s online configurator. Everything from the blade steel to the blade shape to the hardware to the back-spacer to the clip to the pivot collar can all be custom configured, plus the blade and handle can be done up in customized colors or decorated with custom patterns, graphics, images, or text. 

Spec Sheet

Pricing & Availability

The Gerber Fastball Urban Grey Edition is available now with pricing set at just $125.

Recap

Gerber Fastball Urban Grey Edition

The beloved American-made folder continues to punch well above its weight class, and the new Urban Grey colorway is the perfect complement to any EDC loadout.

Purchase From Gerber: $125