General Dynamic. What does the "5" mean. A buddy thinks the 5 continents, or the Santini bros. (;-)



Cleaned it up a bit.

Model No?

Length in inches?

I'd guess this was a gift commemorating 5 years working as some upper level mucky muck.

Maybe you could contact Gerber and they might have a record of it.

I e.mailed GD. We'll see if I get a response.

Gerber Sportsman
2.5" blade.




From Levine's guide
The original Folding Sportsman was introduced in 1972. It was designed by Al Mar, based on Ron Lake's InterFrame (Al was a packaging designer, not a knife designer). Al had asked Ron for permission to copy the InterFrame exactly, but he was not authorized by Pete Gerber to pay royalties to knifemakers, so Ron turned him down.

The first FS knives were made for Gerber in Solingen in 1972, and those knives continued in inventory into 1974. In 1973 Gerber began its own production of this model, re-naming it the FS II. In 1975 Gerber introduced the larger FS III, and in 1976 the smaller FS I. [Much as the Mark II preceded the Mark I.]

Fiskars bought Gerber in 1986. The FS II continued in production until around 1997. There were a number of changes in construction and marking details over the years, but as far as I know, none of these was tied to the change in ownership -- rather they reflected changes in manufacturing technology. Gerber did not keep quantity records so it is not known how many were made.