failure of rolling locks on 6 out of 8 sifus

[J W Kilpatrick]

Attn: Christina Montero
It can be verified very clearly by a very close inspection of these 6 sifus that they have not been abused. I have only abused one sifu which is my everyday cary knife and it has stood up to all the test I have applied to it. These 6 sifus have only been modertly spine whacked and they fail the spine whack test now when very lightly spine whaked. Tell me where to send these for repair. I am the customer who spent $1200 and got 8 sifus 6 of which are in dangerous condition of which I believe to be due to the lack of quality control.

[J W Kilpatrick]

I would think that you would want to be made aware that your top of the line product THE REKAT SIFU has problems of passing a gentle to moderate spine whack test since this would clearly imply that this product can fail from time to time and cut your customer's fingers. I think that your reaction to me as one of your customers is beginning to show your true colors. Am I right or wrong. Be polite to me as one of your customers and give me the address of where to send the 6 sifus to for repair and fix them for me at no cost and send them back to me. Seems to me that after spending $1200 on your sifus you would simply take that course of action and avoid upsetting yourself and advoid making your company look so bad on Blades Forum. What do you think?

[glockman99]

J W Kilpatrick,

Dang, you must really have some bad luck to have 6 out of 8 Sifu fail a spine-wack "test". I just went and "tested" the 2 Sifus that I have, and both passed "with flying colors", (although I don't see how a spine-wack is "real-life" use for the Sifu).

As a side-note...After wrapping the blade on both my Sifus with a heavy towel, I put quite a bit of downward hand-pressure on the open blade(s), and they both held-up rock-solid.

Send your Sifus in, and let REKAT take a look.

[Brian C]

...but wasn't one thread a day on this topic enough?

[J W Kilpatrick]

If you were involved in a struggle for your life and you made a quick strong thrust toward your opponent with a SIFU and your opponent used a very hard object to deflect the SIFU by whaking the spine of the SIFU and it closed on your fingers you would immediately discover how a spine whack test would be relevant to "real life", because you would find yourself in the unenveiable position of carrying the battle on with your weak hand while your SIFU lay on the ground.

[ArchAngel]

JW,
I have a question. If the spine whack testing of folders is so important in the representation of real life encounters, to ensure that they perform as well as a fixed blade, why not just buy fixed blades? I, for one carry a Sifu. I also think spine whacking is abusive. I spend allot for my tools that I work with, just as I spend a goodly amount on the knives that I use and enjoy. I do not abuse my tools, or my knives. If I use a tool at work beyond its intended design and it fails, whos fault is it? Maybe if everyone spent less time beating the crap out of their folders to prove that they were as good as fixed blades, there would be less knife failures and more happy customers. Just my humble opinion, for what little it is worth.

[Easyrider]

I couldn't have said it better myself ArchAngel! I can't ever say I had aproblem with a Rolling Lock that I didn't cause by screwing around with it! If I didn't touch the lock it worked as advertise , if I screwed with it, well it didn't work nearly as well. I think the spine whack test is just a insidious plot by manufacturers to sell more knives.

[Mike990]

I disagree this subject has been talked to death unreasonably. I think the Sifu has a real known problem with its lock. I had it happen too, and I never whacked anything much less the spine. In fact I had only opened it and closed it very gently with no flicking. On about the 50th opening it would no longer lock open. They fixed it asap and Bob Brothers as a favor to me thinned and then sharpened the edge to make it slice the dust in the air in half. It now seems rock solid. Thanks Bob.

But the point is there is either a parts flaw or a design flaw in the knife. I don't think its just the rolling lock design as other models have not had a problem that is similar. Of course they don't have a 5.5 inch blade twisting on the lock either. But something is up and folks need to now about it, and Rekat needed to get in front of it.

My gut says its a bad run of some part they used in the design. But you know what....they aint saying. I doubt anyone who had their lock fixed ever got a detailed technical explanation of exactly what went wrong with it.

I feel bad about it. The folks at REKAT are working on a shoe string trying to bring a great line of heavy duty folders to market. I think their patience is running out at the same speed the economy slows.

Backing out of the forums, makes it seem they were once involved. They were not. Closing the forum will move all these type posts into the limelight of the General forum. That is not going to solve anything. Its going from the back page to the front page.

I feel bad, because the Sifu was really something special. It was almost right. If benchmade ever made something like that with a heavy duty axis lock, and it held, it would really sell. They have the marketing muscle to do it too.

Everyone at REKAT was great when I had a problem with my Sifu, and for that I am thankful. The Sifu was almost the ultimate folder. But no explanation of the lock failures and not knowing if it can reoccur after being fixed, keeps me feeling hesitant.

[Cosmic Superchunk]

Originally posted by ArchAngel
,
Maybe if everyone spent less time beating the crap out of their folders to prove that they were as good as fixed blades, there would be less knife failures and more happy customers.

Archangel, you're right on target. This spine whacking thing has no logic. You're basically treating the folder as if it were a hammer. I appreciate solid locking mechanisms on a folding knife, just like everyone else, but if I ever thought I'd be faced with an opponent with a stick or "any hard object" which could be used to whack at the spine on my knife, then I'd carry a fixed blade for defensive purposes and perhaps a folder as backup. Frankly, the mere sight of a Sifu would be enough to make some perp think twice.

Bring it on!

[Steve Harvey]

Originally posted by ArchAngel
...Maybe if everyone spent less time beating the crap out of their folders to prove that they were as good as fixed blades, there would be less knife failures and more happy customers...

Well, they do say that ignorance is bliss. But it is too late for anyone reading this forum. Knowing the record, who would go about deluding themselves that the lock of their Sifu is utterly reliable without testing it in some way?

The problem is that folding knives don't come with guidelines from the manufacturer stating accurately what the lock will take and what it won't. The image of the Sifu is that of the biggest, baddest folding fighter around, and as far as I know, REKAT does nothing to create any other image. That is all that the Sifu purchaser has to go on.

For a folding knife to be a reliable weapon in the chaos of CQC, the lock has to be able to take some closing impact without folding. With the record on the forums of the reliability of the Sifu's lock, you have to test it in some way, or you just don't know what you have got. You don't have to pound the knife to pieces, and you don't have to test it every day. Test it to the impact level of your own satisfaction.

But busting a knife will always be better than losing fingers.