the lock fetish

I like to design slipjoints and lockbacks, as I age and my fingers lose their dexterity I find that coil spring lockbacks are easier to open and close. When I move from traditional to modern I favor framelocks and my own frontlock (k93 featherlite and K-12d, the new titamiun linered frontlock)

A properly engineered slipjoint should open easily and be about twice as hard to close. Like any traditional knife they should walk and talk, as should a well made lock back.
 
Well technically my old knife is a 194OT but sold by Parker-Frost with brown jigged bone handles, not delrin. Definitely a carbon steel blade. No thumb studs.

Thanks for the clarification, now I understand a bit better. Sorry for threadjacking.
 
A. G. Russell said:
A properly engineered slipjoint should open easily and be about twice as hard to close. Like any traditional knife they should walk and talk, as should a well made lock back.
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Absolutely! The French Chambriard knives I own fill this space. They are very easy to open but seriously hard to close, have a tremendous snap at the point of closing. I believe that weakly sprung slipjoints are the ones most likely to catch you unawares......:eek:
 
And I thought that (everything else being equal) the fact that a locking knife was safer than a non-locking one was a no-brainer. :p It never occurred to me to invoke the foolishness of some users to prove otherwise. It's like arguing that a motorcycle is safer than a car because I've had a few car accidents, yet I've never had a motorcycle accident. Well, perhaps motorcycles are safer than cars... :)

I must say that I've cut myself several times with knives and that having a lock or not, fixed blade or folder, never mattered: it was that darned sharp edge that did it every time. Therefore, I really am not qualified to give my opinion about this subject. :)
 
Locks are like safeties on guns. Most of us was brought up learning how to handle firearms. Even with the safety on we still respect that the gun could fire. That doesn't mean we keep a loaded gun on safety and throw the gun around, beat it on a tree,or baton with it. I have locking knives but don't like em bc it takes fourteen steps and three arms to close them. I use my knife hard just like sum of these tatical people use theirs. I've never had a knife close up on me bc I cut away from myself and use it the proper way. Accidents happen but to me it's all about knife sales. The trend is a 7inch long titanium steel knife to defend off zombie attacks and bad guys with sawed off shotguns. It's all in what people likes and if they want a pocket sword I'm happy for them.
 
The point made by a number of posters on the locking blades being somewhat easier to open is an interesting one. In that regard, the lock acts as a sort of compensation that allows for easier deployment while wearing gloves, etc. Less reliance on the thumb nick. I hadn't considered that aspect.
 
akadave2 said:
Here we go! I knew I wasnt crazy! The one that sold on the bay was mint!

http://www.luxurytoys.biz/auction/Dscf9861.jpg
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That's not a thumb stud, that's a very old fashioned can opener blade. You hold the knife strait up, tap the but so it pierces the can top, and when the stud contacts the rim of the can, you push down on the handle, then move up a bit and do it again. The stud fits agaisnt the can rim and gives a stop so you can push the blade up and cut the top out a little bit at a time.

Carl.
 
jackknife said:
That's not a thumb stud, that's a very old fashioned can opener blade. You hold the knife strait up, tap the but so it pierces the can top, and when the stud contacts the rim of the can, you push down on the handle, then move up a bit and do it again. The stud fits agaisnt the can rim and gives a stop so you can push the blade up and cut the top out a little bit at a time.

Carl.
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Thanks for the info. I knew it didn't really look like much of a thumb stud, but a can opener didn't cross my mind.
 
Like Carl mentioned here's the can opener on my CASE #6445R scout pattern knife

cheetahjackcamper1.jpg


Paul
 
Locking or non-locking will depend on what I expect to need my knife for. I work in an office full of people in cubicles. Almost all my work cutting tasks can be accomplished with my Victorinox Compact. When I'm out in the woods I generally have a SAK of some sort along with a fixed blade for tougher tasks. In my 20s I went hard & heavy into the tactical folder craze, especially while in the Army Thanks to this forum I have discovered Opinels. My new EDC for Scout outings is usually my Opinel #8 in carbon steel. Works great for camp chores & whittling, plus meets the folding knife criteria on official Scout events.
 
:cool: I usually carry a lockback Schrade and feel very comfortable doing so. No, I don't want to stab anything but there might be an emergency where it is necessary to do so. Also, the locking folder is slightly less likely to close accidentally - I consider the lock a safety feature.

A locking knife can be used as a tool in two ways: 1. as a improvised ice pick
2. as a improvised drill or awl when rotated in a twirling manner.

In either case, the lock could fail so a good precaution is to wrap the blade with a clean cloth or paper towel. I have, though, been able to use a locking knife as described.
Faiaoga
 
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I understand what Carl is saying, and I've experienced that attitude from people who should know better. When my Boy Scouts complete their "Totin' Chip", it allows them to carry a pocket knife. If they were Cub Scouts they also did the "Whittlin' Chit", both teach basic knife safety. Many parents inevitably buy their sons a gas station type lockback because "it's safer", and of course, cheap. Safer than what? A Swiss Army knife? Cheap? What is your son's finger worth? I had a father argue with me that a SAK was inherently dangerous because it was a slipjoint. My reply was, "any knife is dangerous if you don't know how to use it".

His son hurt himself with a cheapo lockback at camp that summer...guess the Scout training didn't sink in, or the father's attitude overrode it with his son. In any case, I don't like seeing my Scouts carrying junky lockbacks, because it may mean I have to take them to the hospital. Because of it, I have a presentation on knives every May. The Scouts have to show the leaders the knife safety lessons they learned when they joined Scouts. I get some grumbling from the older guys, but I show them the nice scar I have from when I forgot knife safety myself as an adult, depending on a lock that wasn't fully engaged.

I have a couple Scouts who are developing into "knife nuts", though so far they mostly carry "tacticals". Except the one Scout who got the Opinel in our Christmas exchange, he's been carrying it and showing it since the beginning of the year...
 
I usually carry a slipjoint pocketknife (victorinox cadet) as a utilty blade and a kershaw skyline is clipped to my pocket for task I need a little beefier or locking blade.
 
Ken44 said:
Thats the first time I've seen an old knife with a thumb stud. Do you know about what decade that was ?
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Thats a 1920-1945 knife

Can opener you say? Doesnt much look like one but I defer to the experts.
 
pertinux said:
Wholly apart from use, lockback knives tend to have much softer pulls than slipjoints, making them easier to open (and once the lock is disengaged, to close). For some, this is a primary draw.

~ P.
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This is closest to my own opinion. A spring and a lock are both mechanisms for holding the knife open so that you can use the cutting edge. The locking blade is easier to open.

I won't stab with a locking knife any more than I will with a slipjoint. Locks can fail. I am always careful to use a locking knife such that, if it did fail, I would not be cut. I leave stabbing to fixed blades, not that I've ever stabbed anything with one of those, either.
 
jc57 said:
I have a question regarding locking mechanisms, and those that are allowed for discussion here. I have an old Schrade trapper-style folding knife from 1978 with brown jigged bone handles and nickel silver bolsters, that looks as traditional as can be. It has a backspring like any other traditional knife and a nail-nick for opening, but also has a linerlock to prevent closing, which is a bronze tab that protrudes up slightly near the blade pivot.

I have on order a Case Copperlock which is a traditional-style knife with a lockback mechanism. I also have an old Buck 110 with the lockback. So from my understanding, the Schrade is not a suitable topic for discussion because of the linerlock, but the Case and Buck lockbacks are?

Just wanting some clarification, not complaining.
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Depends on the mechanics of the locking mechanism.
If you got a lock with omega springs in it, or if you a framelock, that won't make it in the Traditional Forum. Those are recent developments. If you have a knife with a lockback mechanism or a a simple spring lock, those are fine. They have been around for a couple of generations.
 
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