2019, Year Of The Fixed Blade!

Will You Be Looking At A Fixed Blade Due To Reported Lock Failures?

  • YES

    Votes: 9 10.3%

  • NO

    Votes: 78 89.7%
  • Total voters
    87
  • Poll closed .
T

Tommy-Chi

Joined
May 25, 2017
Messages
864
I don't know, tell me what you think. We've been seeing an awful lot of well made and overbuilt folders fail without much pressure on the spine or in simple daily use.

Will this effect sales? There are some very well designed 2 inch to 4 inch fixed blades with outstanding steels to choose from.

I'm looking at fixed blades more and more as I wince at the stories of fellow Blade Forum stories about their folders cutting them or their near misses.

>> LOCK FAILURE
 
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I haven’t been here long but the main issues I’ve seen have been on liner and frame lock knives. Are other locking mechanisms problematic as well? I’ve had great luck with both the Benchmade Axis lock and the Spyderco compression lock. In the back of my mind I also feel like there are certain use cases where a folding knife just isn’t suited to the task and maybe that’s why I’ve never had a problem.

I love my Guardian 3 and 4, but I don’t own them due to issues with the locking mechanisms on my folders. I really just wanted something different.
 
t5brick said:
Are other locking mechanisms problematic as well? ... I love my Guardian 3 and 4, but I don’t own them due to issues with the locking mechanisms on my folders. I really just wanted something different.
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I've not heard recently of lock failures other that liner and frame.

I have a Guardian 3 and love it. Looking at the Guardian 4 for a number of reasons, reported lock failures being one of them.
 
Tommy-Chi said:
We've been seeing an awful lot of well made and overbuilt folders fail without much pressure on the spine or in simple daily use.
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If they are failing so easily, I think it might challenge the presupposition that they are well made. Expensive, maybe. Well fit/finished, maybe. But a locking folder that is "well made" should have a lock that doesn't fail with "simple daily use."

Either way, there are some fantastic small fixed blades. No doubt about that. The Bradford G3 is a very popular and well respected example that comes in great steels.
 
Tommy-Chi said:
I don't know, tell me what you think. We've been seeing an awful lot of well made and overbuilt folders fail without much pressure on the spine or in simple daily use.
Click to expand...

We have? I have seen some, and have always seem some. It hardly seems like locks are failing all over the place.

Are fixed blades less prone to lock failure? Of course.

Are more people going to be carrying around fixed blades in 2019 since we had a lock failure thread this week? No.
 
marcinek said:
We have? I have seen some, and have always seem some. It hardly seems like locks are failing all over the place.

Are fixed blades less prone to lock failure? Of course.

Are more people going to be carrying around fixed blades in 2019 since we had a lock failure thread this week? No.
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OK. Just thought that I would get a pulse of the people because there are 49 pages on Blade Forum on "LOCK FAILURE".
 
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Just one more newbie opinion, but I don’t see folder popularity dropping because some examples may sometimes fail. Fixed blades aren’t as readily pocketable as folders and they just don’t lend themselves to discreet concealed carrying like folders do. Any and all real or hyped folder shortcomings notwithstanding, I don’t think it likely that folders will lose ground to fixed blades.
Edit:
Tommy-Chi said:
OK. Just thought that I would get a pulse of the people because there are 49 pages on Blade Forum on "LOCK FAILURE".
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While BF may be a community of unusually knowledgable and discerning knife aficionados, we are nowhere near the be-all and end-all of the global knife-buying public. “X number” of pages here means damn near nothing to the world at large and is nowhere near being a valid reason to prance around declaring 2019 to be “The Year Of The Fixed Blade Knife” or any other such self-absorbed thing.
 
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Folders aren't going anywhere. Also, fixed blades make zero sense for a fairly sizeable portion of the working public. Sitting at a desk all day wearing a fixed blade would be ridiculous in my opinion; whereas a folder just slips into the pocket with no issues.
 
don't think it will have an impact on buying decisions. Some people may look at other brands, but there is plenty of brands to choose from. The only time I've had lock failure was when I was doing something stupid, not a faulty lock per se.
 
Tommy-Chi said:
OK. Just thought that I would get a pulse of the people because there are 49 pages on Blade Forum on "LOCK FAILURE".
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And there are thousands of pages of people gushing over their ZTs and Kizers and Sebenzas etc etc etc.

It's not like we have had some disproportionate flood of lock failures lately. There have always been lock failures and folders are hotter than ever.

Titanium framelock flipper. Search for that.
 
God I hope so... I have a vested interest :D

BTW, just got a project started in Z-tuff. Phillip Patton does amazing work and this steel has serious potential. Tough as S7 with wear resistance equivalent to A2.

IMG_20181101_103957_392.jpg IMG_20181101_082850_898.jpg
 
I have a slipjoint in my pocket right now that I use like I do any other folders without a single scare whatsoever. So while locks can fail, that won’t dissuade me from buying any more folders.
 
Tommy-Chi said:
I don't know, tell me what you think. We've been seeing an awful lot of well made and overbuilt folders fail without much pressure on the spine or in simple daily use.

Will this effect sales?
Click to expand...
Of course will effect sales .... 2019 , year of Stainless Steel Mesh Gloves :D
sSa8hvr.jpg



 
Meh, I baby my folders, so no real risk of them failing. I already have a ton of fixed blades that I like to pound on, and some really nice EDC fixed blades that I never carry. Just can't get used to the real estate they take up in the pocket. Any time I am going to REALLY use a knife for something sketchy I go fixed.

Also, I don't carry any frame or liner locks, so I trust the lockup on all my folders.
 
The locks on folders are just 1 safety feature. The best safety feature is to pretend a folder has no lock when you use it. It will prevent you from ending in situations where lock failure would inflict major hurt.
 
Charlie Mike said:
God I hope so... I have a vested interest :D

BTW, just got a project started in Z-tuff. Phillip Patton does amazing work and this steel has serious potential. Tough as S7 with wear resistance equivalent to A2.

View attachment 1012927 View attachment 1012928
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I've used Z Wear and it was fantastic. I know Z Tuff is tougher (obviously) so I suspect it is pretty incredible for larger blades. I really dig your work Charlie Mike, and at some point I need to get some of it!
 
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