Al Mar Mini Sere Lock Problem

A

Abe

Joined
Aug 31, 2002
Messages
37
I've had a mini SERE 2K for a few months now. I love the knife: great size and comfortable to use etc however over the last couple of weeks, I've noticed that if I push the back of the blade when it's locked, I can feel it move and see the liner move slightly towards the closed position. It never goes far enough to close under this kind of pressure, though it does make me feel uncomfortable.
I therefore tried some light spine whacks and found that the occasional, more whippy ones, disengage the lock.
There is no actual 'slop' when the lock is engaged ie a light grasp and attempted wobble of the blade and it feels ok. It's just that slightly more force causes the liner to 'slide' on the curved tang.
Anyone else have a similar experience?
I feel that I should be contacting Al Mar but am not sure whether they might consider a spine whack test as abuse?
 
A lot of people feel that "failing a spinewack" is no big deal and will continue to use the knife.

I think it would be worth your time to at least contact Al Mar Knives and try to get a replacement. If you cannot get a replacement from AMK or the dealer, I think you would not be crazy to keep the knife and use it.
 
If the lock moves under simple hand pressure, even if it doesn't move to full release, it's a disaster waiting to happen. I'm sure Al Mar will make it right; send it back.
 
My SERE 2000 has this problem. After one strong inertial opening the lock started slipping on the tang with the slightest pressure. Easily noticeable when cutting things like cardboard and very disappointing in my opinion. I think the problem may be that the lock bar is too soft and the tang is too rounded. Having said that, the lock is still secure, though I don't spine whack my knives very hard.

I've dealt with Al Mar's customer service once and my experience was bad enough that I'm not going to bother again. I have a feeling they might call that "normal wear and tear" and then tell you you're expecting too much from your production knife. Give it a try though, your luck may be better than mine.
 
It would bother me greatly if this was my knife. Send it back. If a little pressure moves the lock imagine what a sudden shock or blunt force may do. Your fingers are more valuable than that. Those Al-Mar knives are sharp enough to cut clear down to tendon and bone in no time flat with very little pressure let alone what will be there if there is momentum behind the blade when it happens. I'd say don't risk it.

STR
 
Thanks to everyone for your advice. I'll contact Al Mar tomorrow and let you know the result.
One thing that concerns me however is that I bought the knife from a collector (absolutely new in box) rather than one of Al Mar's dealers and am not sure how they will react to that. Their warranty as displayed on their website doesn't necessarily show this as a problem but like I say, it is a concern.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow:)
It is all a bit disappointing really, as in every other respect the knife is a peach.

Sorry to hear about your experience, Ehhh.
 
They will probably honor their warranty (though I'm not sure that will be covered), as I bought mine off ebay completely new in box and they did replace my previous one. In my experience, though, they felt it was necessary to include an attitude with the package. They even made a point to make this comment on my receipt:

"SERE is A-OK not problems seen - replaced per Gary - customer good will."

Wasn't A-OK to me, so that comment came off to me as a bit snide. They could have said it much nicer like "customer not satisfied - replaced per Gary - customer good will." Just seems to me like their customer service rep is in need of a replacement.

Not trying to scare you off, they did replace it and the knives I've handled are very good. I just feel it's my duty to warn others of them. Treat a customer a certain way and it will reflect on the company. In my case they treated me poorly and I will make sure that reflects on their company poorly. You can probably search through my posts and find the full story if you're interested.

I do, however, hope that you have no problems with them. Many others on this forum report that they have had fine experiences with the company and I have no doubt that they were treated well. :thumbup:
 
I think the point is that with making it right if there is a fee involved from Al-Mar for whatever reasons your fingers are worth that if you plan on carrying and using the knife. I've had a mini and a full size AM 2000 and they were in my opinion fine knives.

STR
 
I don't know if this is common, but there were some complaints that on the full size SERE2K the lock bar is thinned and has a slot cut in it at the base of the lock bar, and the lock face was too soft

but it was called a monster folder for the first couple years

I have 2 AMKs, Falcon and micarta handled SERE Attack 2, both lockbacks and very nice.
 
Abe said:
I've noticed that if I push the back of the blade when it's locked, I can feel it move and see the liner move slightly towards the closed position. It never goes far enough to close under this kind of pressure, though it does make me feel uncomfortable.
Click to expand...

My Mini SERE has had this problem from brand new. This is my first Al Mar and I thought that this may just be a liner lock thing - I am used to rock-solid lockups because most of my other knives are Axis locks.

I will be returning mine to Al Mar.

Edit; First problem: Al Mar don't give an email address on their site. Am I going to have to phone from the UK?
 
Hi Steve,
I found the lack of email a bit odd, too. I've just phoned them up however and it was quite a quick call; I simply mentiond that I had a Mini S2K that needed to be returned under warranty and please could I have a RMA number. The guy was very polite.
I thought it best to leave all the details to the accompanying letter.
One of my first proper knives was a BM690 and that had a superb lock up: as solid under normal conditions as the axis feels. When I sharpened the SERE on Edgepro last week, I could feel the blade moving with each stroke. I'm sure this can't be right. Only fair to give AMK a chance to put things right, though:)
 
Joe Talmadge said:
If the lock moves under simple hand pressure, even if it doesn't move to full release, it's a disaster waiting to happen.
Click to expand...

My Rat Trap does this, as noted in the pass around review. You can just press the spine against your palm and it will flex and move across the tang. It is still pretty stable in impacts/torques though. In heavy torques, the bar will move right up to where it is flush with the tang but at this point the handle has a huge skew as well and I would be concerned with the actual blade cracking if I went further. I need to do some actual utility work with it but eventully will do heavier work. My main concern is wear. The immediate give though does really throw people when they handle it, my brother would not even carry it for an evaluation. This was also returned and evaluated by Swamp Rat during the pass around.

-Cliff
 
I have not had any problems with my mini-sere, it is one of the first 200 numbered knives and it is rock solid. I have not done a spine-whack test, but I can discerne no movement of the blade at all by pressing in the manner described by Abe. I have been edc'ing it since I got it and no problems. I also have two of the larger SERE 2k's and neither of them have any problem like that described.
 
7k7k99 said:
I have not had any problems with my mini-sere, it is one of the first 200 numbered knives and it is rock solid. I have not done a spine-whack test, but I can discerne no movement of the blade at all by pressing in the manner described by Abe. I have been edc'ing it since I got it and no problems. I also have two of the larger SERE 2k's and neither of them have any problem like that described.
Click to expand...

Mine is also numbered one of the first 200. I'm relieved to hear your knives are 100%, 7k7k99; it gives me hope.
I like all other aspects of my Mini and I'd dearly like to have it back in a condition such that I can go on to use it with confidence.
 
I sent mine in to Al Mar under warranty and received a replacement knife back today.

This one locks up beautifully!

Thumbs up for Al Mar :thumbup:
 
I got my mini SERE 2K from NGK 2 months ago and it had no problem at all. Then a week later it suddenly developed the very lock problem described by Abe so I plan to send it back to AMK under warranty. I'm wondering who'll bear the cost of shipping the knife back to me as I live halfway round the world. Would AMK pay for it or not?
 
If the knife is under warranty I'm sure that Al Mar will pay to ship it back to you.

They paid to return my knife to me in the UK.
 
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