Be careful of spine whacks

M

Molly55

Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Messages
8
I was just reading about spine whacks last week. Then today I used an old favorite knife which is a nice Taiwanese liner lock that I've had for years but almost never used, to simply cut down a box. I barely hit the spine on the inside of the carboard box, and it closed and sliced about a quarter inch into my thumb. Couldn't believe it. I then tested it a few more times, after wrapping my thumb of course and cleaning up the blood, and it fails 100% of the time with a spine whack on the counter about as hard as you might knock on a door. That knife is in the garbage now, but geesh. I checked all my other knives and two others failed - a brand new Buck and brand new Gerber. Myriad of each of spydercos, BMs, CSs, other Gerbers, and Kershaws did not fail with hard whacks. I hate to do it but I threw three knives right into the trash just now because I just don't ever want to use them again or even give them away. All were 100% perfect LNIB condition. And the one that cut me had a really good lockup especially since I was cutting and pressing the lock even further into engagement when it failed. Didn't help that I keep them scalpel sharp. Second guessing the sharpness addiction though as since I got into sharpening and stropping a couple years ago, I've lost more flesh than I lost in about 30 previous years when my knives were usually pretty dull. Folks say a sharp knife is a safe knife - not so sure. May want to check out yo liner and frame lockers.
 
You've got to be seriously soft in the head to do a spine whack with a slipjoint.
 
Not sure why this was posted in traditional. Most there can use a slipjoint or any knife without a lock. :D
 
You used a no brand, and what I'm assuming are Wal*Mart specials. I don't know why you expected them to work so well.
 
Molly55 said:
Then today I used an old favorite knife which is a nice Taiwanese liner lock that I've had for years but almost never used, to simply cut down a box. I barely hit the spine on the inside of the carboard box, ....
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If you were cutting a box, why did you decide to hit the box with the spine of your knife?

Sharp side goes down.
 
While I can certainly understand fear of poor lock failure and desire never to use those knives again, I think a "spine whack" test is taken too seriously.

If you really think about it, slipjoints are amazing knives, just as an example.

Every single slipjoint knife I whack on the spine is going to close without fail. But they're still great knives.

I realize this is a bit different since a lock is supposed to keep the knife from closing. But I can see a lock even on a good knife closing when force is being applied to the blade in the opposite direction of its intended movement.
 
So you're saying that you encountered a real world situation where an accident might have been prevented by the information gained from a spine whack test? Well who'd have thunk it.
 
RedLynx said:
While I can certainly understand fear of poor lock failure and desire never to use those knives again, I think a "spine whack" test is taken too seriously.

If you really think about it, slipjoints are amazing knives, just as an example.

Every single slipjoint knife I whack on the spine is going to close without fail. But they're still great knives.

I realize this is a bit different since a lock is supposed to keep the knife from closing. But I can see a lock even on a good knife closing when force is being applied to the blade in the opposite direction of its intended movement.
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There are too many locking knives that will not fail with negative pressure to consider one that does to be a good knife.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
There are too many locking knives that will not fail with negative pressure to consider one that does to be a good knife.
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True, but negative pressure is different from hitting a knife in the exact wrong way in which it is not meant to be hit. And I think that a knife that fails under that particular condition can still be a good knife. Your mileage may vary.
 
RedLynx said:
True, but negative pressure is different from hitting a knife in the exact wrong way in which it is not meant to be hit. And I think that a knife that fails under that particular condition can still be a good knife. Your mileage may vary.
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I don't entirely disagree. If it fails freak accident style that's one thing, but if it's a repeatable issue then I'm pretty convinced it's just a bad locking knife.
 
Ok I'll bite, why would spine whack a Taiwanese, any folder for that matter what does it prove?

Anyway with all your 30 some years of sharpening and expertise and all with knives, one would think you'd recognize a knife that couldn't take the force of a door knock. My Swayback Jack could take that.

Anyway please post more, 2 posts in 2 years is taking the "...read more post less" advice to the extreme.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I don't entirely disagree. If it fails freak accident style that's one thing, but if it's a repeatable issue then I'm pretty convinced it's just a bad locking knife.
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I;ve never done one (a spine whack) and I guess if I did what I consider a "light" tap and had lock failure, I would be disappointed as well.
 
Sure. In some crazy circumstance where the spine of your knife gets whacked, having performed a spine whack test might have been valuable info, I suppose.

I suppose its like saying "Be careful of fixed blades!" because I dropped one once and it missed my foot and stuck in the floor.
 
marcinek said:
Sure. In some crazy circumstance where the spine of your knife gets whacked, having performed a spine whack test might have been valuable info, I suppose.

I suppose its like saying "Be careful of fixed blades!" because I dropped one once and it missed my foot and stuck in the floor.
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Some crazy circumstance like slipping while cutting a cardboard box?
 
singularity35 said:
Hmmmm faulty trigger finger? Best safety is not to pull the trigger negligently. ;)
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Yeah, that was kinda the point -- expecting the knife lock to save you from spine whacks is like expecting the gun safety to make up for negligent gun handling.
 
hoppes no9 said:
Yeah, that was kinda the point -- expecting the knife lock to save you from spine whacks is like expecting the gun safety to make up for negligent gun handling.
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While there is no substitute for safe, proper technique, I expect every part of a product to function properly when I purchase it. It's no more acceptable to sell a knife with a faulty lock than to sell a gun with a faulty safety.
 
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