Be careful what you put in your pocket - Knife opened and cut me

Tim the Wizard

Tim the Wizard

Street Samurai
Joined
Apr 21, 2012
Messages
3,796
Hello everyone,

I'm sure many of us have been there before - securing a pocket knife onto your pants with the clip and going about your day, looking forward to to what is ahead of you.

Today, for the first time, that strategy backfired as a very sharp blade punctured through my jeans and into my finger. It was a mild injury with significant bleeding, but not dangerous bleeding. It could have been way worse - I consider it a cheap if inconvenient reminder/lesson learned.

Several of you have already learned this lesson, and have countered it, as I have, by trying to secure the knife against the seam of the pants pocket. This is a good practice, but not foolproof.

The culprit: A Seki-Cut Haru/Lum encounter (liner lock)

In the following video I do a knife "shakeout" to demonstrate good knife security and bad knife security within the frame.

I test a Case Peanut (slipjoint); Warren custom wharncliffe (lockback); Spyderco Delica 4 (lockback); Benchmade Triage (axis); and the lum encounter. I am not sure if this is an issue with all liner locks or this particular model.

Suffice to say, it cannot be carried safely. The knife was closed 100% when I put it in my pocket. I stood up, walked a few feet, washed a dish, put my hand by my side (not even in my pocket), and felt the bite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhEXTTzLRCk&feature=youtu.be

Remember - be safe and make sure your knives only open when you want them to.
 
I have a few older knives that don't have much detent, but all of my modern knives have fairly good detent. I have never had one of my modern knives open in my pocket, or any other time. Lots of people worry about knives opening at the wrong time and for most people the "against the seam" strategy seems to work. If you have a knife that seems to open too easily, the only solution is to carry it in a pouch or sheath.
 
Yup, that does it. All liner locks are not safe!

Sorry to hear you cut your self. Looks like your particular knife has a very weak detent. Something to consider.
 
bdmicarta said:
I have a few older knives that don't have much detent, but all of my modern knives have fairly good detent. I have never had one of my modern knives open in my pocket, or any other time. Lots of people worry about knives opening at the wrong time and for most people the "against the seam" strategy seems to work. If you have a knife that seems to open too easily, the only solution is to carry it in a pouch or sheath.
Click to expand...

Agreed, a sheath would be a good solution. In this case, I did not thoroughly check the detent prior to carrying. I am hoping that through example I can perhaps spare someone else an injury.
 
Detent is one of the first things I check when I get a new knife, right up there with lockup, blade play, centering and edge. Fortunately this has never happened to me.
 
craytab said:
Yup, that does it. All liner locks are not safe!

Sorry to hear you cut your self. Looks like your particular knife has a very weak detent. Something to consider.
Click to expand...

I am not implying all liner locks are unsafe. I just wanted to make the point that since there are no other liner locks in my video, and since I have limited experience with them, I was not sure if this speaks to an issue of design as opposed to manufacture. Thank you for the note, however. I have not heard about this problem with other encounters, and in point of fact I have heard of it happening by anecdote with other lock types, axis included.
 
I don't think it has as much to do with the type of lock as it does the position of the clip.

Of the three knives on the table with clips, the culprit is the only tip down knife. When tip down the blade is a position to where it can swing out into the open space of your pocket. Most knives wont do this but combine a loose detent with the wrong movement and something could happen.

Tip up this is less likely to happen as the blade is sitting right up against the seam of your pockets with no where to go.
 
First, you shaking technique needs some work. You should have been able to flip out both the Spyderco and the Benchmade. That said I notice the knife in question is set up for TIP Down carry. Don'y see why it should have opened. Maybe you can just tighten the pivot a little. Never have this problem with slip joints but a week rarely goes buy without a nick of some sort.
 
NMpops said:
First, you shaking technique needs some work. You should have been able to flip out both the Spyderco and the Benchmade. That said I notice the knife in question is set up for TIP Down carry. Don'y see why it should have opened. Maybe you can just tighten the pivot a little. Never have this problem with slip joints but a week rarely goes buy without a nick of some sort.
Click to expand...

Noted :). I can flip out the Benchmade Triage with enough force, but not any amount of force that the blade would reasonably be subjected to by walking, trotting up a hill, getting out of a vehicle, or jumping off a small rock. Almost any knife can be shaken until deployment with enough force. All knives in the video were subjected to an equal amount of force... no tricks. The take home point is that the tolerances on the Lum that is featured (which is the only tip down clip in the video, as others mentioned), enabled deployment during low intensity activities of daily living. Furthermore, it was my own responsibility to practice knife safety. Through complacence, I set myself up for a situation that could have been avoided. Hence, the purpose here is just to share and encourage safety.
 
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Vayu- Thank God, it was only your finger...it could have been a lot worse down near the family jewels, bro!

How embarrassing that would have been, having to go to the ER & having your scrotum stitched up!
 
KELAMA said:
Vayu- Thank God, it was only your finger...it could have been a lot worse down near the family jewels, bro!

How embarrassing that would have been, having to go to the ER & having your scrotum stitched up!
Click to expand...

LOL. Yeah... or an artery in my leg or arm... my wife would have been so very disappointed...
 
Walking down a hall way, playing with my Blur in my pocket, open slightly, close, open slightly close...then I went to open it again and I missed the stop, it popped open 90 degrees I got startled, lost my balance, hit the wall. Cost me a pair of jeans covered in blood and lots of butterfly sutures.
 
cerisdevoi said:
Walking down a hall way, playing with my Blur in my pocket, open slightly, close, open slightly close...then I went to open it again and I missed the stop, it popped open 90 degrees I got startled, lost my balance, hit the wall. Cost me a pair of jeans covered in blood and lots of butterfly sutures.
Click to expand...

Intense! Thank you for sharing and commiserating.
 
benchwarmer380 said:
I don't think it has as much to do with the type of lock as it does the position of the clip.

Of the three knives on the table with clips, the culprit is the only tip down knife. When tip down the blade is a position to where it can swing out into the open space of your pocket. Most knives wont do this but combine a loose detent with the wrong movement and something could happen.

Tip up this is less likely to happen as the blade is sitting right up against the seam of your pockets with no where to go.
Click to expand...

Tip down, or tip up? When carrying tip down, gravity and the detent are opposing any opening movement of the knife. When tip up, gravity favors the blade opening and the detent is the only thing providing resistance.
 
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