Best Lock?

[Thalestin]

if your worried about a lock failing, you should be using a fixed blade or not a knife altogether. A lock should withstand some force but not a hurricane of force

 

[Sputnic]

Small Fixed Blade, or Full Frame Lock. IMHO. A frame lock that your hand is engaging while in use is Impossible to fail. the Blade would fail first. I didn't read the OP, But generally in my experience most modern Good Knives, be it BM, Spydie, whatever, are all Great, Unless you're just trying to break it.

If I was using a folder to hang onto while climbing like an emergency piton, I'd take a Titanium, or SS Full frame lock over anything but a FB. and if it's a Strider or Hinderer, I'd probably choose that over a small FB. Thats extreme. but WTF?

 

[harkamus]

It is not impossible to make the blade disengage in a framelock; twist the blade enough and the torque can make the blade disengage from the liner.

 

[stjames]

I am in the reliability camp. Bigger than 4" or stronger than a good framelock, go get a fixed blade for the job.

 

[hardheart]

Here’s my argument: doesn’t it depend as much on the quality of the knife, regardless of the type of lock? Won’t a well made liner lock match or beat the strength of a so-so quality framelock, e.g.?

Except the axis, ball bearing, compression, stud, arc, tri-ad, etc locks are exclusive to individual brands, so you aren't going to get much variance in quality as compared to liner, frame, and lockbacks.

 

[walleyeguy7]

nothings really best or worst, its preference. i used to enjoy axis locks and lockbacks quite a bit but have shyed away from them. i prefer good frame locks and good liner locks to all other locks (axis, lockback, ball, compression, button etc etc) nowadays, and of the two framelocks. however, ill take something like a spyderco military's liner lock over something like a leek's framelock anyday, even though the leeks framelock is quite nice. its really all about the feel, lockup, quality, and strength of the liner/frame to me.

 

[orthogonal1]

I think a fixed blade is stronger. wadaya say?

I say a fixed blade has no lock, so mentioning such is borish and immaterial to the question.

 

[orthogonal1]

Why would the lock fail if the pressure is going up into on edge, what would break during that situation is most likely the stop pin, or lockback if it uses the lockback...

That is an issue that should also be addressed, the ability to take opening force in a manner to a degree to be considered robust.

In some forum, I read someone bring this up an Sal mentioned it was a good point, but I have yet to see some follow-up. Probably because people see more lock failures in the closing direction.

 

[A_Blade_Afficionado]

Call it vague but, IMO, the strongest lock is the one on the knife you use correctly.

What? It's not very difficult to know how to use a lock. How can you use a lock wrong?
"My frame lock is broked, it keep blade open, I want blade close but it in way of blade and it strong." I've never seen a thread like that so I don't think incorrect usage is an issue.

 

[tjsulli790]

I am inclined to agree with the Axis mechanism having the strongest lock. HOWEVER, and that's a big however, the Axis lock is only as strong as their omega springs.

Having said that, the people that have had omega springs break are probably in the majority. Otherwise, you'd see Benchmade recalling tons of knives, or them even modifying their lock design (which William Henry conceived and sold the rights to to Benchmade).

You don't understand the design. When the lock is engaged and force is applied to the blade no additional fatigue can be distributed to the omega springs. It all either goes to the stop pin or the axis lock bar. The omega spring simply guides the AXIS lock bar to and from the locked position.

 

[harkamus]

You don't understand the design. When the lock is engaged and force is applied to the blade no additional fatigue can be distributed to the omega springs. It all either goes to the stop pin or the axis lock bar. The omega spring simply guides the AXIS lock bar to and from the locked position.

I understand the design perfectly fine. You misunderstood my post. What I meant was just that...the omega springs can and have failed. I didn't say that they would fail due to stress, because they are not under stress. Just search these forums and you'll come up with a handful of people that have had broken omega springs.

No design is bomb proof. Heck, we all know that even fixed blades can and have broken.

I'll say it again, the strongest design (of anything) is only as strong as the weakest link.

I'm a biomechanist (subfield of kinesiology or exercise science). Here's an example pertaining to the human body. The shoulder complex is only as strong as the rotator cuff muscles. Blow out the rotators (supraspinatus, infrapsinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis) and no matter how beefy your shoulders are, you're screwed. The rotators are tiny muscles.

EDIT: After reading my earlier post, I typoed majority for minority.

 

[Steelhed]

Someone said you can cause a framelock to fail by twisting the blade the opposite direction from the lock engagement. I have tried that with a Sebenza and was not able to do it if I held the knife with pressure on the lock bar (in other words, held it the way you should hold it). If I held it in a way that did not apply any pressure on the lockbar (an awkward hold that you have to consciously do) I was able to loosen the engagement enough to feel some play in the blade, but it still did not completely disengage. That's one knife though. Maybe others have caused framelocks to disengage by twisting the blade while it is stuck in wood or something, but I just don't see how you can do it when pressure is being applied to the lockbar by your fingers and thumb.

Linerlocks are different since the lockbar is covered by the handle scales so finger thumb pressure cannot be applied to further strengthen the lock engagement. I have disengaged linerlocks by twisting the blade, or in some cases by just squeezing the handle hard enough to flex the lockbar out of full contact with the blade base. Thus I do not trust linerlocks as much as I do framelocks.

I have never been able to disengage an Axis lock by twisting the blade or squeezing the handle.