Best locking on a folder.....

B

BadHabit

Joined
Jan 13, 2011
Messages
45
Please give me ur prospective. I'm just starting my collection.
I own: Pro Tech Tr3 and Kershaw Leek and Kershaw Breakout.*
I was wondering how are the locks when open? There all tight feeling. No movement.
The leek uses a frame witch is better then a liner.*
But as the breakout and Tr3 could I fully trust them in a stabbing motion if need be. My concern is the lock giving out and cut my fingers. *
I ride mountain bikes and have seen some big mountain lions if it attack I need confidence in my blade. On the bike I need a light blade. So was Hoping not to go fixed. So any info would help. What's the best in ur opinion. * *Thnx
 
If you ride around big cats you need a gun and some practice. Thinking you would be able to pull a folding knife, open it, and kill or drive away a big cat while it is eating you is almost comical, no offense. Using a knife to protect yourself while being attacked might be a last ditch option but more than likely you would be a very rare statistic in the end. You will either see a mt lion or it will see you and one will retreat or if a cat wants to attack, you won't even know what's happening.

The AXIS, compression, and Triad lock are the strongest available on knives and of course a fixed blade is the most strong. But I think you would be better off reading up on living in mountain lion country.
 
Frame locks are not necessarily stronger than liner locks; it depends on who makes them.
In either case, the best of either kind of lock is designed so that if it does fail, it jams the blade open rather than just giving out and letting the knife close.

Look at the Spyderco Military. Reasonably long blade for a folder, well-made and sturdy liner lock (though it comes in a Ti-framelock now too), and light as the dickens, especially for its size.

Also, I'm a cyclist too, so I know how important weight can be, but if you want a knife for defensive purposes (especially if we're talking mountain lions) then the knife's ability to defend your well-being should probably take priority over how much it weighs.
 
I was a weight weenie and had a 23 lb full suspension bike about 12 years ago when it was hard to find light weight components. But there is a huge difference carrying the weight on your bike or on your person.

Something else to think about is that a hard crash and a fixed blade could potentially be a deadly combination. I personally would still go with a gun as they are much more effective weapons and also make noise which can scare them away.
 
Maybe someone can correct me on this, but I don't actually understand the concern with lock strength for self-defensive purposes. A slicing movement would put stress on the stop pin, not the locking mechanism. A stabbing attack would not put very much stress on the lock either, since the force is mostly perpendicular to the movement of the blade. Just the physics of the motions involved, coupled with the general softness of flesh, makes me wonder why people are so concerned with lock strength...
 
The only times I have had a lock fail (3 that I remember) was during a controlled stab. Using the point to puncture something and every time the blade closed on my fingers. Also if you use a knife to defend yourself, from both 4 and 2 leg predators, it isn't going to be a simple stab. There will be lots of force and thrashing about involved and just about anything is possible. Unless you are cutting something dead it would be a bit foolish to think lock security and strength does not matter.
 
Well Thanks guys.....I think....

I guess I'm interested in the lock's on the Auto's I own TR3 and Breakout...

Any one have any info on them that would be great.. I believe they use what they call the plunger lock......

Once again I'm new to knives and love the craft.... but a gun is not going to happen do to state laws.... I was thinking more about self-defense and a last ditch, something is better that nothing.....

Thnx All.....
 
Last edited:
If were talking about actual documented testing of lock strength, then the triad wins every time. I've also done some of my own tests with a Paramilitary and the compression lock is very impressive in it's weight tolerances and held up to being stabbed through about 5 and a 1/2 ft of rolled carpet 20 times without failing or getting loose.
But to confirm what FlaMtnBkr said, a lightweight gun and some training is your best bet. Mountain lions aren't the type of critters that let you know your being attacked.
If you happen upon one, loud noise is your best bet.
Stay safe-Andrew
 
This is coming out of left field, but would a small flare gun be useful at all in this situation?

Button or plunge locks are pretty reliable. I believe that Alan Elishewitz demonstrates the button lock on an EX-01 on YouTube.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
The only times I have had a lock fail (3 that I remember) was during a controlled stab. Using the point to puncture something and every time the blade closed on my fingers. Also if you use a knife to defend yourself, from both 4 and 2 leg predators, it isn't going to be a simple stab. There will be lots of force and thrashing about involved and just about anything is possible. Unless you are cutting something dead it would be a bit foolish to think lock security and strength does not matter.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't suggest that lock security and strength doesn't matter. I'm suggesting that it's not as much of a concern as most people think it would be, especially to the degree of the "Triad vs Axis vs framelock" type arguments.

As much as I hate Nutnfancy, he has a video up called the stabbing protocol, where he stabs the Rat-1 folder into a lot of cardboard. The liner lock held up fine.

When you got cut with your knives, what were you stabbing?
 
I personally think a liner/frame lock with flipper would be the safest for stabbing. A properly designed liner/frame lock is very unlikely to fail. If it fails it should jam the blade open rather than let it close. Even if it fails the wrong way, the flipper acts as a finger guard. The flipper portion will pinch your finger at that moment, but it's not gonna cut you.
 
BenLi said:
When you got cut with your knives, what were you stabbing?
Click to expand...

I wasn't really stabbing but I put the tip to the material and put pressure on it to make a hole. I remember one was a fairly thick plastic jug and the other was similar to a really thick piece of cardboard but wasn't corrugated. Not the best thing to do with a knife but needed to be done and I used the tool I had at hand. I don't remember what the other was but I do remember the knife as it was my very first one, a small case back lock that I still have and was about 8 when I got it.

Sep said:
I personally think a liner/frame lock with flipper would be the safest for stabbing. A properly designed liner/frame lock is very unlikely to fail. If it fails it should jam the blade open rather than let it close. Even if it fails the wrong way, the flipper acts as a finger guard. The flipper portion will pinch your finger at that moment, but it's not gonna cut you.
Click to expand...

You have more faith in that type of lock than I do. The other two times I have had a lock fail was with a liner and frame lock, one of each that I was describing above. I have seen too many liner/ frame locks that like to 'walk' as you repeatedly put pressure on the blade and move towards the unlocked position. From what I have seen you can't really tell how a lock will behave and some will be fine and others will want to unlock, even different knives of the same model. I don't think there is any way to guarantee that a lock will always move in the locked direction, no matter how well designed it is. I also don't trust a flipper to keep a knife from cutting you. If a blade suddenly closes that flipper can easily push your finger out of the way allowing the blade to come into contact with your finger. There doesn't even need to be that much force as weird things happen when something unexpected happens quickly and things are moving around. I guess I just have had too much bad luck with liner/ frame locks to trust them, even high quality well respected knives.
 
If I was limited to a folder, it would be any one of the large Tri-Ad lock folders. Preferably a large Espada.
 
My votes for most reliable, strongest locks would be compression lock (Spyderco) and axis lock (Benchmade).

I agree that a fixed blade and riding just don't mix if you want to stay reasonably safe in a fall.

I also agree that a knife is sub-optimal for your purposes...
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
The only times I have had a lock fail (3 that I remember) was during a controlled stab. Using the point to puncture something and every time the blade closed on my fingers. Also if you use a knife to defend yourself, from both 4 and 2 leg predators, it isn't going to be a simple stab. There will be lots of force and thrashing about involved and just about anything is possible. Unless you are cutting something dead it would be a bit foolish to think lock security and strength does not matter.
Click to expand...

What happened to your fingers?? :confused:
 
cziv said:
What happened to your fingers?? :confused:
Click to expand...


Once I was able to stop pressure before I got cut as the knife was also very dull, once the tang hit my fingernail and slowed the blade down and I just got a small cut, and once the bone in my finger stopped the blade. The last one was a good cut but some pressure and good bandages held it together so there is now just a thin scar as a reminder. I wasn't using more than maybe 10 lbs of force each time one failed which makes me really picky about the locks I like.
 
Last edited:
FlaMtnBkr said:
Once I was able to stop pressure before I got cut as the knife was also very dull, once the tang hit my fingernail and slowed the blade down and I just got a small cut, and once the bone in my finger stopped the blade. The last one was a good cut but some pressure and good bandages held it together so there is now just a thin scar as a reminder. I wasn't using more than maybe 10 lbs of force each time one failed which makes me really picky about the locks I like.
Click to expand...

We're Benchmade guys, have you stabbed any axis locks yet? I haven't. I'm scared to stab a knife - any knife - unless it was an emergency or in self defense (God forbid) where flesh is not much resistance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top