Broke my new Luzon; knife fault or misuse??

H

Houlahound

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Aug 2, 2017
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My awesome small length Luzon arrived not long ago and I figured out how to do a wave style opening from the pocket. First time I had a knife you could do this with.

It opens much quicker from the pocket than a finger flip. I was getting super fast at it, with that speed came a more powerful and forceful open. I got a bit carried away with it and a piece of metal right where the blade starts and the part the leaf spring is in contact with when locked open snapped. Now the leaf spring locks too far to one side and I have to pry it free with another knife swedge jammed in there to pop it free and shut the knife.

Kinda pissed, not sure if I should blame the materials or my usage. I flipped it from the pocket non stop every other minute for days before it happened.

I not gonna bother with warranty just chalk it up to experience.

Would you say this was misuse or problem with knife. I cancelled my order on the large Luzon - I love everything about this knife, it was my perfect folder.

I guess I will try a Ti-lite, it's much better spec on materials.

Dang it the Luzon is such a nice knife.
 
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In my opinion opening a knife can't be misuse.

It's not like you used it to pry things with it or baton knotted logs of hard wood...

Good call for canceling order of second one.
 
Does their warranty vary depending on if it's direct from them or an established retailer?
 
Only you know what your time is worth, but I would send it back.
1) I don’t think that you can abuse a knife by opening and closing it. At least not within a couple of days.
2) You want to let the manufacturer know that something is wrong with the knife.

n2s
 
I would contact cold steel about it too. I don't think there's a point in having a knife you like, and now like less, because it broke from normal use and you weren't willing to take the time to email or call the manufacturer. You have a knife that has the potential to last many years, and with it being broken so early it kind of ruins that part of the experience of owning a quality knife.

Unless you bought of ebay or something, then you might be in trouble. Otherwise, I would really encourage you to talk to the folks at cold steel.

@Cold Steel Knives
 
cbrstar said:
Cold Steel has excellent warranty/customer service. Send it back.
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abcdef said:
Let us know if CS or the retailer is a problem.
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OP---By sending it back and requesting factory warranty repair/replacement you have little or nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain, so IMO there’s little or no reason to not try that route. If you do give that route a try, be sure to let us know how it worked out. You may end up with a refurbished or new knife and CS may end up with a serious dose of good customer service PR.
 
Houlahound said:
My awesome small length Luzon arrived not long ago and I figured out how to do a wave style opening from the pocket. First time I had a knife you could do this with.

It opens much quicker from the pocket than a finger flip. I was getting super fast at it, with that speed came a more powerful and forceful open. I got a bit carried away with it and a piece of metal right where the blade starts and the part the leaf spring is in contact with when locked open snapped. Now the leaf spring locks too far to one side and I have to pry it free with another knife swedge jammed in there to pop it free and shut the knife.

Kinda pissed, not sure if I should blame the materials or my usage. I flipped it from the pocket non stop every other minute for days before it happened.

I not gonna bother with warranty just chalk it up to experience.

Would you say this was misuse or problem with knife. I cancelled my order on the large Luzon - I love everything about this knife, it was my perfect folder.

I guess I will try a Ti-lite, it's much better spec on materials.

Dang it the Luzon is such a nice knife.
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What does got carried away with it mean?
 
i have a few ti lite 4s and my father in law has a luzon small
the ti lites have a thicker blade stock and are a lot better made IMO one of my ti lites that I use proberly every day I'm working on the motorbikes is the old zytel 440 a model and its still going strong after years of use and its in a garage its been used properly and covered in everything if you wanna try somthing stronger than a luzon
the luzon gets used in a laboratory for alsorts cutting sampals out of plastic contaners and stuff like that and has held up well
I would like to think cold steel would replace yours after whats happend to you
 
Houlahound said:
My awesome small length Luzon arrived not long ago and I figured out how to do a wave style opening from the pocket. First time I had a knife you could do this with.

It opens much quicker from the pocket than a finger flip. I was getting super fast at it, with that speed came a more powerful and forceful open. I got a bit carried away with it and a piece of metal right where the blade starts and the part the leaf spring is in contact with when locked open snapped. Now the leaf spring locks too far to one side and I have to pry it free with another knife swedge jammed in there to pop it free and shut the knife.

Kinda pissed, not sure if I should blame the materials or my usage. I flipped it from the pocket non stop every other minute for days before it happened.

I not gonna bother with warranty just chalk it up to experience.

Would you say this was misuse or problem with knife. I cancelled my order on the large Luzon - I love everything about this knife, it was my perfect folder.

I guess I will try a Ti-lite, it's much better spec on materials.

Dang it the Luzon is such a nice knife.
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Return to retailer or CS for replacement . This lets them examine the problem and improve the product / QC .

And don't be shy to hard wave open the replacement .

I wave all my CS folders , hard and fast . The older ones have been slammed open many thousands of times with zero damage . This is definitely NOT misuse IMO !

CS is built and intended for hard use . But even they have some lemons get past QC .
 
Based on advice I will contact the retailer first then CS.

I will wait until I get a new ti-lite or a full flipper so I have something to play with while the replacement happens.

The lock up doesn't occur when you flip it with your finger, i can close it one hand no problem. It's just the more aggressive wave flip slams it open so hard the leaf has to be freed (pried open) with another knife to unlock it.

There is the possibility it will get looser with more usage.

I really wish CS would up spec the Luzon to premium materials as it is all that and more in its size, shape profile etc. An up spec model would sell like hot cakes I am guessing.
 
bikerector said:
I would contact cold steel about it too. I don't think there's a point in having a knife you like, and now like less, because it broke from normal use and you weren't willing to take the time to email or call the manufacturer. You have a knife that has the potential to last many years, and with it being broken so early it kind of ruins that part of the experience of owning a quality knife.

Unless you bought of ebay or something, then you might be in trouble. Otherwise, I would really encourage you to talk to the folks at cold steel.

@Cold Steel Knives
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I'm sure Cold Steel would like to see the damage. Like Bike said, someone :rolleyes: could get years of use from this knife once it is repaired or replaced.
 
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You have nothing to lose by contacting CS.

Also, if it's design flaw, they can adress it that way. Maybe it was just a fluke, either way it's best to contact them.
 
I'd take it up with Cold Steel. When I broke the pocket clip off a Voyager years ago (back when they were molded as part of the plastic handle) they sent me an entirely new knife. Oh, and I had not bought the knife directly from Cold Steel, but from a retailer.
 
My large Luzon did exactly what you are describing for the first few days of playing with it, kept locking and unlocking it and it went away. I recommended playing with it more if you can.
I Enjoyed occasionally carrying my large Luzon for a few weeks before the pocket clip broke.
 
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