Broken folders in the real world

Oh I forgot I can close my KaBar TDI with just a bit of pressure. The liner lock on that knife(maby just mine) sucks. I actually don't carry it anymore because I don't trust it.
 
Kalel, you should try CRKT's LAWKS. Makes it much harder to unlock the liner.

I've only had one liner try to fold in on me, a Spyderco Crow, and that was my fault: dull knife.

There may be some market for matched sets of prybars and knives. Coordinating handle colors, dual sheaths...
 
I had the clip point blade of an Uncle Henry 3 blade Stockman snap off at the nail grove. I was trimming down the base of a live Christmas tree to fit the stand, in retrospect I should gotten a hatchet. I knew better and I was taking some hefty cuts. The worse part is the knife was a present from my Grandfather when I was a kid.

Robb
 
Hmmm....

I've seen a lot of different liner designs. I think some linerlocks may be easier to disengage than others, by way of the fact that they protrude out beyond the handle scale.

Some liners also have texturing on them to keep your thumb there when you work the lock. This texturing can grab onto your finger during heavy use, and create the same result.
 
KalEl said:
Ive had a CRKT Voodoo, CRKT m16, and a spyderco tenacious all come unlocked just by giving the handle a firm squeeze like you would if you were going to stab something. I am convinced that the liner lock is the worst locking mechanism that is currently used in knifes.
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I don't think its the worse, but I have had a lot fail on me as well (gerber Spectre, crkt folders, and some others I don't remember exactly) but I am hard on my folders. And nothing is easier to use day to day then a frame lock so its a toss up. And the gerber would slip if the spine had pressure applied. Thats my 2 cents.
 
i have personally broken a lot of liner locks. on karambits i usually break them doing back hooks. most knife locks fail when dropping on cheap knives
 
i had carried a knife(slip joint, had a few close on me, because i did something stupid) for about 3 years before i knew there was such a thing as a lock blade. the first lock i saw on a knife was a camillus electricians knife, it was a liner lock on the screw driver blade. a year or so later i got a buck 110.
i treat lock blade knives like slip joints. the locks kinda like a safety on a gun, not to be trusted, its a mechanical device.
if you want a knife that wont close on you when you do stupid **** get a straight knife, of course then somebody will cut themselves because the guards aren't big enough.
folding knives fold, no lock is perfect, they can all fail. treat folding knives like folding knives even if they have locks and it won't be a problem.

most of my knives are liner locks, not had any problems.
i did have a 110 fold up on me because i squeezed to hard on the handle and hit the lock.(my fault not the design of the lock)
 
I had a small FRN Case lockback fail. I was pushing the tip into some heavy cardboard and the blade collapsed. The ricasso area hit my fingernail which stopped the blade for the most part but it did slide onto the blade some and cut into my nail as well as a shallow cut on my finger. That was about '95 just after starting high school. Surprised I remember since the rest of the time is a bit hazy.

I have had the most problems with liner and frame locks. I had a Kershaw steel frame lock move all the way to the other scale with light use in about a year. It looks almost brand new except for the.excessive vertical blade play. Had a cheaper Beretta liner lock do the same thing. I think it was also one of the ones that closed on me from squeezing the handle and putting repeated on and off pressure on the blade. That and putting torque on a blade by twisting out of a cut seems to make liner locks 'walk' towards the unlocked position. Also had a S&W SWAT knife close that way as well as a Kershaw Blackout (I think, maybe a whirlwind. Also one of the first decent knives I bought and the first knife I lost). I had another liner or frame lock close on my finger while whittling into a dead tree. It was the most recent and the only one I don't remember the model. I'm with KalEl, I don't trust or buy liner locks anymore and not real big on frame locks either. You can get good ones that will last a long time, but you can also get another of the same model and have nothing but problems. They are hit and miss and I feel there are much more reliable lock designs available and liner/frame locks are not worth the risk.

I also had 1 omega spring on a Benchmade AXIS lock break. It was on a Benchmade Rift which is my all time favorite knife design as well as my favorite lock. Some people call that a lock failure but the knife still locked up safely so I don't consider it a failure. I was able to take a piece of MIG welding wire and make a copy of the spring with 2 pairs of needle nose pliers in short order, and it has been going strong ever since. I always have one of my RIFT in my RFP every single day. They see a lot of use and they also get flipped opened and closed 10s of thousands of times to keep my hands busy while not doing anything or watching TV. It's better than smoking.

I also have a broken Kershaw RAM but I guess its not the lock and also is my fault. Because of how the lock works there is a pin in the blade tang that the lock engages and there is a channel milled into the aluminum handle slab. I dropped the knife which dented the aluminum and pushed enough material in to deform the slot the pin rides in. Because of this the blade will not open all the way because the pin hits the dented handle and stops. Not sure what to call it but not a lock failure. I guess it's just broke. Which is a shame because it is one of my favorite Kershaw designs and I also really like the design of the lock. Because the lock is to the side and not in line with the blade, they were able to make a big tang and use big washers. Since the washers support the blade further from the pivot, the RAM has essentially no blade play. The MUDD also uses the HAWK lock and is one of maybe 2 knives that I can detect zero blade play. Absolutely no movement at all. Every other folder has blade play, its just an issue of how much.

That's all the problems I can think of. Since I have already written a wall of text, which I apologize this got so long, I will go ahead and write a little more. I would call a lock failure as a knife closing unexpectedly. It doesn't even have to break. A lock is supposed to keep a blade locked open and if it doesn't do that, it is a failure in my book. Even depressing a lock back while in a tight grip and unlocking the blade so it closes is a failure as far as I'm concerned. A worn out lock is where the lock wears enough that blade play is introduced and can't be easily fixed. In my experience liner locks wear out the quickest. A broken lock is where something breaks, obviously, but the lock can still work, as with the AXIS lock and a broken omega spring.

The end. IMHO. My 27 cents worth. Etc.
 
I have not broken a single knife as far as can I remember. Except for one fixed blade I used as throwing knife when I was a boy - but that would not count because it is not a folder. So I always wondered what exactly these torture tests are about - do people like breaking things, or they are showing off this way. But that is different issue and much discussed already. I better not to start.
By the way: about liner and frame locks - I thought about that and in fact have difficulty coming up with better candidates for "the worst lock design available". Interesting.
 
Come to think of it, never. Not even that one dollar combo edge folder from Wallyworld. That little sucker will probably be the only knife I have in my car when TSHTF. I hope that day never comes.
 
I've played with gripping liner locks, trying to get them to unlock. And I've been able to do so, but with some difficulty. I don't think I would unlock one in actual, practical use. But then again I don't have a profession wherein I use a knife for hours every single day. With enough repetitive usage, I could see how a liner lock might fail if your grip shifted just right (i.e. wrong). Like another user stated, I tend to use my locking knives with care, almost like a slipjoint. And I'm used to using slipjoints with appropriate caution. If I really have to use a knife heavily with piercing or pushing, I much prefer a fixed blade.
 
I have had some light tip edge failure from prying. But I've also "pried" with a lot of very fragile tipped knives before. The key is to know your knife's limits.
 
gangsta965084 said:
i was looking at my zt 301 and the blade snapped in half when the lock failed, im ugly...
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I had a Buck 889 that I used to the point where the lock would slip with any kind of side motion, but it never "failed" on me. I used it like a slippie until I could replace it.
 
I work at a major sporting goods retailer in CA and I get alot of S&W folders back, some small browning knives, cheap Humvee knives, total junk. Unfortunately mostly all S&W are done by Taylor Cutlery in china (not Taiwan). Same with the Schrade imperial line of knives are cheap chinese 440 stock. Back to the post, I have had a CRKT Crawford Casper PM lock fail on me, even with the ckrt lock on. The only other pocket knife lock fail I've had is the SOG full sized flash 2. Almost took my right index finger off. I was showing my friend how solid the lock up is with sogs arc lock was and it popped and closed down on my finger, I'll never buy an sog arc lock again. And as sog touts the arc lock to withstand 1000 pounds of force or pressure? Sog folder? No thanks.
 
I had a CRKT linerlock fail on me several years back. This was before the LAWKS came out. 3 stitches on my index finger, and I still have nerve damage (numbness). I've shied away from most linerlocks, and away from CRKT products entirely. I can't trust a "lock" that needs a second lock to be considered safe. Yes, I know CRKT products have gotten better, and yes I know that many linerlocks are just fine, but like the classic Great White song says, once bitten twice shy.
 
They see a lot of use and they also get flipped opened and closed 10s of thousands of times to keep my hands busy while not doing anything or watching TV. It's better than smoking.
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So I'm not the only person that does this to keep my hands "busy"?
 
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