Broken folders in the real world

Many years ago I used to make burned-out 8' fluorescent light tubes fit in the dumpster by tapping them in the middle with the back of my knife blade. The tube would break pretty cleanly without much glass sprayed around. One day the blade of the Parker lockback knife I was using broke right at the pivot pin...

I had a pocket knife blade break once while whittling, but that wasn't the knife's fault, I had accidentally put a hole through the middle of the blade many years before cutting a bit of live lamp-cord and that's where the blade eventually broke
 
The only folders that I've have break during normal, real world use were assisted openers and axis lock knives, where the small springs used in their mechanisms broke prematurely for whatever reason. I also had the spring in a button lock William Henry wear out, once.

I no longer buy knives with assisted opening locks that employ small springs. It's held me off from buying a Manix 2, even though I'm a huge Spyderco fan.
 
I had a lock fail on me once in a "real world situation". It was a S&W folder with a liner lock. I was using the palm of my hand to split some wood into kindling. The cheap screws used to hold the handle together backed out and the knife fell apart. :rolleyes: I believe I was 18 years old at the time.
 
I use a knife at work constantly. Only knife I really "broke" was a cheap no-name folder that just fell apart, half of the screws holding it together had fallen out somehow and the other half just snapped. Not a big deal in my opinion, I wasn't even using it when it broke. Just sort of became a pile of knife parts in my pocket.

I have bent a few pocket clips, by getting them caught on stuff. I generally have to sharpen my work knife at the end of every shift, though I can sometimes get 3 days out of it. Sometimes I take chips out of the blade, and very rarely drop knives more than 25 feet...
 
Shorttime, I'd say the cold steel tri-ad lock is the strongest locking blade out there today. I have a rajha 2 and a recon 1 no blade play, locks up like a bank vault. Every sog folder I've had has had blade play and my flash 2 arc lock failed me, chopped me but good, great aus8 blade.
 
idk if this is considered "normal" but it was real world. i had a sog "sog-zilla" blade break off. It broke right under the opening hole. long story short i was using the spine of the blade to "tap" on the aluminum railing of a boat. i say tap but i was hitting it pretty hard. (tapping on the rail was a signal to the boats captain)

SOG replaced it free of charge. i still have the replacement now and carry it every once in a while
 
I had a Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops knife fall apart in my pocket, the torx screws went loose and it just fell apart and was useless because the screws were lost.I guess it was my fault for not tightening the screws,but it was a brand new knife.
 
CalBearTactical said:
I had a Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops knife fall apart in my pocket, the torx screws went loose and it just fell apart and was useless because the screws were lost.I guess it was my fault for not tightening the screws,but it was a brand new knife.
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I apologize for being amused at this, but the concept of an "autodestruct" knife is funny ... all the more so because it was called "Extreme Ops."
 
My best friend had lock failure on his CRKT Crawford Point Guard. He brought it to me and we discovered it was because he used it too much- he wore down one of the Teflon bushings do much that it caused the blade to slip behind the lock. We got new washers for it from CRKT, and problem solved. I've seen a CRKT M1 that wouldn't stay locked, but wasn't mine and buddy was doing a very hard spine smack so I can't say on that particular knife. All of my locking knives pass a spine tap firmly on my finger, and I've never had one break during use that I can remember. My brother lost the tipof a knife when a buddy pried open his car window with it, but among myself and friends we gave had no true failures that I can think of.
 
I have broken the tips off a lot of knives over the years but always because I was using them to pry something out of or away from something else. I have never had a knife locking device fail while actually using the knife to do what it was designed to do. Maybe I am just lucky!
 
Broke a knife tip when I was cutting up a section of grass, was dumb and stabbed it straight in and hit a rock. Broke an old crappy survival knife that was bolted together in the hollow handle, wasn't made for chopping anything.
 
coop1957 said:
Broke a tip on Buck 110 prying a bullet out of an aluminum engine block. Abuse 101. Never had a lock fail on me.
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Did the same prying the lid off a paint can. I really thought the blade would be way strong enough for that job. Doh! And it was a lot easier to break than it was to file a new point onto the blade.
 
I had a buck tempest's lock fail on me about 5 years ago, still have the knife but it never get used for anything, just flipped open now and again.
 
I had a cheapo S&W liner lock that failed after 2 or three years of use.

I wasn't TRYING to break it specifically, but I was using it very very hard - things I would not have done with a knife I cared about. Even so, it "failed" by bending the liner stock and binding itself in the open position. My fingers were in no danger.

My 'Hard Use' folder now is an Opinel #12. Simpler design, but I think its even more robust - everything from light chopping to being used as a trowel. No damage yet.
 
A buddy of mine had taken his brothers buck 110 camping one time. After introducing him to batoning, which I demonstrated with a custom fixed blade I had, he seemed to like the idea. He asked if it would e safe to do so with the 110. I said for small stuff and to also keep the blade unlocked. Well, we all know the people who think they know more than us... He broke the lock. Needless to say he mays well fess up to his brother, buy him a new one and turn that one into a fixed blade.
 
I had one folder that failed on me. A Kershaw OD-1 that closed with even a light pressure to the spine. It was never abused or used hard. Kershaw replaced it under warranty and the new one's been a great knife. I recently gave it to a coworker and he's very happy with it.
 
So is it fair to say that S&W folders aren't very good?

And that, as we all "know", prying with a knife is not good for the blade.
 
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