Do you trust your locking folder so much that you often grip it with your fingers in harms way?

Do you without fail, keep your fingers out from under the blade of a locking folder?

  • always

    Votes: 19 13.6%

  • sometimes

    Votes: 15 10.7%

  • rarely or never

    Votes: 25 17.9%

  • never even think about it

    Votes: 81 57.9%
  • Total voters
    140
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C Cementite is correct--a lever produces much more force closer to the fulcrum. It doesn't matter what side of the fulcrum the weight is on. In the case of wire cutters, the force is applied on the side you hold but is transferred directly with no loss to the other side of the fulcrum. (wire cutters are a double lever system)

In the case of a knife, the the force applied is gravity acting upon the blade, and the same principle applies; a longer lever will produce more force at the fulcrum. Even with just gravity acting, there is more time for the end of the knife to accelerate (10ms/second/squared) and thus more momentum to be aquired.
 
CVamberbonehead said:
I just wouldnt use a ferro rod, since lighters are a thing. Or matches. Pretty much anything else besides a wimpy little spark stick. Lol

Seriously though, if people are so worried about locks failing or slipjoints closing, why not carry a fixed blade, indoors or out?
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They don't fold.
 
I mostly carry and use Cold Steel Triad lock folders . So ...no worries ! :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Most Cold Steel (and many others ) also have some unsharpened area of blade that will stop it closing , so long as you have a solid forward grip .
 
DocJD said:
I mostly carry and use Cold Steel Triad lock folders . So ...no worries ! :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Most Cold Steel (and many others ) also have some unsharpened area of blade that will stop it closing , so long as you have a solid forward grip .
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Beyond that unsharpened area is a pretty nasty looking set of teeth on that blade ~
 
You'll quickly learn not to hold one of those Code 4 triads lock folders too far back when you close one. That lock can be pretty stiff, and at first you may move your whole hand back to get better leverage for depressing the lock bar. Do that and its gotcha and time for another band aid. :oops:
 
stabman said:
Wish I still had my old slip-joints.
They kept falling out of my pockets on the playground at school.

That was the biggest danger of slip-joints for me: losing them.
Thankfully now there are slip-joints with pocket-clips, like the ZT 0235, and the offerings by Spyderco. :cool:

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I always wrap a ranger band around my slip joints in pocket, since slip joints aren’t a knife that warrants speed but let you address tasks at a slower pace than say a defensive or emergency blade. I used to loose my share of slip joints till I started using the ranger bands or just an old fashioned elastic 😉
 
Grizzly3 said:
You'll quickly learn not to hold one of those Code 4 triads lock folders too far back when you close one. That lock can be pretty stiff, and at first you may move your whole hand back to get better leverage for depressing the lock bar. Do that and its gotcha and time for another band aid. :oops:
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I use the ball of my thumb for depressing triad lock bars and never have problems. And I'm an old man.
 
I don’t know how you’re supposed to get a good solid grip on your knife without wrapping your hand around the handle. I’d think it would be safer to do you have better control. What are you supposed to do pinch it?
I had a Swiss Army knife close on me as a kid and require stitches. I’ve never used a slip joint since and haven’t had any issues since. All I use are locking blades or fixed blades. It’s nice that Leatherman has had locking blades for a long time.
The only time I think about and worry about a blade closing is with my Kershaw even after all the years I’ve been using it. I’m just nervous about accidentally disengaging the liner lock. It’s why it’s my only and is my last knife with a liner lock.
 
Grizzly3 said:
This question came up during the spine whacking thread. I'd said that for 18 years I used a stockman slip joint and that back then we all knew or learned the hard way, not to let our fingers be in the way in case the blade would close. I commented on how now many feel safe enough with a locking folder that they no longer keep their fingers out of the way. So far, I've not had a folder close up on me unexpectedly, but I know some have, rare as that may be. So, I thought I'd do a poll. How many still make sure they never put their fingers under where the blade could close and how many no longer worry about that and grip their knives with their whole hand with a firm wrap around grip. We see this demonstrated all the time in reviews as they show all the ways a knife can be held comfortably. I think folks who have never used slip joints without locks have forgotten this most basic safety routine or never had to practice it. I think many who did use them years ago, also have forgotten this and now grip their locking folders as though the lock would never fail. Now, I'm not talking about when you know you are really stressing the knife and take precautions, but just the everyday way we use our folders.

Editing this whole question:
Leo Greer said:
I think the question is somewhat illogical... if you always cut with the sharpened side of the blade, how would the lock ever fail in such a way as to close on your fingers? When I cut things, I use the sharp side and press down or away from myself, away from the lock. Anyone here cutting with the top edge of their folder? (I know some of y'all are :p)

So, I replied on page 8 or 9 of this thread,

Do you trust your locking folder so much that you often grip it with your fingers in harms way?​

I guess you are right, that is a strange question. It should have been something like, have you used locking folders for so long that you have forgotten what it is like when a slip joint would try to close on your fingers.

The poll came about because on another thread I mentioned that folks have been using locking folders for so long now that hardly anyone can remember that sometimes, when we were doing something with our slip joint that was out of the ordinary and where it might close on our fingers, that we would hold them with our fingers out of the way. Unfortunately, I didn't give all that information. Then someone came back with you should always use your knife properly and iirc, keep your fingers out of the way. But, most of the time, that is not even necessary. Or something like that. After all these comments, I can't even remember. But, I've liked this thread and again, sorry for the confusion.
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I don't see how one can use a knife- of any kind, but a folder especially- without at least some or parts of some "in harms way' if the knife should unexpectedly close. I've been using folders (and other styles) since given my first jack-knife at age 6 or 7. I can't remember ever having one close on me "unexpectedly" in 67+ years of knife use.... Dad: "You're 7 now, here's a pocket knife, be careful with it".. Mom: "Hank, what if he should cut himself, is it safe?" Dad: "Well, Phil, if he cuts himself, he won't do it more than once"... A pretty true assessment of the situation as I grew up...
That said, I pretty much hold to the belief that a knife is never really "Yours" until it has tasted you..
 
When I was younger I learned to not put your fingers in front of the slit of where the blade rest this is because I was using my Swiss Army knife I got from my pappy and I don’t remember what I was doing but I cut the hell out of my pointer finger and now I got a nasty old scar
 
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We're still talking about this? iirc, my point was that after about 18 years of using a slip joint medium stockman, working as a mechanic in garages you gain a respect for that pocket knife and know that under some conditions and positions and some ways of cutting with it, that you learn not to get your fingers in harms way in case the blade closes on you. It doesn't happen often, but it can happen. Yes, many times you use it in a way that it obviously won't close on you and so you wrap your hand around it. Other times you've learned from experience, not to do that. This was back before knives with locks became popular. So, I think what I said originally was ,that those of us who used these slipjoints, some of us, sometimes held them with our fingers out of the way and so now with locking folders we over time, don't do that anymore. But sometimes, we catch ourselves with our fingers out of the way and just remember how things were years ago. Obviously, we all had acquired different habits and how we used those knives. For some, they never had one close on them, others did and got cut and some learned when they were putting themselves in harms way and kept those fingers out of the way. We are not all the same and we all didn't learn safety measures alike. Some bled and some didn't.
 
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