Endura lockback failure?

Thanks for the information "The Deacon". I am sure they will make good on it, but I am also curious as to whether this has happened to others as I would like to replace his knife, I just want to be sure he gets a design that is safe and not likely to close on his hand again. I am pretty confident in the lock on the Endura, but I just want to make sure of it's safety before giving him another one. It would be nice to hear back as to whether the knife lock was broken or something worked it's way into the internals with his carrying and using it.
 
I am sorry to hear about your son's experience OBJ Viking. Just out of curiosity what was he cutting when the knife closed on his hand?

I hope that you receive a quick and satisfactory response from Spyderco.

Editted to add: after reading Paul's comment about the turnaround time and not normally corresponding with the customer, I would hope, in a case like this where the lock has failed under normal use on a relatively new model, that some explanation from the warranty department would be forth coming.
 
I am unsure of exactly what he was cutting rubberdog. He was supposed to be getting some green leafy branches from some hedges to feed to the goats and pigs to supplement their winter feed, and was maybe sawing on a larger one with the serrated edge, but you never know with a young teenager what he is getting into... he was out around the barn, and when the lock failed the serrations "bit him" (nothing really serious). He came in and told me the lock failed and he had cut his hand and showed it and the knife to me. We live in the country on a small farm so he is always using a knife to whittle, cut stuff, open feed/corn sacks, cut rope/twine, etc, so I really didn't even ask what he was doing as it wasn't all that relevant to me. I just examined the knife and saw that the blade lock wasn't engaging and was glad it wasn't any more of a serious cut.
 
It was probably a thicker branch, that might have done it. Sounds like you guys have a nice setup there. Anyway let's hope this has a happy ending, I'm sure it will.

Spyderco lock backs make up the bulk of my small collection so I always follow these occasional lock failure threads with interest.
 
I just called him (he is up at the school getting ready for a soccer tournament today) and asked him if he remembered what exactly he was doing when it closed. He said he was just cutting some small branches on the hedges, holding them with his left and cutting with his right while reaching into the hedge to get to the base of the branch. He thinks the back (spine) of the blade must have hit a branch above it and closed on his hand when he put his hand into the hedge to get to the branch he was pulling on. Bear in mind that this happened about 4-4 & 1/2 weeks ago and I sent the knife back two weeks ago when I found the time to make it to the post office.
 
OBJ Viking said:
Thanks for the information "The Deacon". I am sure they will make good on it, but I am also curious as to whether this has happened to others as I would like to replace his knife, I just want to be sure he gets a design that is safe and not likely to close on his hand again. I am pretty confident in the lock on the Endura, but I just want to make sure of it's safety before giving him another one. It would be nice to hear back as to whether the knife lock was broken or something worked it's way into the internals with his carrying and using it.
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I suspect that there have been cases of lock failure reported involving pretty much every locking folder that's been on the market for more than a year. It's obviously not common with the Endura, or with any other Spyderco midlock, or you'd have found more threads like this one, and more "mine too" posts in this one. I could say you have nothing to worry about, but, like surgery, it's easy to say it's safe for someone else. OTOH, the only absolute guarantee against lock failure is to use a fixed blade knife.
 
The Deacon said:
I suspect that there have been cases of lock failure reported involving pretty much every locking folder that's been on the market for more than a year. It's obviously not common with the Endura, or with any other Spyderco midlock, or you'd have found more threads like this one, and more "mine too" posts in this one. I could say you have nothing to worry about, but, like surgery, it's easy to say it's safe for someone else. OTOH, the only absolute guarantee against lock failure is to use a fixed blade knife.
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Yep - I agree
 
Any lock style can fail and one thing I truly appreciate about some of Spyderco's designs, such as the Endura and Delica, is that if one is holding the knife normally, and the knife does fail, you are not likely to get a serious cut, if at all.
 
I cleaned up my older serrated Endura 4 yesterday (it has been used for many things such as cutting the heads off of snakes, cutting up dead animals (for example I opened up a beaver that I trapped to bait in coyotes and have cut off beaver, coon, and coyote tails), opening quick-crete bags, feed sacks, cutting rope, twine, wires, and it spent nearly a year in the 4-wheeler compartment as a "farm knife". It has seen some serious "not normal" use and was gritty but the lock was engaging fine, so I soaked it in soapy water, blew it out with compressed air, dried it with my wife's hair dryer, and oiled it. It opens smoothly now with no "gritty" sound and the lock engages with a definite "click". Given the lack of other people saying they have had issues with their Endura's locks and mine holding up so well, I think I will give my son my knife to use and just wait to see what Spyderco says/does about his knife.
 
I'm wondering if some lockbacks start to fail due to not completely disengaging the lock when closing, and over time rounding the mating surfaces of the lock.

Jim
 
Sorry to hear the knife closed on him. I don't think it's common or normal. I have carried an endura of one kind or another since 92. No problems noted and in fact they get smoother and more polished after years of use. The biggest thing in my experience is keeping the bearing surfaces free of grit. I always use dry lube to keep from holding or trapping grit. Good luck.

Joe
 
Thanks Mastiff, he has mine for now and is quite happy. I am curious if Spyderco will repair or replace his knife though. I know they make some quality knives, and my Endura has been through a lot and still locks up as solid as the day I got it.

I am trying to decide right now on whether to give him a Spyderco Military model or a Cold Steel Voyager XL for Christmas. I know that it takes a lot to make a liner lock fail, but I also know the Cold Steel lock backs are supposed to be very strong...I have several Military models but have never owned a CS Voyager - I will have to think on it and read some reviews on line for it and maybe a few on the millie.
 
If he disassembled the knife, probably he removed every debries from the locking mechanism. I'd send an email to Spyderco; a non-locking knife is a dangerous knife.
 
Olive Tree said:
If he disassembled the knife, probably he removed every debries from the locking mechanism. I'd send an email to Spyderco; a non-locking knife is a dangerous knife.
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He didn't disassemble it. I loosened it up after cleaning and the lock was still not engaging and couldn't see anything in there, but I didn't want to disassemble it further as I am not familiar with the internals on lockback knives and was trying not to get anything out of place.

Melissa with Spyderco just called me and is shipping the knife back. I paid a $25 repair fee because I had taken the side of the knife loose when I was trying to figure out what was wrong with the lock, and the backspacer was not in the correct place. She said they thoroughly checked out the knife and the lock is working fine, and if she had to guess it was probably some small trash or something that had worked it’s way down into the lock internals, but the knife is fine and they did not find anything. Possibly it worked it's way out when I loosened up the screws and lifted that side off? They tested the lock multiple times. I will give it back to him when it gets in, as it is probably quite a bit cleaner than mine internally since they cleaned and checked it, and I know it hasn’t been used as hard as mine. Thanks Spyderco for the excellent customer service.
 
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Garbage in the lock of a lock back is a common cause of lock failure. Lint can build up in there as well. I use soap, water and a tooth brush to clean it out if it's really gunky, otherwise I just pick it out with something slim.
 
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