Over the years, I've owned a dozen or more Vinctronox Swiss Army Knives, most where subjected to heavy daily use, and each failed in succession, except for two I lost, and a $10 secretary that I still put in my pocket on occasion when I'm dressed up to go to church or on a job interview. Usually the handles came off, a blade broke, or a pivot pin wore out. I will still always keep one in a drawer somplace. Guess it's just one of those things, kind of like I'll always have a pellet gun, a pair of binoculars, and a bat/glove. I doubt I'll ever have much use for any of them again, but you just wouldn't feel right if you didn't at least have one around somewhere!
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Ever had a knife fail on you?
- Thread starter Yojimbo
- Start date
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- Oct 3, 2000
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I had a Gerber EZ Out fold up on me as I was spliting dry cedar kindling while camping a year ago. I have a nice little "love mark" on my right index and middle finger from this episode.
The knife? It resides at the bottom of the north fork of the Stilliguamish now. I still have 3 more but I only use them for light work:grumpy:
The knife? It resides at the bottom of the north fork of the Stilliguamish now. I still have 3 more but I only use them for light work:grumpy:
My first "tactical" was the Camillus CUDA. After about 3 months of hardcore box opening and fingernail scraping I needed it one day to cut a 1/4" branch off my apple tree and had the liner lock fail. Luckily I hadn't found the time to sharpen it recently so no major damage was done. I sent it back to Camillus and it was promptly replaced but has kept it's place of honor in a shoe box ever since. In fact, it took three years before I used another liner lock at all. Even though I don't currently carry one, you just can't beat the Axis lock for dependability and ease of use.
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- Apr 27, 2001
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The only "failure" that I've encountered was of my own doing. I had found an older Gerber MKII in a pawnshop for a whopping $8. The problem was that the edge temper had been burned out by some goon somewhere and the thing wouldn't even take a butterknifes edge. Out of frustration, I started using it as a thrower in my backyard. On throw #3 at an old Oak tree, the aluminum handle vaporized when it hit the oak. Throwning the bare blade alotted for the distal 2" breaking off about another 5 throws later. (Those guys at Gerber just can't make a dependable knife. That was lightweight stuff by Cliff's standards. 
) If nothing else, there was a certain sense of finality when I finally killed that damned evil thing.
Doc
) If nothing else, there was a certain sense of finality when I finally killed that damned evil thing.Doc
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One thing I've noticed about throwers is that you can throw some knives for quite a while with no visible signs of damage, but metal fatigue can be very insidious over time. Once a knife starts wanting to take a bend upon impact, it's just about done. I've broken one designed thrower that way, clean off right at the hilt, and cracked the edge of a pretty nice bowie I'd been told could stand up to throwing, "no problem". I don't really consider throwers "field use" knives, but I did throw knives daily, as a hobby for about six years, and have had several go south on me. Some knives will take several hundred throws before you realize damage is occurring. By then it's too late.
My advice: If you don't want to damage or weaken your knife, don't throw it. If you want to throw a knife, throw one that's expendable. If you want to be ABLE to throw an expensive knife with skill, find a practice blade with the same weight/length/balance and save the good one for dazzling your friends with one or two well-timed throws once in a while. Corollary: don't then lend your knife to your friends to let them try and replicate the feat. Even in the unlikely event that they are sober.
Just my $0.02.
-w
Edited just to say that I have thrown some knives thousands of times before they showed any signs of damage. If the knife is made for throwing, it should stand up to it for a good, long while. Doesn't necessarily mean it's not being weakened, though.
My advice: If you don't want to damage or weaken your knife, don't throw it. If you want to throw a knife, throw one that's expendable. If you want to be ABLE to throw an expensive knife with skill, find a practice blade with the same weight/length/balance and save the good one for dazzling your friends with one or two well-timed throws once in a while. Corollary: don't then lend your knife to your friends to let them try and replicate the feat. Even in the unlikely event that they are sober.
Just my $0.02.
-w
Edited just to say that I have thrown some knives thousands of times before they showed any signs of damage. If the knife is made for throwing, it should stand up to it for a good, long while. Doesn't necessarily mean it's not being weakened, though.
I've personally only had a cheap large folder fail (that I used to throw a lot - stupid/young/etc. then). A friend has had two fixed blades fail field dressing dear. One was a smaller Buck of his. The other was my brand new Case Ridgeback Hunter. The Buck's blade/tang snapped off at the hilt. The Case's just broke out about 2/3 the length of the blade about half it's depth.
Sometimes I wonder if many of us knife nuts (me included) aren't sacrificing the slicing ability for the durability, but even cheap knives shouldn't fail like these particular Buck or Case knives did. I have other Bucks and Cases that do very well so no disrespect to those manufacturers.
Sometimes I wonder if many of us knife nuts (me included) aren't sacrificing the slicing ability for the durability, but even cheap knives shouldn't fail like these particular Buck or Case knives did. I have other Bucks and Cases that do very well so no disrespect to those manufacturers.
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- Sep 15, 2002
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- 1
Butt cap loosened and then then I snapped 3/4" off the tip of a WWII Marine Corps Combat knife when using it for a thrower.
Pins are no longer tight after using the big screwdriver on any Swiss Army knife on a REALLY tight screw!!
Snapped the tip off a couple Gil Hibben throwers (probably because I'm a lousy thrower).
Handles have come off the tangs on a lot of big cheapo knives I bought as a kid.
I once melted the handles off of a Spyderco knock-off that I found. I was trying to clean them up with carbuerator cleaner and they just melted!!!!
Pins are no longer tight after using the big screwdriver on any Swiss Army knife on a REALLY tight screw!!
Snapped the tip off a couple Gil Hibben throwers (probably because I'm a lousy thrower).
Handles have come off the tangs on a lot of big cheapo knives I bought as a kid.
I once melted the handles off of a Spyderco knock-off that I found. I was trying to clean them up with carbuerator cleaner and they just melted!!!!
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- 8,888
Howdy, Nick--
Welcome to the forums. If you've used knives enough to have a good number of broken ones on your resume, sounds like you'll fit right in around here. I really like your moniker, btw--or maybe that IS your name? If so, your parents had keen taste in literature.
Best to you,
Will
Welcome to the forums. If you've used knives enough to have a good number of broken ones on your resume, sounds like you'll fit right in around here. I really like your moniker, btw--or maybe that IS your name? If so, your parents had keen taste in literature.
Best to you,
Will
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Had liner lock on a Kershaw fail on me resulting big cut acros my fingers.
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- May 1, 2002
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- 190
i had a funky experience involving cheese and cheap "made in china" knives as well
it was room temperature marble cheese and i grabbed a cheap steak knife out of the drawer. i wasn't even half way through the slice when the blade snapped back. man, that was embarrassing. glad i was alone when i was "cutting the cheese" (couldn't resist)
and when i was younger(like 10 years old?) i carried a cheap knock off of a SAK and was using the scissors to cut a zip tie or grape stems... can't remember, but the scissors' screw didn't hold and it fell into two pieces... sigh, was so heartbroken, had to shell out another $2 to replace it ($2 is a lot when you're 10)
i hope that's all i will ever have to experience
aXed
it was room temperature marble cheese and i grabbed a cheap steak knife out of the drawer. i wasn't even half way through the slice when the blade snapped back. man, that was embarrassing. glad i was alone when i was "cutting the cheese"
(couldn't resist)and when i was younger(like 10 years old?) i carried a cheap knock off of a SAK and was using the scissors to cut a zip tie or grape stems... can't remember, but the scissors' screw didn't hold and it fell into two pieces... sigh, was so heartbroken, had to shell out another $2 to replace it
($2 is a lot when you're 10)i hope that's all i will ever have to experience
aXed
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- Oct 9, 2002
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- 1,419
Hi guys,
My first big failure was with a Gerber Applegate Fairbairn combat folder (the large one) which repeatedly failed to stay locked with any sort of impact to the blade. Unfortunately the first time was when I was out in the middle of nowhere and the AF was my only cutting tool at the time. It was one nervous trip. The second time, I was doing some light whittling of a fuzz stick and the blade just folded, then closed onto my fingers. Yo'd think I'd have known better but I did some live cutting practise with it on a rolled newspaper target, the blade didn;t cut, so got stuck and in trying to remove the blade, it folded again. No pressure against the lock. I then found that if you smacked the spine of the blade with even a small amount of force, the lockbar would bounce open. I later heard that this was a reasonably common problem wit the big AF folder. A shame, since in Australia, it cost me just over $300. Mucho dinero.
So I got the AF Covert which is jsut a bit smaller and comes with the secondary safety which completely eliminates the abovementioned problem. Unfortunately, around this time, I started collecting more high-performance working knives and got a whiff of how much better things could be. I'm talking about edge retention and ease of sharpening. I have to admit I'm a forged carbon steel, American Bladesmith, big bowies, sort of guy. I now make knives almost exclusively from O-1 carbon steel. Check out the Mad Dog knives - most are O-1 steel. They cut like crazy and are ace if you aren't just after stain resistance.
The AF Covert's edge is flat spotted in areas, chipped in others and I've broken the tip. Thatsjust with general use - cutting ropes, cardboard boxes, light whittling and the like. I still carry it because its a mean looking bastard.
Cheers.
My first big failure was with a Gerber Applegate Fairbairn combat folder (the large one) which repeatedly failed to stay locked with any sort of impact to the blade. Unfortunately the first time was when I was out in the middle of nowhere and the AF was my only cutting tool at the time. It was one nervous trip. The second time, I was doing some light whittling of a fuzz stick and the blade just folded, then closed onto my fingers. Yo'd think I'd have known better but I did some live cutting practise with it on a rolled newspaper target, the blade didn;t cut, so got stuck and in trying to remove the blade, it folded again. No pressure against the lock. I then found that if you smacked the spine of the blade with even a small amount of force, the lockbar would bounce open. I later heard that this was a reasonably common problem wit the big AF folder. A shame, since in Australia, it cost me just over $300. Mucho dinero.
So I got the AF Covert which is jsut a bit smaller and comes with the secondary safety which completely eliminates the abovementioned problem. Unfortunately, around this time, I started collecting more high-performance working knives and got a whiff of how much better things could be. I'm talking about edge retention and ease of sharpening. I have to admit I'm a forged carbon steel, American Bladesmith, big bowies, sort of guy. I now make knives almost exclusively from O-1 carbon steel. Check out the Mad Dog knives - most are O-1 steel. They cut like crazy and are ace if you aren't just after stain resistance.
The AF Covert's edge is flat spotted in areas, chipped in others and I've broken the tip. Thatsjust with general use - cutting ropes, cardboard boxes, light whittling and the like. I still carry it because its a mean looking bastard.
Cheers.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2001
- Messages
- 3,157
I got a nice serrated shaped chunk taken outta my finger by a CRKT KISS... geez... that was like 3 years ago! cuttin a cement bag. DOnt know how it happened... it just closed... ouch!