Ever have a lockback fail ?

The only lockback I ever had fail for me was a Minibuck, the one with the plastic handle and about 2" blade. I was using the tip to pick some grubs out of a log for a science project and it failed. Nothing in the cutout either. Wasn't meant for doing much, but it failed me on a few occasions. But even with that, I still wish I hadn't lost it, it was great for picking splinters. All of the other lockbacks I've had never skipped a beat, Kershaw, Buck, Spyderco and even a few cheapies.
 
I've not personally had one fail, but I read that Barry Wood did, and it cut his finger rather badly when it closed on him. But that made him determined to design a knife where that won't happen, then came his SwingLocker. It's just too bad that those knives are now at a premium since he and Mike Irie are closing shop and no more will be made.

G2

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G2 LeatherWorks
 
Lock backs and mid locks ( Al Mar Lock ) will fail if not cleaned on a regular basis. A orange stick that women use on their nails works just fine. I have never had a quality lock back fail, in the last 3 decades, that was kept clean. Liner locks suffer from irratic, inconsistant faliure. Probably 10% of the people making liner locks care enough about the customer, and the end result to take the time to learn the best way to make a satisfactory piece. I do not believe the liner lock is a consistantly safe piece, and may be a legal nightmare for the knife industry unless, accidents are addressed, and a safe product is produced.

These are my opinions only, and I speak for no one but my self.

Floyd
 
I had a Spyderco Wayne Goddard Lightweight that I could close by wacking the spine against my knee. I bought two at the same time and the second one could not be closed by striking my knee. Sal requested I send it back for replacement. I could not close the new Goddard lightweight with my knee.

Will
 
Back in the 60's a lot of cheap lockbacks were imported. Many had weak back springs, shallow locking notches, and bad tolerances. Those would fail with rather slight pressure. I learned to hold them the way you'd close an old pocket knife and gradually apply strong closing pressure. You could see the lockback start to creap up towards release. You could do this in a store without alarming the salesman.

One variety that worked surprisingly well was the Mercator design from Germany. These had flat handles made from a single piece of sheet metal. If you checked the lockback for creap and picked one that had tight springs and tolerances they would hold up well. I even used to throw them a lot. The overstress would make the blade and lock rattley, but the lock would hold. So for lockbacks, test for creap before buying.
 
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