Folding knife lock failure

Gerber liner lock. After 2 years of light use, I noticed poor engagement and tested it. Moderate pressure on the spine defeated the lock easily. I blunted the the blade and threw it in the garbage.

Another was a Spyderco back lock on a Native. The lock and blade engagement got misaligned and the lock bar gradually sank below the handle. The blade wiggled up and down with pressure and it was replaced under warranty. It was about 7 or 8 months old and my daily carry knife for that time.

A Kershaw Ti framelock where the initial lock engagement was quite shallow. Also, the angles of the lock surfaces was fairly steep so a few wiggles back and forth would slip the lock out of engagement. A slight roughing up of the Ti surface and pushing the lock deeper manually eventually wore it in so the lock engaged more solidly.

Liner lock on my Leatherman Skeletool. The lock either fails to engage at all when opened with thumb alone or if flicked, the lock goes all the way down to where it touches the pivot. Poor tolerances and it's never consistent so I always double check before using the blade but that's rare.

An early version of the Spyderco Manix 2. The ball lock did not engage deeply and the spring pressure was not enough to keep it engaged. Moderate pressure on the spine would push the ball out of engagement. It was returned and replaced by Spyderco and some improvements to the lock design was made as a result.
 
Nope. Never. And I almost exclusively use slipjoints. Though I don't stab with them, when I cut with them I cut down, and if I am in a situation where I am thinking about lock strength, then I go fixed blade.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
 
I bought an Emerson PSARK recently and I found the liner lock to be unreliable enough to make me uncomfortable and am in the process of returning it.

When I use the thumb disk to open the liner barely engages the blade. When I "Wave" or fling the blade open the liner travels over to a point where it feels unsafe to close by one hand.

I've owned a CQC7 5-6 years ago and do not remember having this trouble. I also own a ZT liner that fully engages, no matter how I open it. I am unaware of a break-in period with knives, I don't think I've ever had to wear in a liner before. The knife may not be defective but I feel it's defective for what it's advertised for. :confused:

All in all it made me uncomfortable.
 
I had a Para II once. The Spyderco with the compressin lock. I was getting ready for bed and taking off my pants, the knife was clipped in my pocket, it fell out of my pocket, bounced on the floor, partially opened, and stabbed my bare foot.
after that I tested it out, dropped the closed knife from waist high. It opened 50 % of the time. My daughter as a Para II, so I tested her knife out, it also opened a few times. All knives are suppose to have " walk and talk" that means open or closed , the lock should not fail. Well I don't own it anymore.
 
45 years of carrying a knife and the last 30 with lockbacks and I had no failures so far.
 
Jack1951 said:
I had a Para II once. The Spyderco with the compressin lock. I was getting ready for bed and taking off my pants, the knife was clipped in my pocket, it fell out of my pocket, bounced on the floor, partially opened, and stabbed my bare foot.
after that I tested it out, dropped the closed knife from waist high. It opened 50 % of the time. My daughter as a Para II, so I tested her knife out, it also opened a few times. All knives are suppose to have " walk and talk" that means open or closed , the lock should not fail. Well I don't own it anymore.
Click to expand...

"Walk and talk" is a term that applies to traditional, mainly slip-joint knives.
Maybe you should be carrying one of those instead.

The lock did not fail by any stretch of the imagination, as the lock was not engaged!
That only happens when the knife is open.

Sounds like modern knives aren't your bag. ;)

Walk and Talk

An old-time expression describing the action of a pocket knife blade. The tang end of the blade moving along the spring is the”walk”, and the snap of the knife at the end of the opening or closing cycle is the “talk.”

http://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/pocket-knives/knife-terminology/
 
I have had knife locks fail on me a few times, but none were good knives.
One was a cheap lockback ( exactly the same as the infamous Ozark trail 1$ knife ) luckily it was a dull as pos, the next was a small frost cutlery framelock that doesn't engage properly unless I force it, luckily that one has enough of a ricasso that I never got cut.
There's also the Kershaw select fire which isn't horrible that didn't engage properly when opened softly.
 
your right, "walk and talk" is a term used for slipjoints, and I do carry a slipjoint today. But my point is that no knife should open when it is dropped. Take a lockback and drop it, even the cheapest ones,take a liner lock too, My bet is they won't open. You also right in that the lock wasn't engaged, but in knives there is a " design " that holds a blade closed, if there wasn't one knives would open in a persons pocket.
So, your point is made, but my point that the Spyderco Para II is unsafe is my point.
 
oh and Stabman, don't tell me modern knives aren't my bag. I own over 200 assorted knives, all styles etc. one of my favorites is a Spyderco Stretch. and for my birthday last year I got the Hungarian. Don't judge me
 
Jack1951 said:
your right, "walk and talk" is a term used for slipjoints, and I do carry a slipjoint today. But my point is that no knife should open when it is dropped. Take a lockback and drop it, even the cheapest ones,take a liner lock too, My bet is they won't open. You also right in that the lock wasn't engaged, but in knives there is a " design " that holds a blade closed, if there wasn't one knives would open in a persons pocket.
So, your point is made, but my point that the Spyderco Para II is unsafe is my point.
Click to expand...

I haven't dropped knives often, but when I have, they often come part way open.
That includes liner locks, lock-backs, and even the mighty Tri-Ad lock.

Other times they didn't open at all though.

You might not like the look of the Szabo Folder by Spyderco (or you might :)), but it has an extra feature that has a spring which makes it harder to open.
Of course, you can find lots of complaints on the internet from folks who don't like that feature, because it means they can't flick it. :D

Jack1951 said:
oh and Stabman, don't tell me modern knives aren't my bag. I own over 200 assorted knives, all styles etc. one of my favorites is a Spyderco Stretch. and for my birthday last year I got the Hungarian. Don't judge me
Click to expand...

I'll bet if you drop the Hungarian a bunch, you'll get it to open partway too.
 
I've had liner locks fail when tapping the spine against something like dried dog crap on a boot or a propane tank to check the level. I know it ain't made for this but I think something that weak doesn't belong in my pocket. I treat a knife like a tool. I beat the hell out of tools because I don't have to pay for them. It's all in the contract.
 
Probably serious. My employer buys my tools, and replaces them if they break. If I continue breaking them, they get better ones until they quit breaking.
I feel the same way about knives.
 
Yup. That about sums it up. Don't worry I don't thrash knives and sell them. I give those away if they ain't destroyed.
 
I had a liner lick fail, nearly cutting my fingers. I will never buy another liner lock knife again.
I moved to Cold Steel folders with their Tri-AD lock. No problems at all.
 
Yes, several liner locks and two spyderco endura backlocks and that weird axis-like lock on the SOG trident, it actually f*ing locks against the plastic handle...

EDIT
Oh and i forgot this Spyderco ball lock

[video=youtube;6VqqCRBmv8I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VqqCRBmv8I[/video]
 
Rusty-Gunn said:
I had a liner lick fail, nearly cutting my fingers. I will never buy another liner lock knife again.
I moved to Cold Steel folders with their Tri-AD lock. No problems at all.
Click to expand...



Actually my American Lawman lock does not work properly, it just will not seat properly... no idea why, i had it apart several times, nothing seems wrong, blade hangs out of the handle because the lock is not pushing it closed
 
I'd send the lawman in if you have the time. They like to look at lemons to see how it's messed up. They'll prolly replace it. Or just throw it away.
 
Something I forgot to say is that you shouldn't rely on a knives lock, and you should know how to use them safely. A knife is for cutting things and that's it ( not a screwdriver, prybar...ect ) for edc there's no need to misuse them.

For me basically the only reason to have a locking blade is so I can put my thumb on the spine for without disengaging the blade.
 
For me all the safety stuff and proper use takes the fun out of it. A screwdriver should only drive screws. But it can be used as a pry bar, punch, chisel, scratch awl etc. I smoke my tires every now and then. I like to break things to see what they can take.
 
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