Yes, I do. I want to hear your comments because I've never in my life heard about spine whack testing until this thread and I want to know what it is.
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Good folder failed spine whack test
- Thread starter beluga
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Yes, I do. I want to hear your comments because I've never in my life heard about spine whack testing until this thread and I want to know what it is.
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can someone tell me why.......never mind.
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To be honest with you, I also do not understand what deal is with spine whack test. For me, a knife is used only for one thing; cutting. I just did it because I was a bit curious as to how my regular EDC will perform in this test. So anyone cares to explain to me what the spine whacki test will prove ?
My BM520 failed the test, but still performs cutting chores wonderfully.
My BM520 failed the test, but still performs cutting chores wonderfully.
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Is "whacking" cosidered normal use? I never heard of the "whack" test untill I visited this forum. So I went and tested my Spyderco military. it failed. I carried this knife for about year, and no problems. I just bought the Chinook 3 and it failed also. Guess i`ll have to buy a special tool for whaking trout.
stabman
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Depends how hard you're whacking it. Whack it hard enough, and alot of folders will fold. Not all, but alot. Also depends how often you do the whack.
The test seems to be aimed at simulating the forces involved in a stab. I don't mind getting the info from OTHER people whacking the hell out of their knives, but even if your knife takes it, you've subjected it to the force of a hard stab into resistant material(and an off angle stab at that).
I want my knives to be ready for whatever I need, so I leave the knife abuse to others.
That said, I tried the whack on some of my knives I was about to throw out, and only the cheapest lock-backs and liner locks failed for me. Even a couple of no-name China junk passed the test.
The test seems to be aimed at simulating the forces involved in a stab. I don't mind getting the info from OTHER people whacking the hell out of their knives, but even if your knife takes it, you've subjected it to the force of a hard stab into resistant material(and an off angle stab at that).
I want my knives to be ready for whatever I need, so I leave the knife abuse to others.
That said, I tried the whack on some of my knives I was about to throw out, and only the cheapest lock-backs and liner locks failed for me. Even a couple of no-name China junk passed the test.
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Not sure what a spine whack test is supposed to prove, but I have used it to confirm a failure-prone lock after it has already failed in use. That happened to me with a Leatherman Charge on the very first time I used it, fortunately with no injury. At the time I thought maybe my work glove had activated the liner lock release, but when a few days later the blade swooned on me again, I tried tapping it on my heel and it folded. None of my other folders, several Spydercos and a Buck, had ever collapsed on me and all "passed" the whack.
I believe there is a correlation and would not use a folder that couldn't hold up to a moderate spine tap.
Thanks Allen.
Engineering and manufacturing a lock is a tricky operation lots of different things to consider. Folders take maintenance! The only times I've had a lock blade fail was when there was gunk it it.
The whacking the spine of a knife can mess things up, but sometimes it can set a new lock right? Yes, it happens. If you feel the need, I'd give a questionable lock a whack to with my hand. I've handled enough folders to know when a lock feels off. But others feel it's the only way to "test" to see if the lock is right.
By quality, maintain it, and don't disrespect your tools.
Engineering and manufacturing a lock is a tricky operation lots of different things to consider. Folders take maintenance! The only times I've had a lock blade fail was when there was gunk it it.
The whacking the spine of a knife can mess things up, but sometimes it can set a new lock right? Yes, it happens. If you feel the need, I'd give a questionable lock a whack to with my hand. I've handled enough folders to know when a lock feels off. But others feel it's the only way to "test" to see if the lock is right.
By quality, maintain it, and don't disrespect your tools.
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It depends on how hard you define a "whack". I ALWAYS test locks on a new knife/ knife somebody gives me. But I do it on my hand- I figure that my fingers are soft enough to cushion the blow a bit while still being a forceful enough stop to make deficient locks fail. Usually linerlocks that are ground too steep or do not have enough liner behind the blade fail. The other that I have seen fail is when the liner is ground away too much so that there is next to no contact between liner and blade. A valid test in my mind but I can usually tell which ones will fail before the test- it is just to confirm worst suspicions.
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Here's another test that might seem more applicable to the real world - stab something, hard. Doesn't matter what it is, phone book, cutting board, tree, whatever. If the knife closes on you and cuts you, the lock isn't functioning, and the knife isn't safe to stab with. I know I'm not the only one on this forum who's been cut doing this (I stabbed a piece of styrofoam).
Spine whack is a similar test, but, if done properly, you don't get cut if the blade closes.
Sometimes, in real world use, the spine of the blade will be bumped by something. Some knives close when this happens, others don't. I assert that the knives that will not close when this happens have superior (i.e., functioning) locks. Since I value my fingers, I refuse to use a knife that doesn't effectively lock open.
They're your fingers, and if you want to assume that the lock on your knife will protect those fingers, yet are unwilling to test it to actually verify that, then you are assuming a certain risk as well. You might get lucky, many have; you might get cut, many have. If there did not exist a folding knife lock that could consistently maintain its integrity while being spine whacked, we would reasonably conclude that this is an unreasonable test to expect knife locks to pass. But this is not the case. Many folding knife locks can consistently maintain their integrity under a spine whack; these knives are, therefore, superior (in their ability to remain open rather than close on your fingers) to those that can not.
If the deadbolt on your front door fails when you bump into the door, you are free to conclude that this is abuse and not a valid test, or you can replace it with a deadbolt that actually will keep your door from opening that easily. It all depends on what you expect your deadbolt to do, but some are stronger than others.
Spine whack is a similar test, but, if done properly, you don't get cut if the blade closes.
Sometimes, in real world use, the spine of the blade will be bumped by something. Some knives close when this happens, others don't. I assert that the knives that will not close when this happens have superior (i.e., functioning) locks. Since I value my fingers, I refuse to use a knife that doesn't effectively lock open.
They're your fingers, and if you want to assume that the lock on your knife will protect those fingers, yet are unwilling to test it to actually verify that, then you are assuming a certain risk as well. You might get lucky, many have; you might get cut, many have. If there did not exist a folding knife lock that could consistently maintain its integrity while being spine whacked, we would reasonably conclude that this is an unreasonable test to expect knife locks to pass. But this is not the case. Many folding knife locks can consistently maintain their integrity under a spine whack; these knives are, therefore, superior (in their ability to remain open rather than close on your fingers) to those that can not.
If the deadbolt on your front door fails when you bump into the door, you are free to conclude that this is abuse and not a valid test, or you can replace it with a deadbolt that actually will keep your door from opening that easily. It all depends on what you expect your deadbolt to do, but some are stronger than others.
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So how does one go about testing a folder in this fashion without risking serious injuries? The closest I have come to this is stabbing full force into a 4X4 with Emerson Commander drone, Emerson Combat Karambit drone and a LLC drone. Sure there is no penetration but also no lock failures either.
Bigfattyt
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CS Recon1 passes the hard spine wack many times in a row no sign of problems.
I have several folders that won't pass a hard look, I have a Buck cross lock and a CRKT liner lock that fold if you think a negative thought about them. Forget a spine wack, or tap, or nudge. The cross lock folded and gave me a nip when I stuck it in a cardboard box after cutting the top off (more than once when I was opening lots of boxes).
I think it is a valid test. I know manufacturers do it.
I have several folders that won't pass a hard look, I have a Buck cross lock and a CRKT liner lock that fold if you think a negative thought about them. Forget a spine wack, or tap, or nudge. The cross lock folded and gave me a nip when I stuck it in a cardboard box after cutting the top off (more than once when I was opening lots of boxes).
I think it is a valid test. I know manufacturers do it.
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Spine whack is the test that you can do without risking serious injuries. Using the knife without testing it first is how you risk serious injuries.
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If your axis lock is failing a spine whack, then it is defective. I've literally beaten a piece of 2x4 to splinters with the spine of a 710HS. Hundreds of heavy hits without any effect. I've beaten it through plywood with a piece of 2" steel pipe, too.
All that was a product of extreme boredom, with no pretension of mimicking any practical use, btw
It's a very practical test.
Both BM and Spyderco have replaced a knife for me(liner lock and lockback, respectively) no questions asked, because their locks would fail from pressure or impact to the spine of the blade.
I like Jason's analogy about the deadbolt. Very fitting, IMO.
Noone can dictate what someone else's knife, or even their own, is going to see in real world use, and since lock reliability is an issue that could easily result in injury, it would be stupid to ignore the possibility of a "spine whack".
All that was a product of extreme boredom, with no pretension of mimicking any practical use, btw
A light spine whack shouldn't do any damage. You can do it on your leg, though I usually use a workbench.
It's a very practical test.
Both BM and Spyderco have replaced a knife for me(liner lock and lockback, respectively) no questions asked, because their locks would fail from pressure or impact to the spine of the blade.
I like Jason's analogy about the deadbolt. Very fitting, IMO.
Noone can dictate what someone else's knife, or even their own, is going to see in real world use, and since lock reliability is an issue that could easily result in injury, it would be stupid to ignore the possibility of a "spine whack".