Has Your Knife Ever Failed You?

medusaoblongata

medusaoblongata

Joined
May 1, 2000
Messages
2,259
I was reading the warranty discussion on the CRK forum and the phrase came up "should this knife ever fail;" I thought about asking over there if anyone's CRK knife ever failed, but I doubt many have. So, for whatever knife it was, has it ever failed you when you needed it? By "failed" I guess I mean broke, closed on your hand, didn't cut when you needed it to, etc.

The only time I could say a knife failed was with a very cheap knife, very light prying, folded in half sideways. I know, I know, a knife is not a prybar, but a knife that couldn't handle this would fold when stabbed into a mattress as well. I laughed when it broke, and used a real knife instead.

So, has a knife ever failed you?

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Jason aka medusaoblongata
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"I have often laughed at the weaklings who call themselves kind because they have no claws"

- Zarathustra


BTW: Check out "I Just Smoked a Camel and Watched Him Die" in the Community forum, it's long, but it's an incredible article.
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/001849.html


[This message has been edited by medusaoblongata (edited 11-02-2000).]
 
I've had several knives break their tip on making contact with the heavy pelvic bone of a deer during extreme cold weather. Only one manufacturer, Spyderco, was gracious enough to replace or repair the broken blade. They've earned my undying respect as far as customer service and support goes.
 
A fellow co-worker snapped the tip off his Boguszewski Spike while cutting a cardboard box. BM offered to regrind the blade for free or replace it for $25.
 
I have had several knives fail on me over the years.

Sometimes, it was my fault, like the time when I tried to use a blade as a screwdriver (ease up, I think I was 8 years old at the time).

Other times, I think the blades just failed due to poor quality, design, heat treat, etc.

I now buy knives with durability as a key concern and have not had a problem since.
 
Spydie fixed two blades of mine for small fee, both broken in COLD temps.

My buck lite failed back in 88, severing through my finger!

My EDI GENESIS failed while trying to cut open a fuel additive at the gas station. Cut thru my buddies leather gloves.

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What we do today in life...echoes in eternity...
Every man dies...not every man lives...
 
I snapped off the blade on my standard issue bayonet about an inch from the handle while chopping at a small diameter branch during a field exercise in Quantico. I don't know if this can really be considered a knife in the first place, but that's what happened.

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Semper Fi

-Bill
 
I had the tip break off a puma lock back folder once with just the slightest side pressure boink there went the point. The knife was not a cheepy. But the blade sure was. For the kind of use that it went through it should have held up.
 
The only knife I've ever broken was a filleting knife while filleting a fish (not really sure if it was my fault or a defective knife).
 
Once, when I was a dumb teenager in the late 70s, I believed all the hype and advertising about the Buck knives, and being able to cut through a nail. I mean, all I did was use my Buck stockman to try to cut through a speaker wire at a drive in theatre and the edge rolled completely over. Dont ask me why I was trying through a speaker wire at a drive in!

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Danbo, soul brother of Rambo
 
I broke , yes broke, a henckels boning knife blade (in the middle of the blade) while gutting a small brown trout. The break showed very coarse grain and what appeared to be several small voids. I haven't purchased a henckels knife since.
 
Used a Gerber Multi Plier for about a year and liked it so much I bought "one for every room in the house" (briefcase, car, tool kit, etc.). Car quit running due to a loose battery cable, so I whipped out out my Multiplier that had been in the glove box for 2 years (and never used). Applied a little pressure to the terminal and the damn rivets that held the handles together popped out and the whole thing fell apart! Of course, Gerber with their fine customer service sent me a new one as soon as I returned the pieces. Glad no one was with me that had heard me brag those tools up.
 
My tanto failed me on a couple occasions...perhaps it was my fault for expecting too much out of it.

It let me down when I asked it to change the channel, and it failed to make a pot of coffee for me. But I still love it.

biggrin.gif

Shinryû.
 
Back in the early 80's I had been carrying a Buck Esquire (I think it was called) and used it for everything. At that time I was living in Florida and working in a gas station. As I said I used this knife for everything from screw driver to pry bar to even cleaning battery terminals. The tip was slightly broken off and had been "zapped" several times from automobile battery terminals. I once pryed too hard and the lock gave way and bent up. Just for the heck of it I sent it to Buck hoping they could repair it. I was willing to pay. They sent me and brand new knife at no charge!!! I was very impressed as the old knife clearly showed major abuse. Dave
 
Not exactly "failed", but I had a folder that couldn't do what I needed done at the time. I had a Victorinox Rucksack. I needed to wrench a bolt loose from a weed wacker. I realized that the SAK wasn't the right tool for the job. I've since then switched to a Leatherman PST II.

-Greg
 
CRKT KISS.

Because of the way it's constructed (exposed liner lock), I sort of expected it to fail. Wait, "fail" sounds a bit harsh...I expected that it would not hold up to anything but a light to light/moderate grip. And I was right. I applied "light" pressure, and it closed on me, snipping off the very tip of my thumb. In that sense, it failed.
 
Many moons ago, (about 20 years) I used a Buck 110 (the good ones with the 440C) to split forewood whlie camping. I was batoning or hammering the blade through a piece of wood with piece of wood. The lock broke and I sent the knife back expecting to pay whatever it cost to fix. The knife was gift from my father and I just wanted that knife back, whatever the cost. To my surprise, I got a new blade on that knife, everthing refurbished and NO BILL; just a note from Buck Knives about how they appreciated my loyalty. Well Daaaaaaaa!

Somes years later I sent a Schrade folder back with a broken blade. After about a month, I got letter back saying thet they would not fix my blade under warranty and that I owed them $15 shipping/handling if I wanted my broken knife back.

Three guesses about how many Bucks and haow many Schrades I've purchased lately?
 
I have had several EDI Genesis' fail on me resulting in the blade closing on my hand.


I second the Buck knife people. they are great folks to work with as has my experience with Spyderco.

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~Greg Mete~
Kodiak Alaska
JKM-Chai
 
I have never had a quality fail unless it was my fault. I did have a cheap blade fold backwards when the pivot pin broke.

Paul
 
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