Have "you" experienced a knife failure?

I've been carrying and using knives for ~50 years. Slipjoints, locking blades, fixed blades.
I've used them as a tradesman, hunter, handyman.

I have never had one fail or break.
I have never closed a slipjoint on my hand.
 
when I was younger I broke a couple blades learning the difference between knives and screwdrivers.

But actual failures that were the knife's fault, only one. Buck crosslock. This was years ago when they first appeared. (late eighties-early nineties.) I had the single bladed model with the rubber inserts on the handles. I got it as soon as it appeared in my local Ace Hardware store. (Loved that store, the owner must have been a knife affectionado, wonderful selection...this was before we had the internet.) Lock failed and I got cut. I can't remeber what I was cutting, and I didn't get cut bad but it was the first and only time a locking folder has ever failed on me. I kept the Buck and treated it as a slipjoint until the thumbstud fell off and got lost a couple months later. It is still in my toolbox as a beater knife.

Grizz
 
I have had 2 failures in my 47 yrs. KaBar USMC fighting knife w/leather stacked handle. I dropped it onto concrete & the round endcap broke off it, along with about 5 leather washers. FAIL---I will NEVER own another one of those.
Other was a Gerber MK 2 survival knife/dagger. Bought it new in 1981 in Kaiserslaughtern Germany PX. Said it had an "armor piercing point". Well, I stabbed it as hard as i could into a piece of wood, i did not throw it. When i pulled it out, i thought i pulled it straight out, i did not wiggle it back and forth. About 1" of the blade tip stayed in the wood. I took it back the same day. They would not refund my money, but did give me a new knife. Since then, I have not used it for anything. IMO, it is just made for 1 thing, ending someones life.
 
I can't recall a knife ever failing on me. I wouldn't say I've ever been a "hard user" though, just general EDC, hiking, camping, hunting, and fishing stuff.
 
I snapped the main blade on a Charge Ti in half trying to remove a window. I accidentally placed too much materal pressure on it. My fault.
 
In my 30 years of knife use I have broken many folders cheap and expensive in hard use, usually when using them like i would a fixed blade. In short abused.

The only "failure's" I have had were a couple kershaw lock back hunting knifes I had back in the day where the lock failed. One of them left a nasty cut on my finger. I also had the handle of a Coldsteel snap in my hand down near the window breaker deal when I was cutting up some thick cardboard. Must have been cracked or defective, I was really surprised when it happened. Usually when I break knives I sort of expect it, this one caught me off guard. I sent it in an they were good about replacing it.
 
Only when ABUSING a Greco Scagel copy.
Threw it and the blade snapped off at the hilt.
Obvious stress riser in grind.
He offered a 10% discount on a new knife, but would not allow me to choose anything other than another Scagel copy.

Did not appreciate that limitation.

Yes, I abused the knife. But it was poorly designed and built and came with scratches new.

knifebreak.jpg
 
While I was in Italy, I bought a knife at a newspaper stand. Cost 13 euro, and that was at least 13 euro overpriced. Thing fell apart (liners, spacers, scales) from light use in less than a week. I think I still have the parts in a ziploc bag somewhere.

That knife was so shoddily made it would loosen up just from pocket carry alone.
 
Smokinape said:
I have used knives my whole life. I had the liner lock on a Gerber (paraframe?) Fail while cutting up large cardboard boxes,two fingers were cut pretty bad.
Click to expand...

i don't understand how that happens? cutting cardboard is pretty straightforward, cutting down towards the edge. are you sure you weren't stabbing, or hacking/slashing with it? I mean, even if the lock fails, it should push the edge AWAY from your fingers.

me, i've never had them fail, even ridiculously cheap chinese crap that you could "unlock" without touching the lock. simply because I use folders how they were designed to be used.
 
I had a Buck Special break in half (middle of blade) while batoning fire wood in about 1966. Buck replaced it. Per Buck, the original knife was 440C at 64.5 RC and that is probably why it broke. I had a Gerber lock back break the spring about 20 years ago. My son broke the tip off of his Buck 110 carving his wife's name in a tree (They replaced it also). My son in law broke a HUGE chunk out of his RAT7 while batoning. They replaced the knife (chunk was 3" long, 1.5" deep).
 
I snapped the tip off of a Buck 110,prying a bin board out of a shrimp boat.That was 26 years ago,lesson learned.
 
I have had the tip (1in) of a buck nighthawk break off while stabbing it into a log. I didn't wiggle it or anything it just came off. Totally my fault though.
 
Only ever had two fail.

The first was a Stanley Sportyutility, I pressed the blade hard against something and it it forced the blade a bit towards the spine and when I pulled it away from what I was cutting, the liner lock failed and the blade sprang back on my fingers. Luckily the 420 stainless blade couldn't hold an edge worth a damn (I believe they heat treated the blade by looking at it sternly) and I wasn't hurt too bad.

And here's the most recent:

[youtube]prviyp3rb74[/youtube]

It locks up ok most of the time now if I open it up hard.
 
punisherlcr said:
only ever had two fail.

The first was a stanley sportyutility, i pressed the blade hard against something and it it forced the blade a bit towards the spine and when i pulled it away from what i was cutting, the liner lock failed and the blade sprang back on my fingers. Luckily the 420 stainless blade couldn't hold an edge worth a damn (i believe they heat treated the blade by looking at it sternly) and i wasn't hurt too bad.

And here's the most recent:

[youtube]prviyp3rb74[/youtube]

it locks up ok most of the time now if i open it up hard.
Click to expand...

ouch!

25pu342.gif
 
PunisherLcr said:
Only ever had two fail.

The first was a Stanley Sportyutility, I pressed the blade hard against something and it it forced the blade a bit towards the spine and when I pulled it away from what I was cutting, the liner lock failed and the blade sprang back on my fingers. Luckily the 420 stainless blade couldn't hold an edge worth a damn (I believe they heat treated the blade by looking at it sternly) and I wasn't hurt too bad.

And here's the most recent:

[youtube]prviyp3rb74[/youtube]

It locks up ok most of the time now if I open it up hard.
Click to expand...

Is this common to HEST folders or did you just happen to get a lemon?
 
ooitzoo said:
Is this common to HEST folders or did you just happen to get a lemon?
Click to expand...

I believe Cricket Dave's had the same problem to a lesser degree. Gianni suggested we disassemble the knife and push the ti lock across to increase the tension. Seems to have worked for Dave, I'm just going to wait it out and see if it wears in.
 
The knife: Brand new Case Mini Blackhorn lockback
The activity: Getting ready to cut cardboard
Your experience level: Carrying and using folding knives of one kind or another since about age 7
Your Comments: Holding the handle firmly, pressed on the spine of the blade with my thumb, and the blade unlatched. Took about as much force as would any slipjoint. Except being a lockback, it let go suddenly, without warning. Fortunately, no injury. Took it back to store for exchange, opened package, new knife did the exact same thing. Showed the guy at returns, and got my money back. Case has since fixed this problem with that model. But that's a hell of a thing to have happen. I don't expect a lock to be infinitely reliable. But I do expect it to require significantly more force than I can exert with my thumb in order to make it fail.
 
I snapped the tips on two slip joints at diffrent times when I was a kid, once by stabbing the knife into a log and the other prying or trying to pry open a paint can.
 
Never Useing it as "intended"... But plenty of failure, breaking and chipping during hard use, throwing and jimmying doors and windows.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top