Hinderer Wharncliffe Came Open in Pocket

B

ben317

Joined
May 10, 2011
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Got my first Hinderer last Friday. XM-18 3-inch Wharncliffe. Very impressed after I got it in my hand. I carried it to work for the first time today and after lunch I thankfully noticed that the blade had come open in my pocket and the tip had actually pierced through my pants and was sticking out. Thankfully I noticed this before I reached into my pocket and cut myself or cut my leg or whatever. But now I'm a little concerned about carrying this thing around. The tip of this thing is scary sharp. This is only the 2nd time I've ever carried it and I wasn't particularly active or anything. I have a desk job. I can't imagine how it would have shaken out.

Anyone else had this issue with Hinderers? I notice that I can actually shake the blade out just by shaking the knife. Am I wrong in thinking that this is a safety concern?
 
Hey pal, that cornball weak detent is a feature. Be quiet and know your place, plebe!!

LOL
 
The detent has been so weak on nearly every Hinderer I've ever held that they won't even flip open most times. The slightest touch to the flipper pushes the blade out, so I don't buy the whole "you have to preload the detent" thing either.
 
Quiet isn't joking, man. Hinderers are known to have weaker detents. According to one employee, you should be able to use the flipper, thumbstud or shake the blade out.

I've heard that the most recent generation has a stronger detent, but I'm not sure as I haven't handled one.
 
Zeta33 said:
The detent has been so weak on nearly every Hinderer I've ever held that they won't even flip open most times. The slightest touch to the flipper pushes the blade out, so I don't buy the whole "you have to preload the detent" thing either.
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You aren't wrong. I held my first Hinderer while at Blade and...politely I'll say that I wasn't impressed. The ZT 0562CF feels like twice the knife, and at half the price no less. Actually, all three Hinderers I examined at different booths all had the same problem. I had to use some wrist snap in order to get them to open. Absurd.
 
Quiet said:
You aren't wrong. I held my first Hinderer while at Blade and...politely I'll say that I wasn't impressed. The ZT 0562CF feels like twice the knife, and at half the price no less. Actually, all three Hinderers I examined at different booths all had the same problem. I had to use some wrist snap in order to get them to open. Absurd.
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I'm with you on that, I really don't get the hype and why people pay the absurd prices they do. You can get almost the exactly same designs from ZT using materials that are just as good. If anything ever does break, ZT just repairs/replaces it without question, whereas I have heard very mixed things about RHK customer service. I won't even go into the sales policies, just say that the premise behind it is based in delusions.

My 0560 is a Hinderer design, and is nearly identical to the XM-24. It's detent is pretty firm and that combined with the bearings it flips like a dream...a major contrast from weak detents and plastic washers (on a $400+ knife?!?).
 
The Hinderer is not meant to be carried in the left pocket. As a matter of fact all right carry tip up flippers should not be carried in the left pocket. Plenty of people that I know of have cut themselves that way.
 
Jasonsdman said:
The Hinderer is not meant to be carried in the left pocket. As a matter of fact all right carry tip up flippers should not be carried in the left pocket. Plenty of people that I know of have cut themselves that way.
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So I'm guessing back right pocket is out of the question too? That's where I carry my knives.
 
damn...

what kind of bevel is that? 14 or 15 degrees?

nice! Maybe I should do that to my Wharnie :)

So going back to the weak detents. I've owned a newer gen XM-18 3" Warnie flipper and absolutely love that knife. Mine has the stronger detent (almost too strong to use the thumb studs but for this knife, I like it just like that). This was my first ever Hinderer, so I foolishly assumed they all had strong detents.

Two weeks ago I bought an XM-18 3" Slicer flipper - I've always wanted a slicer and finally found one for a good price. Well I get the knife and the detent is so weak, I could open the blade just by shaking it :( Obviously it wouldn't flip and like the OP, I inserted it in my pocket and it opened. Bummed. So I got rid of it...

I still love the ergonomics & solid feel of the XM-18, so this past weekend I bought the same exact knife, but the non-flipper version this time. Haven't received it yet, but even if it has a weak detent, I know it will work since it's a non-flipper version.

Watch - I'll get one with a super strong detent and it will tore my thumb apart ;)

brancron said:
If that happened to me with my Hinderer I think I'd be dead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fIbnvAsD-k
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Jasonsdman said:
The Hinderer is not meant to be carried in the left pocket. As a matter of fact all right carry tip up flippers should not be carried in the left pocket. Plenty of people that I know of have cut themselves that way.
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I carry my 0900, and pretty much every other knife in my back right pocket, all tip up carry. I've never ever had an issue, but then again I don't own any Hinderer knives, so....
 
Tip up carry is usually fine as long as the blade side of the knife is pushed up against your body or the inside of your clothes. You can prevent accidental opening that way. With a flipper, you have the extra risk with the flipper tab forcing the blade open if you carry with the flipper against your body or the inside of your clothes instead of the blade side.
 
Jasonsdman said:
The Hinderer is not meant to be carried in the left pocket. As a matter of fact all right carry tip up flippers should not be carried in the left pocket. Plenty of people that I know of have cut themselves that way.
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This is correct.
If it's tip up and a right hand carry knife, it should be in your right pocket.
The blade will stay locked against the side of your pocket.

Carrying it in the left pocket is a bad idea, I wouldn't do it even with a really strong detent....
 
My one biggest fear of tip up carry, (ESP with a/o's), is reaching into my pocket and finding a stupid sharp blade waiting to eat my fingers.
 
Seems to be nothing new for Hinderer flippers.

Anyone who says that the ability to easily shake the blade out is desirable is deluding themselves.
 
New 3.5" Hinderer's are far from having a "weak" detent... My index finger was tore to hell for weeks breaking in my spearpoint... Dont want it to open so easily on you? Tighten the pivot down a bit. Easy
I had an old gen 2 3 inch with a very light detent. Never came open in my pocket and flipped like a dream. I love them
 
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