Just got my Hogue EX-01. I've got the 3.5" black alu version. I love the way it looks. It feels great in the hand: fantastic ergonomics. And it opens and closes very smoothly. It almost feels like a Sebenza.
Almost? Yes, I've got some doubts about the (push button) locking mechanism. Not about its strength, I'd almost batton with it. (The knive's got a nice thick blade as well.) Not about its functionality: unlike with a liner lock, you can close the knife single-handedly without getting your fingers in the path of the blade. And even though I don't like the fact that it's got a second (sliding) lock that secures the primary lock, I understand it is there. It is extremely unlikely that you unlock the knife by accidentally pushing the button (you need quite a bit of well directed force) and us knife ppl are fearless anyway, but you don't want to be the 1 out of 100,000 ppl that accidentally close their knife with there fingers in between. (Particularly not with a beast like the Hogue.)
What I've got my doubts about is that the amount of pressure you need to apply to the push button in order to open the knife seems to vary. If you have just opened the knife, you need to press the button quite hard. However, if you then press the button for the second (and third, and ...) time, much less pressure is needed to open the lock. I think this is because initially, when you've just opened the blade, the friction between the locking pin and the blade is quite large. Once you've pressed the button for the first time the "initial friction" is broken. If you press the button for the second time (without having closed and reopened the knife), the button is maybe not exactly in its original position and the fraction is much less. (Dunno how to explain this exactly, but compare it to unfastening a a nut from a bolt it has rusted to. You need a lot of force to get it in motion initially, but after that it gets easier.)
This effect may also be present with liner locks and frame locks (although I've never noticed it), but maybe you don't notice it there so much, because these locks act as levers and the force from the locking blade to the knife blade when you open the lock is much more indirect than with a push button lock.
What are your thoughts about this? What causes this? Do you also notice this on your EX-01? And has anyone got exact information about the workings of the lock? It's quite simple, anyone who watches it understands it immediately, but what gives the counterpressure when you press the button? Is there a spring, is there some springy material at the opposite site?
That said: great knife, the way the push lock works most likely won't be any problem in practice. It just makes the lock feel a bit less polished, less perfect than the rest of the knife. I can recommended the EX-01 to every knife lover.
Almost? Yes, I've got some doubts about the (push button) locking mechanism. Not about its strength, I'd almost batton with it. (The knive's got a nice thick blade as well.) Not about its functionality: unlike with a liner lock, you can close the knife single-handedly without getting your fingers in the path of the blade. And even though I don't like the fact that it's got a second (sliding) lock that secures the primary lock, I understand it is there. It is extremely unlikely that you unlock the knife by accidentally pushing the button (you need quite a bit of well directed force) and us knife ppl are fearless anyway, but you don't want to be the 1 out of 100,000 ppl that accidentally close their knife with there fingers in between. (Particularly not with a beast like the Hogue.)
What I've got my doubts about is that the amount of pressure you need to apply to the push button in order to open the knife seems to vary. If you have just opened the knife, you need to press the button quite hard. However, if you then press the button for the second (and third, and ...) time, much less pressure is needed to open the lock. I think this is because initially, when you've just opened the blade, the friction between the locking pin and the blade is quite large. Once you've pressed the button for the first time the "initial friction" is broken. If you press the button for the second time (without having closed and reopened the knife), the button is maybe not exactly in its original position and the fraction is much less. (Dunno how to explain this exactly, but compare it to unfastening a a nut from a bolt it has rusted to. You need a lot of force to get it in motion initially, but after that it gets easier.)
This effect may also be present with liner locks and frame locks (although I've never noticed it), but maybe you don't notice it there so much, because these locks act as levers and the force from the locking blade to the knife blade when you open the lock is much more indirect than with a push button lock.
What are your thoughts about this? What causes this? Do you also notice this on your EX-01? And has anyone got exact information about the workings of the lock? It's quite simple, anyone who watches it understands it immediately, but what gives the counterpressure when you press the button? Is there a spring, is there some springy material at the opposite site?
That said: great knife, the way the push lock works most likely won't be any problem in practice. It just makes the lock feel a bit less polished, less perfect than the rest of the knife. I can recommended the EX-01 to every knife lover.