Hypothetical Warranty Question For Self-defense Folders

J

JNieporte

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Let's say Ichabod (my hypothetical guy) bought a knife that was designed for self-defense. Spyderco Civilian, Kershaw Steven Segall, Benchmade 710, Boker CLB line, whatever. It was designed for self-defense, whatever the model is.

Now let's say Ichabod uses the knife for self-defense and the blade tip snaps. He gets away from the bad guy and police arrive.

What will the knife manufacturer do if Ichabod sends the knife in for warranty work with a copy of the police report and a statement to the effect of "...had to use it for self-defense and the tip snapped..." ?

If the knife was made for self-defense and was used in that manner, then it's not considered abuse. Therefore, it should be covered by warranty, right?

For now, I'd like to focus on the warranty issue and not worry about the other variables of the case. Yes, the police will have shown up and confiscated Ichabod's knife. Yes, there will be a trial. Yes, he'll get it back if he's found not guilty. Yes, he has bigger things to worry about than getting a knife repaired. But can we look at the issue at hand for now?

Please discuss.
 
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Self-defense is primarily a function of mind-set and training, only secondarily of equipment. Yes, it helps if the equipment is reasonably capable of augmenting the training.

But every use of a self-defense knife in a self-defense situation is not necessarily non-abusive.

On the other hand, how much of a story (let alone police report) do you need to send in to a manufacturer to get a snapped tip repaired or replaced?
 
In the simplest terms, it might go something like this. I used the knife as intended, it broke, is it covered under warranty. I am assuming that most knife companies would say yes.
 
Hypothetical question. If Ichabod were to dump his motorcycle, and his helmet saved his life, but was damaged in the process, would he thank the helmet manufacturer, or act like they owed him something?

Won't speak for the other models you mentioned, but IMHO the Civilian is a purpose built last ditch self defense weapon. If it saves Ichabod's ass once, it's done it's job. Period. End of story. If Ichabod expects more he's an ingrate in my book.

Paul
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The Deacon said:
Hypothetical question. If Ichabod were to dump his motorcycle, and his helmet saved his life, but was damaged in the process, would he thank the helmet manufacturer, or act like they owed him something?
Click to expand...

I agree with what you're implying. Thing is, "Ichabod" is a friend of mine and this happened about two days ago. I agree that if the knife performed as designed, then it was worth it and shouldn't warrant a replacement. I'm just asking hypothetically.

Esav; I mention the story to the manufacturer so that they can have feedback as to how their product performed its intended task. I'm sure not a lot of companies get reports of their self-defense folders being used for self-defense, and a bit of feedback might help them improve their product where it needs it.
 
Interesting...I would think that Spyderco would want to hear the story. I hope that your friend is okay.
 
If it were me, after months on end of the legal process and another few months of emotional recovery, I can see myself reporting the story only if the knife was a dedicated SD model. The Civilian is one thing, but if this were an outdoors knife or a utility model, that complicates matters and blurs the tool-weapon line further than I'd like to. If I had to handle a break-in, I wouldn't write to the baseball bat company about it, nor would I tell a people-friendly company about an incident involving their product. If the tip snapped on a dedicated SD knife, I'd mention it just to point out that the tip snapped but otherwise it worked. I would not want the knife back to send to the company, I'd rather never see it again.

Also, one bike helmet companies has a policy like this. If you smash the helmet in an accident, send them the fragments and a case report from an official source detailing the accident, they'll send you a new helmet. Only seen it from a better company, the smaller ones probably put 'one time use only' somewhere in the fine print.
 
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Said knife company wouldn't do anything because the knife served it's purpose. Clean it up, put it away, and buy another one.

Oh yeah........then thank God and the manufacturer for your life. Be happy.
 
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