I got my Umnumzaan! Lock Bar Question...

LightGuy

LightGuy

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Sep 12, 2010
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So, I finally got my Umnumzaan yesterday. Initial impressions were WOW. Fit and finish, beefiness, comfort in the hand, blade shape, overall design, lock-up, grippiness, were all OUTSTANDING. In short I love this knife.

However, in my little Sebenza thumb-stud mod escapade where I flattened out the pointy thumb-stud, we established that I had to turn in my man card because I am a wuss.

Regardless - will this lock-bar on this blade loosen up? The tension is very high new out of the box. Not to mention that the small edge your thumb has to grab to move it back to close the knife is not all too friendly after a few openings/closings.

I've seen mention of the lockbar on the Umnumzaan before, and now I see the issue.

So does it loosen up??
 
I bought a used one and the lockbar was very stiff. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it's a very secure lock up.
 
You will find that as you use the knife it will get easier to work with.The lock is designed like that so that if using under a stressfull situation with gloved hand the lock is not accidentally overcome,with use it will become second nature to you. Push down and out.
 
Thanks for the responses! I'm glad to hear it will loosen up a little.

And Chris, thank you for the personal reply from you. I'll go ahead and work with it and I'm sure get used to it. Plus, I was playing with it a lot last night since I just got it, and I think after my thumb got sore from all the opening/closing it probably seemed stiffer than it actually was.

One thing I just have to say - this is my 2nd CRK knife and they are just a world apart from other knives I have or have had. When it comes to pocket knives, I find it is very hard to be impressed now with anything other than a CRK. :thumbup:
 
LightGuy said:
Thanks for the responses! I'm glad to hear it will loosen up a little.

And Chris, thank you for the personal reply from you. I'll go ahead and work with it and I'm sure get used to it. Plus, I was playing with it a lot last night since I just got it, and I think after my thumb got sore from all the opening/closing it probably seemed stiffer than it actually was.

One thing I just have to say - this is my 2nd CRK knife and they are just a world apart from other knives I have or have had. When it comes to pocket knives, I find it is very hard to be impressed now with anything other than a CRK. :thumbup:
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I remember that my thumb was a little sore for a few days after getting my Umnumzaan. Then a callous developed at the tip of my thumb.
 
between callusing and just getting over the change in ergos from this knife to your others, it will loosen. Most of my knives are TI framelocks as I really like those. Of all of my favorites, the Zaan sees the most pocket time and the most use. Its a tank give it the respect it deserves by using the hell out of it. Also, Grab yourself a Umnumzaan tool kit as you'll want to tear it down and clean and lube it after a good days work. I tear mine down probably once a week or every other week to keep it going strong. Its a lot of coin but very worth it. Mines about a year old and I carry it probably 75% of the time and it never really loosened as much as I think I got used to it.
 
I had the same problem with my umnumzaan, I thought it was very hard to open and close. A lot of it was from me playing with it so much that I made my thumb sore and it was making it worse than it really is. There is a break in period and now mine is smooth, I've had mine for two months I think. The only tricks I can mention to help out would be when you open the blade, push up and not out, that helps a lot. Also when unlocking most knives i use the end of my thumb (like sebenza) but with the umnumzaan I use the flat pad of my thumb. I think because of how low the cutout is it's easier to unlock when you get an evenly distributed pressure on it. Hope that helps, I've been carry mine non stop and havn't looked back.
 
I had the same problem when I first purchased my Umnumzaan. I opened and closed it so much that my thumb became sore for a day or two. Then I learned the almighty trick of using the SIDE of my thumb to push down and out, a lot more closing control and it doesn't hurt the tip of your thumb pad which is used for opening the knife (another trick too, push stright towards the pivot and voila, the thing opens) :)
 
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