Is anyone else not so fond of the trend towards bearings?

[PURPLEDC]

The smoothness of a bearing knife will only be felt if the lockbar and detent allow it. I think a washer knife can be as smooth bit it takes a lot more work and extra care dialing it in. That kind of detail i dont normally see in production knives.

 

[darthrya]

I love bearings for knives where I don't want to put a lot of pressure on it to flip. Otherwise, good washers are just fine with me.

 

[100eyes]

I personally don't like and don't buy bearing pivot knives. With use the bearings tend to create a trench along its path, especially on the titanium side if they aren't riding on top of hardened steel washers. Any type of force on the side of the blade can also cause indents where the bearings were wedged against the blade tang or liner/frame. As soon as the narrow track that the bearings glide over become anything less than perfect, that smooth action becomes affected and any benefit diminished. I prefer the traditional washers that apply lateral load around the pivot across as much surface area as possible.

I'm also not a big fan of blades flopping all over the place... I would prefer to be able to close the blade at any angle without it chomping down on my thumb.

If one was buying a knife just for the habit of flipping and closing all day then bearing pivots are more fun.

 

[Shotgun]

I don't really care about bearings. They're nifty, I suppose, but the whole craze about smooth action on a knife is all about how it feels and fidget factor, it adds no actual performance value to the knife. For me, that's just extra cost without any great benefit, which makes it very low on my list of priorities. A knife that opens butter smooth is certainly nice, but if we're honest about it that's pure aesthetics, not practicality.

I agree. Another down side is the unnecessary complexity of them. The more complex a machine is, the more that can break on it. I don't see any advantage to them and have no desire to buy a knife with them.