• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

Is this lock strength hierarchy correct?

I would think that Gerber's old bolt action lock would be pretty high on the list if used in conjunction with a stronger handle material than Gerber used(FRN?); titanium would be nice.
 
I'd like to amend my comment a bit. After looking at the Lionsteel models, their fixed blade button, though rather inconvenient to use frequently, should hugely increase the strength AND the reliability of their model.

Also, as someone mentioned, yes, the balisong is probably the ultimate locking mechanism in terms of strength, given roughly equal materials used.
 
I would say for overall strength the Tri-Ad lock wins hands down.

For consistency there would be 3 for certain: The Tri-Ad lock, the Compression lock, and the Axis lock.

Of the types of locks listed in my post, the Compression locked knives would be the easiest to disassemble and clean, followed by the Axis locked knives. All types of lockbacks are a PITA to put back together from my personal experience :o

A folder with the least amount of moving parts would be a frame locked folder.

Reliability/consistency is #1 followed by everything else.
 
a2d2 said:
I would think that Gerber's old bolt action lock would be pretty high on the list if used in conjunction with a stronger handle material than Gerber used(FRN?); titanium would be nice.
Click to expand...

And we'll get to see how strong the lock can be with the Spyderco SAGE version that should be coming out shortly.

I have high hopes for strength and ease of use for the SAGE version.

Dalton made an auto with a similar lock and I can hang from the handle without the lock breaking (Scalper model).
 
cbxer55 said:
Ever owned a Tri-Ad lock knife? You have to depress that unlock button pretty dang far to get it to unlock. It seats way further into the knife tang than a conventional lockback.

I've got two, and they are the boss of locks.
Click to expand...


Yes I do own a Triad Lock knife, an American Lawman. While I don't think it is easy to accidentally unlock the knife, I think it would happen before you would accidentally unlock an AXIS lock knife. As I mentioned, the Boye dent was developed to decrease the chance of accidental opening, so it is a possibility when you are gripping the knife and the lock is under your grip.

I mentioned a video before where this happened so I went and found it because it shows just what I described happening. Go to the 2:40 mark if you want to skip right to the 'failure'.

Edit: You might want to mute the video unless you want to giggle a little. :foot::D

[youtube]-_-37FLuWVk[/youtube]

 
Accidental depress of the Tri ad lock is not impossible though difficult. I'd like to think the next design evolution would be a secondary lock which prevents accidental depress of tri ad locks.

Similarly is it possible to unlock axis lock by sliding ur gripped hand to direction of blade (stabbing) thereby unlocking the Axis lock? Difficult but not impossible I think.

Addition: Egads, how stupid of me. Axis unlocks by pulling back. Still accidental unlocking due to hand slippage is it still possible I think.
 
Last edited:
Cotherion said:
Accidental depress of the Tri ad lock is not impossible though difficult. I'd like to think the next design evolution would be a secondary lock which prevents accidental depress of tri ad locks.

Similarly is it possible to unlock axis lock by sliding ur gripped hand to direction of blade (stabbing) thereby unlocking the Axis lock? Difficult but not impossible I think.
Click to expand...

No, the Axis lock is released by pulling the lock bar backwards, away from the blade. Sliding forward while stabbing would ensure that the Axis was fully engaged.
 
orthogonal1 said:
And we'll get to see how strong the lock can be with the Spyderco SAGE version that should be coming out shortly.

I have high hopes for strength and ease of use for the SAGE version.

Dalton made an auto with a similar lock and I can hang from the handle without the lock breaking (Scalper model).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't know that there were plans for a new sage with a bolt lock. I'll add it to my future purchase list. :thumbup:
 
Felt bad for that kid (I'm old so anybody under 40 is a kid :)) The Rajah's are monsters. He really should have dulled the blade as the force he used was a disaster waiting to happen.

PS: Agreed on the AXIS - it "pulls back" so other scenarios might have to be imagined to defeat the lock. With the AXIS it's been mentioned many times if BOTH omegas break (unlikely) you can jam something behind the lock tabs and it becomes like a fixed blade (almost).
 
Great comments, and quite true, but the discussion was for lock strength and not lock reliability.

This is a bit unfortunate, as reliability is far more important than strength in the real world.
 
Artfully Martial said:
Great comments, and quite true, but the discussion was for lock strength and not lock reliability.

This is a bit unfortunate, as reliability is far more important than strength in the real world.
Click to expand...

Interesting observation...I tend to merge them in my own mind, but they are not necessarily the same.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top