Italian Picklock???

B

Big Tex

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Dec 6, 1999
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Would someone please explain what is an Italian Picklock? I see them for sale now and then. Thanx

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I was born with nothing and I still have most of it, but I'm doing the best I can to stimulate the knife economy.
 
I assume they are talking about the type of pushbutton design with a peg on the back of the blade that is captured by a round hole in a widened area of the lock back. I tend to call them "peg-in-hole" locks. I guess someone called them pick in hole or "picklocks". There are also non-automatic equivalents.

The advantage to this lock is that a very loose pivot does not present a risk of the lock disengaging since the peg is in the hole. I have had them fail backwards when using knives to chop on hard targets.
 
It is very hard to find a quality knife of that kind. Here in Italy those knives are very often made with cheap materials and poor manifacturing.

I can't see a real use for them, but to appear in a cheap gangster movie.

If you absolutely want one of them, look for one with a brand name on it (some time ago you could find FOX or Virginia), or from the towns of Scarperia or Maniago (Italy).

Very often there is the word "INOX" on the blade, meaning nothing but the blade is made of (cheap?) stainless steel.

I had one of them some years ago that couldn't lock well, and it could happen it could close on my finger or didn't stop when opened and "continued to open", going upwards.

Falcenberg
 
You'd get more informed answers in the auto forum, but as I understand it ... the current production Italian switchblades unlock with a rotating bolster; older ones didn't have that. It's those older ones without the rotating bolster that are called "picklocks." There's nothing wrong with the rotating bolster design but the older ones without that were made better, or at least some of them were. That's why the interest in old picklocks -- not that it's a better design, but that they were made better. It's kind of like the interest in old five-screw Smith & Wessons....



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-Cougar Allen :{)
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This post is not merely the author's opinions; it is the trrrrrruth. This post is intended to cause dissension and unrest and upset people, and ultimately drive them mad. Please do not misinterpret my intentions in posting this.
 
Now I know. Thanx guys.

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I was born with nothing and I still have most of it, but I'm doing the best I can to stimulate the knife economy.
 
I had one in the mid fifties and it probably was older than that. I got it used. The handle was bone and blade carbon steel. Yes there was a lot more quality but the whole design is suspect.

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Roger Blake
 
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