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Let's Talk About Locks

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Mister Coffee

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If this topic has been covered to death, feel free to say so, and I will go back to googling in silence.

Back Locks
Frame Locks
Liner Locks
Compression Locks
AXIS Locks
Tri-Ad Locks
Ball Bearing Locks
Other

What is the consensus? Which are safest and most reliable? I'm not looking for perfection. I realize that anything mechanical can fail.

My (very subjective and uniformed) view: Frame locks make me doubtful. Liner locks make me nervous. Compression locks . . . I don't even know what that is.

Have at it, gentlemen. First person to say that fixed blade knives have the best locks wins a donut. :D
 
If you arent looking for "perfection" than everything will work. Even a liner lock, widely considered the "weakest" of those locks you mentioned, will stand up to more spine pressure than anyone should be putting on a folding knife. I like axis style locks because I find them the most convenient to operate. Pull out of your pocket, flick open, cut, pull back the lock and flick closed. No real finger gymnastics like backlocks, liner locks, or frame locks where in order to close the knife one handed your fingers have to be in the blade path at some point.
 
Back locks are easy to use and pretty solid, that same can be said for frame locks and Axis locks. PersonallyI really like the Axis lock but my EDC is a frame lock. Why, because I like the rest of the knife better than any Axis lock knife I have seen.
They all do a good job at keeping the blade from closing on your fingers,
 
Mister Coffee said:
If this topic has been covered to death, feel free to say so, and I will go back to googling in silence.

Back Locks
Frame Locks
Liner Locks
Compression Locks
AXIS Locks
Tri-Ad Locks
Ball Bearing Locks
Other

What is the consensus? Which are safest and most reliable? I'm not looking for perfection. I realize that anything mechanical can fail.

My (very subjective and uniformed) view: Frame locks make me doubtful. Liner locks make me nervous. Compression locks . . . I don't even know what that is.

Have at it, gentlemen. First person to say that fixed blade knives have the best locks wins a donut. :D
Click to expand...
Locks don't tend to make me nervous because they're fairly superfluous if you're using the knife correctly. If you aren't, well, that's on you, not the knife. Framelocks, liner locks, TriAD, compression, etc, I've owned or still own examples of them all. All are fine with me.
 
CRKT's Liner Lock with LAWKS is the bestest!!!!!

Lol only knife I've had to close on me while using it.

I like the CBBL the best. Not an Axis fan, maybe because I'm not a Benchmade fan. Comp Lock is OK. A well made and designed liner lock is fine, I'm not a fan of frame locks though do own a few. Its more that I dislike metal handles.

I like locks that can be closed left handed, therefore button locks are not on my list of likes. The exception would be automatics.
 
its not enough to just look at strong locks.
do pay attention to placement of pin holes on a frame, size of pins and parts
which undergo stress in relation to the lock.
its not unheard of parts other than the
lock, deforming or fracturing due to extreme stress which exceeds its structural strength.
there have been numerous lock strength
test carried out by the old cold steel
which is enough to make one junk folders
and go fixed blade.
just my 2 cents.
 
I have them all and they all serve me well. Only had one lock fail and it was on an SOG. 2 SOGs really. And honestly I think that was more to do with the knife sucking than the lock.
 
I understand the sentiment that a lock on a folder doesn’t generally need to be strong if you only use the knife for regular small tasks, and I have even carried around slip joints here and there.

On the other hand, unlike when I was a kid, there are now many folders on the market that have adequately robust locks and builds that they can reliability be used in a defensive role. For me, these would include the Cold Steel Tri-Ad at the top, then Spyderco back-locks (and perhaps compression locks?) on their martial blade line, and certain frame-locks that I’ve tested with spine whacks. Some knives will fail light spine whacks easily which just means I won’t carry them defensively.
 
70% of my knives are back lock/tri-ad lock. The other 30% is a mix.

I tend to avoid frame locks. I like a thick handle for my big paws and losing a scale on one side tends to make them thinner then my liking.
 
I've had them all...many folders over the yrs. Favorite is framelock; most innovative is compression.
Not my fave for heavy duty use: linerlock
Physically impossible to operate without vise-grips: American Lawman for gd-son. his 6'4" dad, 250 #...could barely open it.
All my best-quality knives have had frame-lock systems and zero problems.
 
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