Liner/Frame Locks Don't 'Snap' Closed. Should I worry?

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sharkattacksw

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Aug 4, 2008
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I was recently looking at a Spyderco Military as well as a few other liner and frame lock knives and I noticed that nearly all of them didn't have a decent amount of 'snap' (for lack of a better word) when the blade was folded back into the handle. I have several lockbacks, and when the blade is folded closed, it snaps nicely into the handle.

Why is this a concern, you veteran knife guys may ask? I guess I'm concerned that without anything holding the blade in the handle, I'm concerned that the blade will open while in my pocket. I know it won't fully open, of course, but it could open enough to make me hit the blade should I put my hand in my pocket and get a stung by the blade.

Is this a common trait with most liner/frame locks? I understand that the locking mechanism, the liner/frame's job is to hold the blade open, not closed. I just thought there'd be more of a force holding the blade in.

Is this anything to worry about? I really, really like the Military, but I don't want to always be wondering if the blade is going to work its way open during the course of the day.

Maybe these are just silly questions, but hey, I'm still learning and I figure the only silly question is the one left unasked.

Thanks all.
 
Liner and frame locks actually do have a mechanism to hold the blade in: a ball detent. It's a little hemisphere on the inside of the lock that fits into a small hole in the blade while closed to keep it from opening. So go ahead and get a Military (or any other liner/frame lock) and carry it without any concern about the blade opening on its own. :)
 
lack of blade detent ?

There's a little ball bearing on the inside of the liner or framelock, and a corresponding hole in the blade. this keeps the blade closed.

The detent is usually strong enough to keep the blade from just opening.
 
I've carryed the military for about a year now have have never had a problem the the blade staying put in the handle. The detent has been great with mine.

So no they are not all like that.
 
Most knives have what are called a "detent", but they can vary in how they work depending on the lock mechanism. As was mentioned above, liner, frame and compression locks have a ball detent. That particular detent only takes effect once the knife is just about all the way closed.

The detent that you'll find on most lock backs provide much more of a pull when the knife is at about 15 to 40 degrees from being closed. Locks with a similar type of pull like in the lock backs off the top of my head are the Axis locks (benchmade), Ultra locks (cold steel), Arc locks (SOG), Tri-Ad locks (cold steel). A lock that has a similar feeling detent as liner/frame locks might be a button lock.

In any case, there's no big reason for concern for most knives that come from reputable makers.
 
As everyone has mentioned, there is a separate mechanism for retaining the blade. However, the ball detent is by far the weakest system of accomplishing this task. All it does is create more initial resistance to opening. Locks like the hawk-lock, axis lock and lockback all not only increase that initial resistance, but literally "suck" the blade back into the handle if it somehow opens 1 cm or 2 cm. If you just the closed knife by the handle, blade facing down, and sort of flick your wrist a little, see if you can get the blade to pop out with slight force. Obviously you can get it out with a serious wrist flick, I'm just talking about putting a little inertia on it with an up and down motion. Obviously don't drop it on your feet or something like that.

Anyway, you can judge how hard it'd be for the blade to come out.
 
Liner & frame locks don't have a backspring, like conventional lockback knives (or slipjoints). There's no need or function for it on liner/frame locks.

As has been mentioned, the ball detent on a liner or frame lock knife serves the purpose of retaining the blade in the handle when closed. A slipjoint or conventional lockback relies on the spring tension of the backspring to serve this function. That's why the blade gets 'pulled' or 'snapped' into the closed position.
 
For knives that are set up to be carried tip up, there is an added feature for keeping the knife closed while in the pocket regardless of the detent. If the knife is clipped to the pocket tip up and is carried in the pocket all the way to the side of the pocket, the simple position of the knife will keep the blade closed because it will be pinned in between the side of the pocket and the handle. But as AM said, the ball detent tends to be the weakest out of the detents. I personally haven't had any liner/frame locks open up in my pocket accidentally before.
 
Kaizen1 said:
For knives that are set up to be carried tip up, there is an added feature for keeping the knife closed while in the pocket regardless of the detent. If the knife is clipped to the pocket tip up and is carried in the pocket all the way to the side of the pocket, the simple position of the knife will keep the blade closed because it will be pinned in between the side of the pocket and the handle. But as AM said, the ball detent tends to be the weakest out of the detents. I personally haven't had any liner/frame locks open up in my pocket accidentally before.
Click to expand...

This is only true if you carry the knife clipped in your front pocket. I carry in my back pocket thus I like a knife like the military which is tip down.
 
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