Is the "spine-whack test" relevant?
I can only tell you what happened to me:
I have several liner-lock knives and I have never felt the need to whack them on the spine. I felt that they were perfectly safe and I carried and used them without fear...until I cut myself.
One day I was carrying my CRKT Gray Ghost Mirage (a Hammond design and one very comfortable and stout knife).
That day I happened to have some mud on my shoes from working around the yard. The mud on my shoes had dried and left clumps around the shoe's edges.
So I sat down and pulled out my trusty Mirage and scraped the mud from my shoes with the back of the blade. This was no problem but I still had mud in the tread of my shoes.
So I tapped the bottom of my shoe with the back of the blade to loosen the mud and SNAP, the blade folded on my hand and cut the first knuckle of my fist.
I was stunned! I could'nt believe how easy my rock-solid locked knife had closed.
After getting a bandaid for the small cut I tested the knife again--maybe it just was'nt completely locked?
So, another light tap and it closed again. And it did'nt take much force at all.
I had certainly learned a lesson, and the small 1/2" scar on my knuckle reminds me to always test the lock.
It freaked me out so much that I tested every knife I own (my liner-locks, my lock-backs, my axis-locks, my Meerkat phantom lock, my CRKT Bladelock, and my Vesuvius compression-lock).
All the other locks all held firm.
The CRKT Gray Ghost Mirage was the only one that failed.
Maybe it was just a problem with this one knife, but I'll always test my knives from now on.
BTW, The liner-locks that passed are:
Gerber Harsey Air Ranger
CRKT M-16
Kershaw/Onion Scallion
Good luck,
Allen.
I can only tell you what happened to me:
I have several liner-lock knives and I have never felt the need to whack them on the spine. I felt that they were perfectly safe and I carried and used them without fear...until I cut myself.
One day I was carrying my CRKT Gray Ghost Mirage (a Hammond design and one very comfortable and stout knife).
That day I happened to have some mud on my shoes from working around the yard. The mud on my shoes had dried and left clumps around the shoe's edges.
So I sat down and pulled out my trusty Mirage and scraped the mud from my shoes with the back of the blade. This was no problem but I still had mud in the tread of my shoes.
So I tapped the bottom of my shoe with the back of the blade to loosen the mud and SNAP, the blade folded on my hand and cut the first knuckle of my fist.
I was stunned! I could'nt believe how easy my rock-solid locked knife had closed.
After getting a bandaid for the small cut I tested the knife again--maybe it just was'nt completely locked?
So, another light tap and it closed again. And it did'nt take much force at all.
I had certainly learned a lesson, and the small 1/2" scar on my knuckle reminds me to always test the lock.
It freaked me out so much that I tested every knife I own (my liner-locks, my lock-backs, my axis-locks, my Meerkat phantom lock, my CRKT Bladelock, and my Vesuvius compression-lock).
All the other locks all held firm.
The CRKT Gray Ghost Mirage was the only one that failed.
Maybe it was just a problem with this one knife, but I'll always test my knives from now on.
BTW, The liner-locks that passed are:
Gerber Harsey Air Ranger
CRKT M-16
Kershaw/Onion Scallion
Good luck,
Allen.
