I think I agree with the gist of what Sergiusz is saying; that liner locks are generally safer than people think. Of course, no locking mechanism will ever be as strong as a fixed blade, but the liner lock is an improvement over the lock back in my opinion. Some tests that people perform on liner locks would be silly with lock backs, because the lock backs would always fail.
Take the "white knuckle" test, for instance. Joe Talmadge describes it in the FAQ, "Making believe I'm under stress, I grab the knife in a very firm grip, letting the flesh of my fingers sink in and around the liner to whatever extent this happens. Now the question is will small movements unlock the lock (if a small movement moves the lock AT ALL, assume it can unlock it)?"
There are some serious questions you should ask about the above test, such as: What does "under stress" mean? What grip are you using? What sort of small movements are you making?
By "under stress", I take it to mean that you are in some sort of life-threatening situation, perhaps a fight or car accident. In this type of situation, your grip will be very random. You'll simply want to point the edge at what you want to cut and you'll pay little attention to staying clear of the lock release.
If you pick up a liner lock knife in a variety of different ways, you may never accidently release the lock. However, if you hold a lock back with several different completely random grips, you will frequently release the lock.
As to the question of what grip is being used, Joe says, "The flesh of my fingers sink in and around the liner." This means that you're coming into direct contact with the lock on purpose. Most liner locks won't fail this test (I can't get my Military to fail no matter what I do). However, every lock back will fail this test; if you intentionally come into direct contact with the lock release, the lock will at least partially disengage.
As to "small movements", again, I don't know what this means. If your movements are large enough, you will unlock any folding knife.
I agree that it is more difficult to make a good liner lock and I agree that the "spine-whack" tests are usefull. However, the "white-knuckle" test is hopelessly subjective and ill conceived. When applied realistically, all lock back knives should fail it. I therefore see no reason to expect all liner lock knives to pass it.
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Cerulean
Denver, CO
{Edit p.s. - Weird how you only notice spelling mistakes after the post goes up!}
[This message has been edited by cerulean (edited 11 December 1999).]
