Liner lock vs. Lock back

stabman said:
I've seen some cheap-ass frame-locks as well. They'd totally fail a spine-tap or just pushing on the back of the blade.
EXCEPT when the first two fingers of the gripping hand held the lock in place. Still had vertical play(Yuck!), but no chopped off fingers.
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I guess that's why we don't buy cheap knives. :D :thumbup:
 
See, you always here stories about liner locks failing, but there's never any specifics.
No one knows what knife it was, or what they were doing with the knife when it failed...

For all we know the liner lock failed while the user was spine-whacking against the edge of a flying saucer after he whittled bigfoot hair to test for sharpness...
 
chanwahyaoh said:
See, you always here stories about liner locks failing, but there's never any specifics.
No one knows what knife it was, or what they were doing with the knife when it failed...

For all we know the liner lock failed while the user was spine-whacking against the edge of a flying saucer after he whittled bigfoot hair to test for sharpness...
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I had a cheap knock-off of an Emerson Commander somebody gave me for a birthday fail wih SLIGHT(and I mean slight) pressure on the spine of the knife.
The only good thing it did was introduce me to the Wave feature. Now I have a Comrade and a Super Karambit!(and got rid of the cheap knock-off; the plastic was so cheap on the scales it gave me a rash:thumbdn:)
Had a S&W SWAT knife fail from slight spine pressure(not as slight as the knock-off though). Got rid of it too.
There are plenty of instances where the brand and model of knife WERE mentioned. You just weren't looking hard enough, or didn't want to.
 
If you would have asked me before I got the BM Dejavoo, I would have said lockback but the voo is about to convert me; very smooth opening and closing; hell of a knife!
 
BOrrell said:
If you would have asked me before I got the BM Dejavoo, I would have said lockback but the voo is about to convert me; very smooth opening and closing; hell of a knife!
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I have the Mini Dejavoo, and I agree.:)
It's a great example of a well executed liner-lock.
 
stabman said:
Exactly.:thumbup:
I haven't seen a cheap knife that caught my eye in years now.
Heck, now I think of $80 knives as too cheap!:eek:
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I was skeptical when I ordered the Spyderco Tenacious because A) it only cost me $36 shipped to my door (and we all know that a $36 knife has to be garbage, right?) and B) it's made in China.

I got it in the mail three days ago, and I absolutely cannot put it down - when it's not in my hand being played with, it's in my pocket. The ergonomics are outstanding, the G10 used on the grips feels GREAT, the lockup is super solid (not a trace of blade play), and the blade, albeit made with 8cr13MoV, is extremely sharp out of the box. It could be sharper, but still a great factory edge. I had intended on gifting it to a friend, but I'm ordering another one for him. This one is staying in my pocket!

For $36, I'm absolutely sold on Spyderco's chinese line...they've made it very, very apparent that "made in China" does not mean "piece of s**t" anymore.
 
Liner lock & frame lock designs often have the advantage of having larger blades in relation to the size of the handle, when compared to most lock backs.
Lock back tension springs can take up alot of space, depending on the handle shape.

That being said, (and being old), I like a well built lock back. :thumbup:
 
stabman said:
I had a cheap knock-off of an Emerson Commander somebody gave me for a birthday fail wih SLIGHT(and I mean slight) pressure on the spine of the knife.
The only good thing it did was introduce me to the Wave feature. Now I have a Comrade and a Super Karambit!(and got rid of the cheap knock-off; the plastic was so cheap on the scales it gave me a rash:thumbdn:)
Had a S&W SWAT knife fail from slight spine pressure(not as slight as the knock-off though). Got rid of it too.
There are plenty of instances where the brand and model of knife WERE mentioned. You just weren't looking hard enough, or didn't want to.
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knarfeng said:
If they are both made by Spyderco, or any other reputable firm, then there is no difference in reliability.
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I stand by my original statement. If they are both made by a QUALITY maker, there is little difference in reliability. Both styles have been known to fail occasionally.

Manufacturing precision is the key. Since more inexpensive knives have liner locks than lockbacks, you hear more stories of linerlock failures. But that is lack of manufacturing quality, not a failure inherent in the lock design.
 
stabman said:
I had a cheap knock-off of an Emerson Commander somebody gave me for a birthday fail wih SLIGHT(and I mean slight) pressure on the spine of the knife.
The only good thing it did was introduce me to the Wave feature. Now I have a Comrade and a Super Karambit!(and got rid of the cheap knock-off; the plastic was so cheap on the scales it gave me a rash:thumbdn:)
Had a S&W SWAT knife fail from slight spine pressure(not as slight as the knock-off though). Got rid of it too.
There are plenty of instances where the brand and model of knife WERE mentioned. You just weren't looking hard enough, or didn't want to.
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Thanks for the specifics.
 
I strongly prefer liner locks/framelocks. The action is far, far superior, they're faster to close and in the real world, among high quality knives, they tend to be more reliable. Furthermore, a quick visual inspection of lockup can tell you of any warning signs as you use it in the long term--checking out your lockback will require taking it down.

I haven't ever had a lock failure on a respectable knife, but on cheap knives, my lockbacks fail more often than my linerlocks (as a kid--I don't have those anymore).
 
Lock back for me.

I'm left handed and lock backs are very good and always ambidextrous. I've never understood people who have a hard time closing them one handed. I could understand that if the knife has the disengaging point near the butt, but that's seldom the case, never with Spyderco. I can go with a good liner lock too (and I love frame locks of course), but they sometimes are harder to operate, since the locking liner is in the way of the opening hole/stud/ramp/whatever. This is worse on some models than others.
 
THG said:
I really don't understand this either. People talk about the whole "your hand keeps it closed" thing, but if you're doing something that's going to actually bend that lock, then I have my doubts that 4 fingers are going to make much of a difference.
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You'll be fine aslong as you're not cutting with the spine :p or batoning thick wood with a folding knife, I've had no problem doing light batoning with folding knives.
 
I like lockback, liner, or frame. My favorite for general EDC is lockback, esp. Spyderco. I find liner locks wear faster than any other lock, in general. Some wear much slower than others, but I've had more liner locks wear and develop play than any other. The good thing about liners (and frames) is the open back is easier to keep free of dirt, lint, etc.

A *good*, well-made and fitted lockback can last for decades. I have an old convex-ground Buck 110 from the early '70s that belonged to my late dad and was used the heck out of, and it still operates great. I've seen lots of liner lock knives used a lot but not nearly as long that are no longer safe to use.

It's about as easy and fast to open/close a lockback one-handed (front lock version) as a liner lock, IMO. But speed of closing isn't all that important for my purposes.
Jim
 
Josh K said:
Liner locks are easier to make, but harder to make right. If we're talking Spyderco, I think they make some of the best production liner locks in the business.

Lock back's are harder to make, and most people find it more difficult to close them with one hand. Spyderco also makes exceptional lock backs. Someone posted some Chinook III take apart pictures, and the key is in the little details.
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I think you got that backwards it was to my understanding that it is Spyderco who makes lockbacks, I have two endura 4 and atlantic salt and they are easier to make. With linerlocks you do place your finger in the path of the blade in order to close but I have never cut my finger once on any linerlock I own a benchmade vex and a CRKT m16-13m both sharp strong and I actually like them better than the endura. The endura get more ride time in my pocket simply because it is lighter and I like the thumbhole opener on the the spydie although my vex has that too.
 
THG said:
I don't see a debate there. Only people agreeing that 4 fingers can make all the difference in the strength of a lock. I don't know if it's true or not true, but I just don't see how it can be.
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It can, we can determine how sharp the knife is by seeing how many fingers it takes off in one accidental closing. I heard somewhere that is how they measured the sharpness of katanas (bodies), should work for small blades too using fingers.
 
jamaljahda said:
I think you got that backwards it was to my understanding that it is Spyderco who makes lockbacks, I have two endura 4 and atlantic salt and they are easier to make. With linerlocks you do place your finger in the path of the blade in order to close but I have never cut my finger once on any linerlock I own a benchmade vex and a CRKT m16-13m both sharp strong and I actually like them better than the endura. The endura get more ride time in my pocket simply because it is lighter and I like the thumbhole opener on the the spydie although my vex has that too.
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What I mean by that is that a lot of cheap and inferior knives use liner locks because they are cheap and easy to make, making a lock back is a lot harder.
 
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