Lock failure

I guess I have been lucky. I've carried slipjoints since I was a kid, and the only times I really remember getting cut is with knives that had locks. They were Buck 110's..

It wasn't the fault of the lock or the knife, but for some reason everytime I would sharpen one, I somehow ended up cutting myself :confused:
 
Nope. No lock failures and no prob with slipjoints closing during 55 years of use. The only knife injuries I've received have been during closing (carelessness with an unfamiliar knife) or due to an improper sharpening technique.
 
After having a lockback fail, I don't trust locks anymore, and I have since then lived by these rules when it comes to knives. I have a thread just recently asking about the safety of locking mechanisms.


1) Buy the best knife I can afford for any given task.
2) Never use one in a way is wasn't designed for.
3) Use the knife in a manor as though the Lock wasn't even there.

Knives, as shown in this thread can be extremely dangerous. I was lucky when my lock failed and I only received a bad cut that healed. I now try very hard to live by my knife rules.

Bill
 
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To put it bluntly...
If a slipjoint closes on your fingers, it's not considered an equipment failure. That's purely user error due to improper use of a tool.

Personally, I've never had a locking knife fail during use.
 
jill jackson said:
My Dad says back in the time before locking blades were widely available, it was common to get cut if a user was trying to use the tip to start a hole in some sort of tough material.
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I've had that happen with the awl on my old Leatherman PST.
 
Can't blame this on the knife by any means.... but when I was just 12 or so and I had a SAK I was playing with it in bed while I should have been sleeping and when I went to close it I wasn't prepared for the spring feeling before it actually closes and it cut my index finger second knuckle to the bone.....
I had a blast hiding that injury from my parents lol....
 
chococrazy said:
Yab how exactly did you make the slip joint fail? Elaborate please.
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A_Blade_Afficionado said:
Stab when the tip is below the x axis, causing it to close on you.
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harkamus said:
I question how it can happen, but I'm sure it can. The way I see it, if you put any pressure on the actual cutting edge, that pressure is in the opposite direction of the locking mechanism, which means that pressure *should* keep the blade open.

The only method I can see that can cause a blade to go down on flesh is if you tried to stab something and then pushed the blade upwards, which would apply pressure in the same direction as the blade path.

Of course, I'm not that stupid. ;)

I have managed to disengage the lock bar on a liner lock because of having big hands. However, the blade stayed open because of a finger choil as well as, more importantly, that I was actually using the blade edge to cut.

EDIT: Damnit, Blade Affi! You said what I said in a single sentence. :(
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Essentially correct. Both times were while piercing with a spear point blade. The sharp edge cut the material but the flat spine did not. The curve of the spearpoint tip moved the point off centerline enough to overcome the spring and the blade folded. I was applying pressure to the cutting edge when I started, but once the edge began to cut, that changed. Would a lock have prevented the accidents? Probably. Does that make it the fault of the knife? Nope. I did it wrong and paid the price. I still carry slip-joints and use them for all manner of cutting tasks. And not even my flimsiest locks have ever failed, because I learned my lesson so I never stress them.
 
i've had the saw blade on my sak camper fold up on me while trying to cut a tree branch (obviously on the push stroke)

i've also unintentionally unlocked my boker toplock because the button is right where my thumb falls when gripping tightly and trying to saw through cardboard. never had the toplock bite me, though.

so with two knives that have closed on me or had a locking mechanism that wasn't suited for the task i was using it for, i went with a crkt crawford/kasper folder, which is a linerlock with the additional lawks which blocks the linerlock from disengaging. never had it fail with either the lawks engaged or disengaged. i like that your hand almost automatically engages the lawks if you're sawing.

since then, my trust for linerlocks has grown given the use i have for pocketknives. i have also learned that a sharp knife is a safer knife because it means less sawing and therefore less pressure on the lock.

i use my knives mostly to cut open plastic bags and open and break down cardboard boxes.
 
My first good cut was when I was around 10 or so?? and I was using my dads buck 110 knockoff that was beat up and very dirty to gouge out a stick to try an make a blowgun :) Yeah I know. Lock was dirty and likely messed up. Cut me to the bone. Got it to sop bleeding and hid it from mom and dad under some bandaids. Still got a scar from it.

Wrong way to use a knife coupled with a cheap/faulty/dirty lockback equals cut. I learned a lesson I still haven't forgotten. It was worth it.
 
I belive starting as a kid with slip joints you develop better knife handling habits than someone who was "spoiled" by having a locking pocket knife. YMMV
 
When i was 12 i used the small blade of a Swiss Army knife to ice pick into a coke bottle top and it bent on me and sliced into my pinky finger. Still have the scar tissue today. What a doofus.
 
I can't recall having cut myself with a slip joint. It's always a FB or a locking folder. I've seen a lot of locks fail, but never resulting in injury.
 
I have been nicked a few times over my 44 years, mostly by slip-joints when I was young, always my own fault though.
 
Ankerson said:
I have been nicked a few times over my 44 years, mostly by slip-joints when I was young, always my own fault though.
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Yeah, me too. But I have to say I am more than just a little surprised that even as kids (my first BS knife at 7) some folks here NEVER cut themselves with a slipjoint. In 46 years of carrying them, I don't have a perfect record.

It is difficult to imagine never misjudging the angle of a cut, a momentary lapse of good judgement, or just never making a mistake. I haven't but myself in a couple of years, but I wasn't all that careful (or smart!) when I was a kid.

Robert
 
I have never cut myself with a slip joint. I have been using them for some 35 odd years.
 
orthogonal1 said:
A recent nasty is due to a UKPK - the tip position is "below the x-axis" and the knife folded on me while opening a 2.5 gallon "protein powder" bucket. So many knives around and I use a slippy - what was I thinking.
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Hi Orthogonal,

And we go through all of that R&D time and effort to create a "finger choil" on the UK blade so it won't close on your finger. :confused: You must not have had your finger in the finger choil?

sal
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi Orthogonal,

And we go through all of that R&D time and effort to create a "finger choil" on the UK blade so it won't close on your finger. :confused: You must not have had your finger in the finger choil?

sal
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I was holding the knife in a "blade down" hammer grip, like the P'Kal is designed for - if you get the picture. I find it easier to lever through the plastic lock ring on these lids. It cut into the fleshy part of my hand a bit. I think it was a bleeder day, because the cut didn't appear to be that deep, maybe a quarter inch or so, just bled alot.

I have had the "finger choil" do some index finger crushing, also, at other times. The "choil" feature works as intended.

I guess I do more "stabbing moves" than many people appear to do.

As an aside, I like the UKPK as an "office" knife and carry one for that purpose. Quite the slicer, comfortable in the hand, etc. Kinda suprised some other company hasn't followed your "high-tech slippy" lead, since it appears the world market for such will continue expanding due to various laws.
 
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