Lock "Safeties"

DocJD

DocJD

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I own only one knife with a safety . Kershaw 1620 Gryst . It is designed to keep the knife shut rather than locked open . I guess on this model Ken didn't really trust his Speed Safe to be actually safe without help ?

As an ideal , I'd rather have a knife designed and built to be safe without needing a safety .

My early research on lock safeties on CRTK knives , seemed to be them putting a bandaid on a crappy lock . So , I have that prejudice .

But some people are increasingly interested in exceeding normal limits for folders for hard use , emergencies / survival . Maybe a safety added for abusive use makes some sense in that case ? Assuming it's not just trying to compensate for a bad lock system .

Your thoughts and experiences with lock safeties ?
 
I only have one knife with a lock-safety, a Benchmade Barrage that I custom ordered through the Benchmade website. This is my only Benchmade folder, and I am not that well versed in where among lock technologies this knife lock falls. I think the std lock is an Axis. It may be a standard fare for a lock-safety, I do not know.

I do not believe in using my knives hard, as in batoning, and I do not think this is a hard use or survival folder. It does feel very stout. It is solid and heavy.

The lock and safety were a little stiff in the beginning and it was confusing if I picked it up a week later and could not figure out if the lock-safety was on. I'm not too happy with regard to the G-10 grips as they are slick.

Not sure if I'll buy another Benchmade....it's not my go to knife at the moment. I prefer fixed blades from Winkler Knives and folders from ZT at the moment.

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In the beginning I was confused abt the lock-safety, but after owning it I'm not so much confused as befuddled b/c there is no lock-on lock-off indicator. The safety is not a bother, but they should have a red dot for safety-off. The safety is not a do or die thing for me and does not encourage/discourage me from buying another Benchmade with a safety.

As an aside I will say I love the M4 blade, and that was why I got a custom!
 
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SOG trident folder has a safety, make sense when you consider the strap cutter mode of the handle. I think that a wider picture needs to be taken on the wider context of what the knife was designed around. Its entirely possible that when the speedsafe first came out, its was more a consumer decision to add the safety. Keep in mind that those were, to the best of my knowledge, among if not the first assisted openers to hit the the average consumer segment of the market. I'm sure there were others but I think the Kershaws were first in their segment.
 
My thoughts are that I hardly need any kind of lock in the first place, let alone an additional safety.
 
Hate safties on my knives and on my guns. I wouldn’t buy a knife with a safety at this point in time that you can’t remove. No need in it
 
Ruike has one that you don't have to use unless you want to and it doubles as an overtravel stop in use or not. Automatic safeties I don't like but this one is ok.
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I'm also of the opinion that any lock which requires a safety is probably no good to begin with. Auto knives being the exception. Having said that, some safeties are better than others.

Some of my earliest modern knives were from CRKT's M-series. I still have a soft spot in my heart for those knives even though the safties were a pain in the butt.

On the other hand, I can appreciate the design of LionSteel's RotoBlock safety. It's purely manual, which means it doesn't auto-engage. Furthermore, it is easy to operate. Of course, I never use it but it is the nicest safety I have tried.
 
I can only think of two of the CRKT's I own having a lock, the M21 AUTOLAWKS™(!! or whatever it was exactly called. :rolleyes:) and the more simple lock on the Otanashi Noh Ken. The former is dumb and fiddly, the latter is pretty alright. I don't need it on either knife or any knife for that matter. If it's properly integrated and simple to use I don't mind it though.
 
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My buck has a safety on it, which keeps it from opening. Personaly i dont think its that nescesary, and at times it is a little annoying. When the blade is open you can click the safety in all the way so its not sticking out, but it doesnt actually do anything and the blade locks fine. I guess its just got a weak detent or something.
 
My Benchmade 477 Emmisary has one but I never use it nor have I ever had the knife come open in my pocket.
 
The only knife I have with a safety is a 580 Barrage. I have no opinion on the safety as I never use it. It's not in the way nor causes me any discomfort so I never think about it, but it's there if for some reason I need it.
 
It is when the blade is open and locked that the safety may be of a concern to me. When the knife is closed it means it is not in use and so the detent should be sufficient to retain the blade from opening by itself.

So no - I do not need any additional safety measure to keep the blade closed. If we are talking about when the blade is locked open, that could be a completely different story.
 
I have 2 autos with safeties. Buck 898 and a Hogue Microswitch. Do they need it? Probably because the fire button is not as recessed as my Rat Worx which does not have a safety nor needs one.
My CS Swift assisted opener has one as well. This knife does need one IMHO and I wouldn't own the version without it.
 
I’ve taken the lock safety mechanism off of every single knife I’ve owned that had one. Benchmade Barrage (took the assist out too), CRKT Liong Mah Eraser, Hogue EX-01 (manual), etc.

I understand that many people might like the feature, so I’m not going to say it’s an objectively pointless and annoying feature - but I will point out that I’m not living in a world where people unpredictably hit the spine of my open knife with a mallet, so the merits of the feature are somewhat questionable.

Also, like many people here, the feel and operation of a knife has become something I am particular about. I don’t want to be surprised by my knife refusing to shut because I accidentally hit the safety at some point.
 
As this progresses I find my initial opinion to be shifting a bit. (Also as the breakfast coffee starts to kick in)
I would honestly not be shocked if a large number of the safeties are less a designer choice, and more of a liability sort of choice. Because I've not been in the market for assisted/flipper/auto knives, I'm just not as familiar with them. But the way they are being described, I get the liability vibe a lot more. I mean, even though it makes sense to some degree on the Trident folder, I'm really not sure how you would hold the knife, use the cutting groove, and not be holding the blade closed. I can however see someone looking at that feature and saying, "What happens if you push the blade open?" And once its on a few knives, then it sort of becomes an unintended trend, "why not put it, if everyone else is doing it" obviously they don't all have the safety, but then again, no one has ever accused the wider knife industry of being over-run with logic.
 
I like safeties on plunge lock autos. recessed buttons arent a great design for safety. I also dont mind safeties on other lock types. dont want it, dont use it.

even the lake/walker isnt that bad. the mistake folks made was thinking the marketing of it being as strong as a fixed blade was real. so spine whack and slamming would make it fail easily. which isnt a real surprise.

it's just a thin folded piece of metal. more for to keep your normal grip from unlocking the liner by accident under normal use and application. used as a folding knife worked fine and didnt harm anything with the liner lock.

the manual lake walker I much prefer over ther later autolawks version.


the only mistake in most safeties and most lock designs besides being poorly done by the manufacturers......is folks thinking the lock is foolproof and wont fail. if folks used a folder with a lock much like they would a slipjoint, then failures would about disappear.
 
The best "knife safety" is that thing between your ears - but only if you engage it.

A "lock safety" seems rather superfluous to me. But then again, I've never had a lock fail in normal use.
 
I personally don't like safeties but I can understand how someone would want one to prevent an assisted or automatic knife from opening accidentally. I have never had one open on me though.
 
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