Lockback Love/Hate Relationship

wtlj

wtlj

Joined
Jun 30, 2014
Messages
2,957
I'm relatively new here on the forum and to knives in general, I have been reading as much as possible. One of the things that seems to have a lot of controversy is the lockback lock. I see so much hate and anger towards them yet some of the most popular EDC's are lockbacks. Just to name a few spydercos: delica, endura, native 5, dragonfly, pacific, Atlantic...
So why such hate towards them? I have a few and while they aren't the easiest knives to operate one handed I still have no problems with them.
 
I personally have had little issue with lockbacks. I do, however, prefer the modern iteration of them - the mid or front locks. I can still flick open any Spyderco lockback I've tried, and closing is just as easy one handed, once you've gotten the hang of it.
 
Mox nix. I could care less what type of lock is on a locking knife. That is, as long as it is solid and secure. People rant and rave and debate over different lock designs when people have used non-locking knives for centuries without chopping off their fingers.
 
I personally love lock back designs. Strong, reliable, and more often than not they're very unobtrusive.

I've heard of some people having issues that when they squeeze the handle too hard, the lock disengages and dismembers the user/everyone in a 5 meter radius. I have yet to encounter this problem though. YMMV
 
A well made lockback is one of my favorite locks, they are easy to operate and make the knife nice and symmetrical. I don't understand all the hate either, but to each their own.
 
Lee48 said:
Mox nix. I could care less what type of lock is on a locking knife. That is, as long as it is solid and secure. People rant and rave and debate over different lock designs when people have used non-locking knives for centuries without chopping off their fingers.
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I'm not one of those guys always questing for the stronger lock, but I have to say, it only takes getting bitten once to have lock appreciation.

As for lock backs, they are not my preferred lock, because they aren't always as easy to close one handed as liner/frame locks, but I like them well enough. The lock that I think is more polarizing is the axis lock. I think it's a great design, strong, symmetrical, unobtrusive, but I really dislike them.
 
The best thing about a lock back is that
chances are, it will not give rise to lock slippages as much as a worn liner lock or pin stop would.
Some lock backs can take longer to operate than a liner/frame lock.
But just remember the quicker it opens, the more the likelyhood of exerting more stress upon the knife and it's operator.
There is nothing to hate, but in having a low tolerance and general growing impatience towards generic stuff when compared to newer or more advanced technologies.
Especially when one is constantly at odds with old ways that seems to slow you down
Thus giving rise of having an excuse to condemn unnecessarily.
 
My Buck 110 and 112. I've never heard of these models closing on someone accidentally (though I'm sure someone will offer up a harrowing tale now that I've written this!). My Cold Steel Voyager served me well while I had it. Dunno why folks would hate a lockback design. Just use what you like, put it through its paces, and then form your own opinions and preferences. And remember Mark Twain's adage: "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.'

Zieg
 
No hate here on lockbacks. Although not my favorite, definitely a great design. The only knives(g10 delica, g10 dragonfly, buck 110) I've had with them eventually got traded away but not because of the lock.
 
I like them, I usually buy lockbacks because I like to have a tightened pivot, the detent balls in liner and frame locks prohibit that, makes them too tough to open. Axis lock works too but you usually have to tighten them more to get the same degree of blade retention.

IMO Demko/Cold Steel's Triad lock is the best version, sure it's a little tougher to close but it makes up for that. It's not the absolute strength I like but the fact the Triad lock will likely never develop blade play or wear out under normal use, which is nice since the weakest link in a folder is the lock... can't say the same for many other lockbacks, my Endura and Calypso had a bit of lock rock right out of the box, Calypso you can feel the blade flexing noticeably up and down even while cutting an apple... my old Puma has worn until it's now unsafe... I hear they are going to update the Triad to make it easier to unlock as well.
 
Goosey said:
can't say the same for many other lockbacks, my Endura and Calypso had a bit of lock rock right out of the box, Calypso you can feel the blade flexing noticeably up and down even while cutting an apple... my old Puma has worn until it's now unsafe... I hear they are going to update the Triad to make it easier to unlock as well.
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The lockback is my favorite lock. It's tried and true; it's simple and almost fail-safe. Almost every lockback knife I own has a bit of up/down blade play, came that way direct from the manufacturer, but this is not an issue at all; in fact, I'd go so far as to call it normal. That goes for Spyderco lockbacks, Buck, Queen Cutlery, Great Eastern Cutlery, etc. The only lock-back knives I own that have absolutely zero play, in any direction, are my Cold Steel folders with the Triad Lock.
 
My main EDC one-handers are lockbacks...a Pacific Salt and a Tasman Salt. I own many lockbacks, and except for some old, no-name, cheap Buck 110 knockoff years ago, have never had a lock failure. I also own many other lockbacks, mainly from Spyderco, and can open AND close them one-handed as quickly and easily as any liner lock. Lockbacks like the Spyderco mid-lock are not difficult to close one-handed at all.

Jim
 
To KNOW the lockback is to love the lockback.
Try a KA-BAR Dozier Lightweight.
rolf
 
Pretty much all of my lockbacks have developed significant vertical play over time after repeated hard cutting. A few have developed lateral play too. The design asks a lot of the blade pivot pin and/or bushing, the lock bar pivot pin and most particularly, the interface between the lock bar and the blade.

I've never had a lock back fail on me. I tend to avoid putting strong closing force on any any folding knife. Call me old fashioned. But several of my lock back have gotten steadily and disturbingly worse over time, a few in as short of a single year.

I now carry mostly Opinels (and the occasional Buck or Schrade lock back). The Opinel's are finicky but I've not yet been able to cause any sort of blade play in them and frankly, I use them a LOT harder than my Bucks, Schrades or other lock backs.

I've only owned a single frame lock and I'm not terribly impressed with the basic design that relies on a pin to stop the blade's opening. I think the Opinel design is fundamentally stronger with respect to opening (and lateral) stress.
 
CairoBeretta said:
I personally love lock back designs. Strong, reliable, and more often than not they're very unobtrusive.

I've heard of some people having issues that when they squeeze the handle too hard, the lock disengages and dismembers the user/everyone in a 5 meter radius. I have yet to encounter this problem though. YMMV
Click to expand...

Ahahahahaha!!!!!! I get that a lot too - "it might disengage from gripping the knife hard!" The last dude that told me that is a friend I work with. I whipped out my cold steel mini recon 1 and told him I'd give him $20 ON THE SPOT if he could grip the knife hard enough to disengage it. I had the dinero right there in my hand. Wouldn't you know it? Try as he might, the lock never disengaged. I stuck my knife and my twenty back in my pocket.

I love lockbacks.
 
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