Locks

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MichaelScarn

Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Messages
1,387
I'm really new to knives, and I just purchased my second knife - a Byrd Cara Cara. May seem petty to you guys, but its a step up for me.

I was wondering what kind of locks you guys like the most for folding knives. My previous experiences with knives have all been liner locks, and they've treated me badly.

The liner locks always feel really weak, and I've had them fail on me before. The also always seem to go past the tang of the blade, making it stick there.

Are all liner locks like this? No matter the thickness, they just don't seem to do well for me.

That's why I picked the Cara Cara over the Raven, cause the Cara Cara is a lockback. Can anybody tell me what locks that can depend on?
 
A properly fitted frame/liner lock won't have those problems. That fact aside, if you really want an amazing lock up, check out the benchmade axis system. Most people will agree they haven't found one that really locks up better in a budget folder.
 
mpc12 said:
A properly fitted frame/liner lock won't have those problems. That fact aside, if you really want an amazing lock up, check out the benchmade axis system. Most people will agree they haven't found one that really locks up better in a budget folder.
Click to expand...

+1. Axis is nasty.

I've had a couple liners that are pretty nice. The spyderco tenacious is nice, and I've had pretty good luck with crkt liner locks. My Ontario rat-1 locks up nicely too.

I trust a good liner, though I think they are hard to find. Axis has always been really solid as well. A lot of people like spyderco's compression lock too, though I'm personally not a fan.
 
Any quality knife company, benchmade / spyderco, etc. etc. will have a quality lock. Still, experience and knowledge are invaluable. Every lock should be checked to make sure it is right before trusting it. Get to know your new knife before using it to it's limits.
 
First off, welcome to the forums!

It helps a lot to search this site when looking for information. You can use Google's "advanced" search engine to search this website since you may not be able to use the forum's search function.


I have also had some bad liner locks in the past and, consequently, am partial to recessed lock-back knives (e.g. Ka-Bar Mule).

However, good quality liner-locking and frame-locking folders are very secure. It's just a matter of product quality (Strider, Spyderco, CRK, etc.)

Many people love the Axis lock; I've heard a lot of good reports on it. Also, SOG's Arc-Lock is, IMO, another great lock system - takes a little getting used to, but it functions very well and holds the blade very securely.

Anymore, it really boils down to the quality of the maker... not the type of locking system itself.
 
If you see the liner lock on the Kershaw JunkYard Dog II you will change your mind...
 
A liner lock on a good knife, let's say Kershaw, Benchmade, Spyderco, or Lone Wolf, will treat you well. Frame locks are very solid and axis locks have a great reputation too. Personally, I'm no fan of lock backs although the ones from Spyderco are very strong.
 
I like Ti framelocks; unfortunately, they tend to be rather expensive.

I just got a Benchmade 707 (Axis lock). I havn't used it thoroughly, but no complaints yet.
 
Try the liner lock on the Spyderco Military. :) Liner locks depend on the maker, but some other good locks are the back lock (lock back), compression, axis, ball bearing lock. A lot of people like the Axis, I personally don't. I like liners and compressions the best, though I love the back lock on my Chinook and the BBL on my D'Allara.
 
Welcome to BF!!

Like mpc12 said, a good knife won't do those things.

My lock of preference is a frame lock.
 
Spyderco does a great job making and designing knives and I would feel comfortable trusting any knife they put their name on. You did a good thing picking the Cara Cara, it's a great knife for not much money.
 
MichaelScarn said:
I'm really new to knives, and I just purchased my second knife - a Byrd Cara Cara. May seem petty to you guys, but its a step up for me.

I was wondering what kind of locks you guys like the most for folding knives. My previous experiences with knives have all been liner locks, and they've treated me badly.

The liner locks always feel really weak, and I've had them fail on me before. The also always seem to go past the tang of the blade, making it stick there.

Are all liner locks like this? No matter the thickness, they just don't seem to do well for me.

That's why I picked the Cara Cara over the Raven, cause the Cara Cara is a lockback. Can anybody tell me what locks that can depend on?
Click to expand...

If the Cara Cara is a step up for you, I will guess that your bad experiences with with liner locks were with cheapies.

Liner locks get a bad reputation because they are often used on cheap knives, and the ones on cheap knives are often poorly done and are thus unreliable. Liner locks on knives from top manufacturers such as Kershaw, Benchmade, and Spyderco ( and others) are as reliable as any other lock.
 
Welcome to BladeForums and congratulations on your Cara Cara---it's an excellent, economical EDC folder.

As knarfeng mentioned, if this byrd is a step up for you in cutlery, then it is reasonably same to assume that the liner locks you've dealt with are not of high quality. My liner locks from Kershaw, Benchmade, and Spyderco perform flawlessly.

As well, the Axis lock is convenient, ambidextrous, incredibly strong, reliable, and smooth. I highly recommend it.
 
What others said- if you buy from quality manufacturers, liner locks shouldn't let you down.
I really don't have a preference, although I prefer Axis and liner/frame locks on one-hand folders. Since they don't have a back spring, I find them a lot easier to open.
 
What others said- if you buy from quality manufacturers, liner locks shouldn't let you down.
I really don't have a preference, although I prefer Axis and liner/frame locks on one-hand folders. Since they don't have a back spring, I find them a lot easier to open.
 
You've had less than stellar experiences with liner-locks and frame-locks, so simply look for knives with other types of locks.

There are many different lock types out there: Spyderco' Ball-bearing lock, Benchmade's Axis-lock, some manual plunger-locks, Kershaw's blade-mounted lock (gets around the Axis-patent), etc. And, of course, the old lock-back is more than serviceable for many.

Personally, I no longer recommend liner-locks as the failure potential is too high (not overly fond of frame-locks anymore, either, as they have similar issues as the liner-locks). Too much "should, would, could, may" as to lock reliability.

I don't buy into the "well, a quality liner-lock is good" argument, since I've seen and experiences first blood failures of liner-lock equipped knives that most would consider "quality" ($100+ knives).
 
IMHO the most reliable is a good sturdy back lock.

Though I don't "trust" any knife lock.
 
orthogonal1 said:
I don't buy into the "well, a quality liner-lock is good" argument, since I've seen and experiences first blood failures of liner-lock equipped knives that most would consider "quality" ($100+ knives).
Click to expand...

Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's GOOD.:)
A good liner lock CAN be great, but these days, I want to check them out in person to make sure engagement is proper.
 
orthogonal1 said:
...I don't buy into the "well, a quality liner-lock is good" argument, since I've seen and experiences first blood failures of liner-lock equipped knives that most would consider "quality" ($100+ knives).
Click to expand...

I would be most interested to know whether Kershaw, Benchmade and Spyderco are among that number and if so, which models.
 
Welcome to the forums:). Everyone else has already said what I would've said. It's not so much about the lock itself as it is about who made the knife. I probably wouldn't trust a liner lock that costs under $40.
 
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