Microtech Socom Bravo Mini Deployment Issues

[Bonin]

I just received my microtech today and I'd say I'm pretty experienced with knives but trying to deploy it for the first time was impossible without pinching the blade to open it. I've used thumb stud deployers and framelocks before but this one confuses me. It opens only in a specific spot... Any ideas?

 

[jfk1110]

Just keep messing around with it..... Took me two days before I could deploy my ZT 640 to my satisfaction..... Also makes sure your fingers aren't on the lock bar at all when opening the knife.... Best of luck!!

 

[Kryme]

Had the same issue with the Socom Elite, it wasn't an issue with the knife rather a skill issue on my end. Try wedging the tip of your thumb between the stud and scale, and use the scale as leverage to push the blade out sideways, rather than pushing up. Once I got this technique down I found I was able to pop open my Hinderers with ease too, which up until this point were impossible for me. Here's a pic of my thumb position.

 

[Bonin]

Had the same issue with the Socom Elite, it wasn't an issue with the knife rather a skill issue on my end. Try wedging the tip of your thumb between the stud and scale, and use the scale as leverage to push the blade out sideways, rather than pushing up. Once I got this technique down I found I was able to pop open my Hinderers with ease too, which up until this point were impossible for me. Here's a pic of my thumb position.

Ah thank you, I wasn't too sure if it was a skill issue but it was lol. I have no issues now!

 

[Danny Linguini]

Reawakening this old thread so as not to clutter up the Latest Acquisitions thread with my bitching. I just received a Socom Bravo Mini, and it’s got the will-not-open affliction bad. The more I mess with it, the more it’s pissing me off. I’ve been working it trying to get the detent loosened up, and I’ve got it to the point that I can hold it in my left hand and push it open with my right thumb. It takes more effort than I think it should, but at least I’m getting it open that way. However, there’s absolutely no way for me to hold it and open it with one hand without putting some kind of pressure on the lock bar. I simply cannot get all my fingers out of the way and still have enough of a grip to thumb it open. I’m getting to the point where I want to just take a sledge hammer to it. I’m still trying to ‘wear it in’ by using two hands and putting extra pressure on the lock bar. But my concern now is that, even if I do loosen up the detent, that I still won’t be able to find the right grip to operate it easily. You shouldn’t need a roadmap and a PhD to be able to operate a @#$&%!ng folding pocket knife.

However this ends up, this is the absolute last Microtech I ever buy. Total overrated CRAP.

 

[jbmonkey]

Reawakening this old thread so as not to clutter up the Latest Acquisitions thread with my bitching. I just received a Socom Bravo Mini, and it’s got the will-not-open affliction bad. The more I mess with it, the more it’s pissing me off. I’ve been working it trying to get the detent loosened up, and I’ve got it to the point that I can hold it in my left hand and push it open with my right thumb. It takes more effort than I think it should, but at least I’m getting it open that way. However, there’s absolutely no way for me to hold it and open it with one hand without putting some kind of pressure on the lock bar. I simply cannot get all my fingers out of the way and still have enough of a grip to thumb it open. I’m getting to the point where I want to just take a sledge hammer to it. I’m still trying to ‘wear it in’ by using two hands and putting extra pressure on the lock bar. But my concern now is that, even if I do loosen up the detent, that I still won’t be able to find the right grip to operate it easily. You shouldn’t need a roadmap and a PhD to be able to operate a @#$&%!ng folding pocket knife.

However this ends up, this is the absolute last Microtech I ever buy. Total overrated CRAP.

try removing all fingers from lock bar...... ya might not think youre putting pressure on the lock bar but ya are...it took me a minute to realize this myself even.

try putting your fingers as low as ya can on the lock bar side. this helps also.

 

[Danny Linguini]

try removing all fingers from lock bar...... ya might not think youre putting pressure on the lock bar but ya are...it took me a minute to realize this myself even.

try putting your fingers as low as ya can on the lock bar side. this helps also.

I know I’m putting pressure on it - I tried placing my fingers everywhere else, but then I can’t get a good enough grip to push open the thumb stud. That’s part of the problem - I can’t figure out where/how to grip it without touching the lock bar. I’m about to concede defeat with this one and just return it. It’s a nice knife, but not nice enough to contend with this aggravation. I already had one bad experience with Microtech - I should have known better.

 

[jbmonkey]

I know I’m putting pressure on it - I tried placing my fingers everywhere else, but then I can’t get a good enough grip to push open the thumb stud. That’s part of the problem - I can’t figure out where/how to grip it without touching the lock bar. I’m about to concede defeat with this one and just return it. It’s a nice knife, but not nice enough to contend with this aggravation. I already had one bad experience with Microtech - I should have known better.

I get the frustration. maybe youre hands are just to big for it? I got little girl sized hands. yeah return it..better than destroying it

 

[Danny Linguini]

I get the frustration. maybe youre hands are just to big for it? I got little girl sized hands. yeah return it..better than destroying it

Nah, couldn’t be that - my hands are on the small side of large, just big enough to not be medium. When the blade is deployed, this knife actually feels pretty comfortable. For the most part I like the knife, other than the minor issue of not being able to open it. I might break down tomorrow and take it apart and wrestle with the lock bar tension, and pray I don’t f up the lockup, which is actually pretty nice. Don’t worry, I’ll just keep reminding myself what it cost before reaching for the hammer.

 

[Danny Linguini]

Well, I couldn’t wait until tomorrow and decided to dive into it tonight and attempt to flex the lock bar just a pimple. But it ain’t coming apart. Got the clip, carbon insert and pivot screw out, and the little flathead at the tail. But the one T8 in the frame up near the pivot is tight as hell and started to strip. I don’t need to add that to my troubles, so I cranked it back in and put it all back together. I’ll just keep working it tonight and tomorrow, but the more I fiddle with it, the more I think the problem is too much tension in the lock bar/detent ball, which I’m not going to be able to fix now. Just opened a RA ticket with Microtech.

 

[Danny Linguini]

Response from Microtech support was a couple of videos on how to hold the knife to open it, basically insisting that the problem is with my grip, and if I want to exchange it for another one, I have to go back through BHQ. I tried holding it every which way, and that blade will simply not budge one-handed. If I have to go to BHQ, then I’m just returning it, which is exactly what I did. They approved the return in a matter of hours of requesting it, so off it went. I knew it was a gamble when I ordered the f’n thing after reading the user reviews, but I’m still disappointed and annoyed that a knife costing that much would cause so much aggravation. Luckily BHQ handled it. But Microtech blew its last shot with me. There’s nothing else on my wish list, so after this I might even be done buying knives altogether.

 

[SharpBits]

So, you returned a knife that you had worked on and partially disassembled?

 

[Armithius]

That's the problem with places that have a no-hassle return policy. I don't blame people for taking advantage of what's offered, but it sucks for the next guy down the line that inevitably ends up receiving a used knife with problems because companies don't inspect their returns. That's part of the reason I don't shop as much at BladeHQ anymore. That and their prices are starting to be higher than other retailers with slower shipping, but I digress.

 

[Danny Linguini]

So, you returned a knife that you had worked on and partially disassembled?

Very partially disassembled. All that came off was one cf insert - one screw, and the pivot screw. As for ‘worked on’, if you call several hours of opening and closing being worked on, then yes. If they see anything that looks amiss, they’ll deduct it from the refund. Otherwise, I had to know if it was salvageable or not before deciding to return it.

 

[sharp_edge]

That's the problem with places that have a no-hassle return policy. I don't blame people for taking advantage of what's offered, but it sucks for the next guy down the line that inevitably ends up receiving a used knife with problems because companies don't inspect their returns. That's part of the reason I don't shop as much at BladeHQ anymore. That and their prices are starting to be higher than other retailers with slower shipping, but I digress.

IMO a responsible dealer should not simply put any returned knives back to stock. I have the same thinking as you when choosing dealers to buy from.

 

[Blues]

I don't know if you've tried it, but try this experiment. Move your grip up on the lock side to the frame on the opposite side of the thumb stud, approaching the pivot.

So you'll be holding the knife high up. It'll feel strange, but humor me.

Once you have your fingers resting there, even if on the top of the lock bar, relax, but maintain enough of a grip to hold the knife, and try to deploy it.

I have one knife that is a bear to open when I grip down low on it...but using this technique, it opens right up for me. Give it a few tries...it seems counter-intuitive but it may work for you before you throw in the towel.

 

[Danny Linguini]

I don't know if you've tried it, but try this experiment. Move your grip up on the lock side to the frame on the opposite side of the thumb stud, approaching the pivot.

So you'll be holding the knife high up. It'll feel strange, but humor me.

Once you have your fingers resting there, even if on the top of the lock bar, relax, but maintain enough of a grip to hold the knife, and try to deploy it.

I have one knife that is a bear to open when I grip down low on it...but using this technique, it opens right up for me. Give it a few tries...it seems counter-intuitive but it may work for you before you throw in the towel.

I did try that. Grip high, grip low, grip in the middle, curl up my fingertips so they’re not even touching the lock bar (very uncomfortable), push the thumbstud from different angles, I couldn’t get anything to work, the blade just wouldn’t budge. And half a day of opening and closing to wear in the detent (and shredding up my thumb in the process) did nothing. The knife is a lemon. My ZT 0990 was like that out of the box, but I could at least feel some progress after about an hour of working it with pressure on the lock bar, and after a day of that it softened up to a very nice action. I felt no such progress with this knife. So it’s on its way back from whence it came. Lesson learned: heed the reviews. (And a sign from the universe to never spend that much on a knife again.)

 

[Blues]

Well, you tried. Can't ask for more than that.

 

[Medieval Peasant]

I did try that. Grip high, grip low, grip in the middle, curl up my fingertips so they’re not even touching the lock bar (very uncomfortable), push the thumbstud from different angles, I couldn’t get anything to work, the blade just wouldn’t budge. And half a day of opening and closing to wear in the detent (and shredding up my thumb in the process) did nothing. The knife is a lemon. My ZT 0990 was like that out of the box, but I could at least feel some progress after about an hour of working it with pressure on the lock bar, and after a day of that it softened up to a very nice action. I felt no such progress with this knife. So it’s on its way back from whence it came. Lesson learned: heed the reviews. (And a sign from the universe to never spend that much on a knife again.)

Sounds like you were trying to roll the blade open instead of flicking it open. If you place your thumb directly on top of the stud, you're fighting the detent and lockbar pressure together. You needed to flick it from the bottom part of the stud closer to the handle scales.

Too late now, but I would be willing to bet money that there was nothing wrong with the knife.

 

[Danny Linguini]

Sounds like you were trying to roll the blade open instead of flicking it open. If you place your thumb directly on top of the stud, you're fighting the detent and lockbar pressure together. You needed to flick it from the bottom part of the stud closer to the handle scales.

Too late now, but I would be willing to bet money that there was nothing wrong with the knife.

I tried flicking, I tried wedging my thumb between the frame and the stud, as someone suggested somewhere (I don’t remember if it was here or in a video). Believe me, I have plenty of other thumb stud frame locks, some of which were *challenging* to learn to operate or to break in to a point where they operated comfortably. I tried everything I’d learned from all those others, with no luck. I watched every video I could find, watching closely to see exactly how they were flipping them open. Before I purchased, I had read quite a few user reviews with the same complaint (there’s a whole Reddit thread about it); some were able to work through it, some just lived with it, but some ended up returning theirs. So it’s not exactly an uncommon issue with this knife.