Microtech Microtech Stitch Lock Failure

[Knive_Alive]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post here, so if I have done something wrong, please let me know.

So, I just received in my Microtech Stitch with the ramlock. I have been drooling over this knife for months now. I was finally able to snag one on the secondary. The only problem is the lock fails with even a light spine whack. I know this is a controversial topic in the knife community, but I wanted to put it out there and see if this is a one-off situation or are other people having this problem. This is really unacceptable on a $300+ knife. It looks like where the knife and the lock meet up is smooth and rounded off. Seems like a poor design especially after all the controversy this topic has received.

My question is, will Microtech take this knife back? I bought it on the secondary market, so I am unsure how that works. I love the knife and want to keep it, but I want to keep my fingers more. I understand a lot of collectors are going to say it doesn't matter, but I use all of my knives on a daily basis.

Thanks!

 

[Kettleman]

Sorry you lost me at “ spine whack”

Someone is bound to be along soon to chat with you.

Good luck and welcome to Blade Forums.

 

[Hashishiin]

A lock needs to maintain some resistance. While I agree we should not do spine whacking as a thing.. I have done it and only had very poor, obviously bad Chinese knives fail that way. A good lock can take some level of shock and impact. Otherwise, if it can't be executed well, I'll use a fixed blade and a slipjoint, but until then, I have locks, specifically knives with those locks, that I trust.

 

[LimpCroissant]

Chris Reeve, at least when he was running the company, used to give every Sebenza that goes out a good spine whack to make sure that everything mated up well and it wouldn't have any issues. One of the workers at their place shows it in that old video tour of their shop from like the late 90's that can be found of youtube.

I don't spine whack my knives, however if I get one in that has a tremendously early liner/frame lockup, or some other lock situation where I get that "kinda sorta" feeling, I'll give it a few light taps against something hard, but soft like a steering wheel to make sure that the lock doesn't slip out with hardly any force and might be dangerous in harder use. I don't know my friend, I've never owned a Microtech so I don't know what to expect from their customer service, however I'd definitely shoot them an email and explain what's going on.

 

[Another Shepherd]

As a responsible company, Microtech ought to fix your knife, and you ought to pay them to do so because it would presumably be out of warranty. Or look for some Youtube videos that show how to fix it yourself.

 

[Mustacheben]

You are not alone on your failures. There has been a fair amount on discussion on the ram lock both on here and elsewhere online, over its failures and the early lockup issues. I don’t see the value in a spine whack test personally as you “shouldn’t” ever be putting that type of force on your knife anyway. If you need to, get a hammer.

As far as microtech and their customer service, I won’t speculate on whether or not they will fix your knife however their reputation does not bode well in that area. They are not known for their customer service (it runs in the family as well apparently). If I was a betting man, I would say you are better off living with it or just move it on. Hope that helps!

 

[pholder]

Smack the cutting edge on the end of a table and see what happens. use them as intended and they will serve you well

 

[Delgadonine]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post here, so if I have done something wrong, please let me know.

So, I just received in my Microtech Stitch with the ramlock. I have been drooling over this knife for months now. I was finally able to snag one on the secondary. The only problem is the lock fails with even a light spine whack. I know this is a controversial topic in the knife community, but I wanted to put it out there and see if this is a one-off situation or are other people having this problem. This is really unacceptable on a $300+ knife. It looks like where the knife and the lock meet up is smooth and rounded off. Seems like a poor design especially after all the controversy this topic has received.

My question is, will Microtech take this knife back? I bought it on the secondary market, so I am unsure how that works. I love the knife and want to keep it, but I want to keep my fingers more. I understand a lot of collectors are going to say it doesn't matter, but I use all of my knives on a daily basis.

Thanks!

1st: You are doing it wrong.
2nd: Stop what you are doing.
3rd: Stop wasting your money, our time.
4th: Try your 'spine whack' with a carrot instead.

 

[BlindMouse2of3]

I'm not one for spine whack testing normally but Napa has a bugout clone for $15 with D2. I bought 6 for Christmas presents for the guys at work. I did 50 solid hits per knife to make sure they were stupid act safe then tore em down and cleaned em up (not a bad knife for the money). Maybe buy something else and sit on it and maybe after microtech adjusts the final product they will be more inclined to fix knives for people. I know optimistic guess on my part but here's hoping.

 

[BTTLBRN]

I'm not typically one for "spine whacking," but some locks are more susceptible to failure than others ... looking at you button locks.

As mentioned if a knife has really early lock up I will give it a LIGHT tap to provide peace of mind.

From this and other reports I've seen Microtech does appear to have an issue to deal with.

 

[Delgadonine]

Or spend your money on pocket fixie edc?

Microtech Socom Alpha Mini perhaps?

Or, a plain ol Buck. There are a myriad and plethora of options out there. Enormous price and quality range!

 

[TC]

I take the OP's statement of "even a light spine whack" as more of something like a hearty love tap, so no reason for the harsher criticisms.

I don't usually test my knives that way since I carry fixed blades(*) these days and it seems that would be a sorry waste of time, but back in the '90s when this spine whackery first came up (AFAICR) I had one of those Gerber A/F Combat Folders (the large one, not the later "Covert"), and the liner lock on that was so lengthy (my theory) that it would fairly easily (al dente spine whack) disengage due to buckling. Not good, IMHO; at the very least not confidence inspiring. I would tend to share the OP's concerns and try to have MT fix it.

(*) or traditional slipjoints

 

[jbmonkey]

certain locks won't do as well on spine whack tests......but doesn't mean the lock is bad...unless the only goal ya have is for it to be spine whacked.

even Demko stated his scorpion lock wasn't great on spine whacks, but held in your hand and used as a knife, did well as a strong lock.

all axis type and sorta similar type locks, don't seem to fair well across the board on spine whacking. some do fine others fail.

I have 2 ram lock knives. both have survived spine whacking, but I didnt beat on them as reviewers seem to do. I just hit them like what might happen by accident while in my hand and they did fine and didn't fail...so it's not every knife.

 

[Ozmose]

I have heard about this being an issue on some of the ram locks, but I wouldn't say it's common. That very well may be why the seller was getting rid of it. I think you really only have two routes. You can bring it up with the person you bought it from, or you can contact Microtech. It's kinda grey area whether they'll warranty it or not. You're not the original owner, but at the same time, it's a factory defect that should probably have never left the door. Either way I wouldn't be optimistic. Sellers could usually care less once it's out of their hands, and Microtech's customer service is well . . . It's not their strong point to put it politely.

 

[tony281sc2]

Folks saying this or that about their warranty… I wonder if they’ve actually sent a knife in to them. I sent my NEW Socom Elite in when I was having an issue with lock rock (I was the 2nd owner also).
It wasn’t noticeable when I received the knife, only after flipping it a few dozen times it started to develop play.
Long story short, they fixed it in about a week and a half and it is good to this day, locks up solid

*I didn’t mention I was the second owner, and they didn’t ask, because like I said, you could tell it was new and never used or carried.

There was a video on YT someone posted on the other Ram Lok thread where the guy sands the tang of the blade slightly so it locks up a little deeper, because he was having the same problem as you.

 

[Ozmose]

Folks saying this or that about their warranty… I wonder if they’ve actually sent a knife in to them. I sent my NEW Socom Elite in when I was having an issue with lock rock (I was the 2nd owner also).
It wasn’t noticeable when I received the knife, only after flipping it a few dozen times it started to develop play.
Long story short, they fixed it in about a week and a half and it is good to this day, locks up solid

*I didn’t mention I was the second owner, and they didn’t ask, because like I said, you could tell it was new and never used or carried.

There was a video on YT someone posted on the other Ram Lok thread where the guy sands the tang of the blade slightly so it locks up a little deeper, because he was having the same problem as you.

I didn't have a great experience with them. Mainly because there was basically zero communication. I have a beat up old Ultratech Spartan I was looking to get a blade replacement for. It had been ages since they did any Spartan blades, so I wasn't sure if they'd even do it. Sent some questions out. Can you do a blade swap? What will it cost? All I got back was a shipping address. Sent the questions a few more times and got nothing back. It was pretty annoying. I wasn't going to pay to ship it out, just to find out after the fact that they wouldn't do it, and I'd need to pay return shipping too, all for nothing. I thought it was pretty crappy that they couldn't take the time to answer a few simple questions.