My 3 week old Strider SMF has lock rock!

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I have never had a problem, My SMF has been rock solid for 6+ years, my SNG in PD1 locks up like a vault and has booted everything out of my pocket including my sebenza.
 
Anyone who has a smf, could you measure your lock stops and post back here? I'm curious.
 
I have 3 Striders, and none has lock problems. Two are just as smooth as the best of my Sebenzs and the third is close. What does it all mean? Some get out of the factory with problems, but that is what warranties are for.
 
pvicenzi said:
I have 3 Striders, and none has lock problems. Two are just as smooth as the best of my Sebenzs and the third is close. What does it all mean? Some get out of the factory with problems, but that is what warranties are for.
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Consistency is a large part of quality
 
kreole said:
Consistency is a large part of quality
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I agree.

To charge that much money and not be able to make them perfect is robbery. Surely someone is paid to individually test each one opens, closes, locks etc correctly?

Take it back and buy 40 opinels! Lol
 
mctrinket said:
I have two SnGs and they are flawless and rock solid. Both new buys.

I know there's a lot of Strider hate on these forums. It even kept me from buying one in the past. I'd just like to say that was a mistake. I've had Striders and CRKs, etc, and I'll take a Strider anyday over the overpriced, overhyped Sebenza. Heck, I'd take a Spyderco over one.
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If CRK's are overpriced, by the same logic wouldnt striders also be? Ive never seen anyone say CRK's are the best value for your dollar on the market but being overpriced is an opinion everyone has to decide for themselves. They may be overhyped i cant comment on that but on the other hand striders are said to be hard use knives, i would be interested to see an abuse test comparing the two.
 
Honestly I think some lock rock is par for the course these days sadly. If I open the blade under normal speed (not flipping it but letting it open solidly) and grab the blade spine and rock the handle vertically I can feel/hear play in all of the following frame locks: Zt 551, ZT 560, MT delta elite, Les George VECP, CRK umnumzaan, Wilson Combat ELC, Spartan Akribis, and Strider SMF CC. In fact the only frame lock I have that doesn't have lock rock is my CRK 25.

Now not one of those knives will fail under heavy spine pressure or a light spine impact, and my lock bars are very stiff because I want the detent to ensure the blade stays closed. So none of them have had the lock bar pressure decreased, and 2-3 have had it increased at my request.
 
MEJ said:
If CRK's are overpriced, by the same logic wouldnt striders also be? Ive never seen anyone say CRK's are the best value for your dollar on the market but being overpriced is an opinion everyone has to decide for themselves. They may be overhyped i cant comment on that but on the other hand striders are said to be hard use knives, i would be interested to see an abuse test comparing the two.
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No, apples and oranges. No production company matches the tolerances that go into the Sebenza, which is not sold as a "hard" use knife.
 
I've found if I use any locking knife hard enough it will develop some blade play. I've tried a few different examples of almost every type of lock and yes treat them bad enough there's some blade play. Some will even develop it from just opening them hard. They don't fail but they sure aren't as tight as new. But, if you use a folder with some common sense it can stay tight for years.
 
I'm replying without reading the entire thread, your post only. What I would do would be to disassemble the knife, and but a little more bend in the lockbar. This is what I would do because I have been disassembling and reassembling my knives ever since they begin to become available with screw construction. I've had framelocks to develop this type of bladeplay and bending the lockbar is what corrected the problem. I always bend it just a little, and if that does not fix the problem, then I do it again until it does fix the problem. I do not know what any knife manufacturer does if they receive a knife for repair that has this problem, but it sure seems that this would be the simplest way to correct it.:thumbup::)

Good luck with your knife, and I hope it gets repaired to your satisfaction and gives you many years of satisfaction.:) I've never owned a Strider, but I read a lot of good things about them.
 
mmarkh said:
Why so much Strider hate? I know they aren't Spyderco but why all the hate? Is it because of the owner of the company?
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This thread is about the knives, not the immoral, unethical, felonious, valor thieving backgrounds of the honchos of the company. If you bring that up everyone will just call you a hater.
 
Comeuppance said:
I feel you on that. Anyone who puts out a $400 mid-tech, especially if they have been doing it for over a decade, should at least be able to match the QC of Spyderco. Or Kershaw. Or Benchmade. Or SanRenMu. Or Ganzo. Or Enlan. Or CRKT. Or...

Two of the three Striders I have handled had some variety of blade play. All of them had ridiculously stiff pivots and lock stick. They were all dull straight from the factory. Unacceptable. For those prices, I can grab a Chris Reeve knife and know it'll be perfect out of the box, made with the same materials (assuming S30V / S35VN), open smoothly, lock up perfectly, be at least acceptably sharp, and still stand up to anything I would use a folding knife on. Heck, for half that I can get a ZT and get the same. An 0550 is just as overbuilt, but much cheaper. I could even pick up a Southard and have exceptional steel to boot.

I don't get Strider knives. They have proven to not be my cup of tea no matter how many times I've tried. If only some other mid-tech maker would start using Z-Wear and 110v in that price range...
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This post made me smile.....I have had more issues with most of the names you mentioned than I have had with my Striders and I own a few of many.....at one time I owned over 50 CRK folders.

No fanboy post, just being real....the OP's issue is a common one with many framelocks.

I sent knives to Randy with sticky locks and got back knives with sticky locks.

I sent a new custom back to Ernie with a sticky lock , got the knife back gave it a good flick and it took a screwdriver to release the lock.

I have broke more Spyderco blades than any other users.
 
I used to hate Strider product due to the famous issue with M.Strider and the fact that most of their folder have no liner under scale.

Now I own 3 Strider, 2 SMF and a SnG. They all came perfect, very sharp and lock solid like a bank vault. All of my Strider feel even tighter than my Hinderer XM-18. Also by the heat treat or whatever Strider have done with their steel also make their blade have far superior edge retention than other. I have tested Strider's S30V against other S30V, Strider difinitely hold an edge much longer, even better than my Blue Para M390.

While I like their knife I still not a big fan of Mick himself since he always act like a dbag rockstar, I would never pay for their Custom stuff.
 
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There is a Digicam SNG CC for sale in the exchange right now. Check out the bend in the lock bar on that bad boy!
 
Wow that's a lot of adjectives. Sorry to have brought it up. I have my first SnG coming in the mail so no hate on my part. It just seems like Striders aren't discussed here often but when they are a lot of people knock them but then again the do the same to CRK.

GronK said:
This thread is about the knives, not the immoral, unethical, felonious, valor thieving backgrounds of the honchos of the company. If you bring that up everyone will just call you a hater.
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Yes, this thread is "supposed to be" about the knives. No back-door sniping, please. It makes you look bad while you're making other folks look bad... Puts you in the same sack. :yawn:

OTOH...If Chris Reeve was a crook...HE ISN'T...I would still buy his knives. I love 'em; I carry 'em. Have had about 30, all previously owned, and not one had lock-rock, blade wiggle, or required bending of the lock-bar. When you make 'em right...
 
I understand that. I was asking if people didn't like the knives. I have been intrigued by them for a long time but stayed away because of a lot of people chiming in on quality issues. I finally decided to take the chance and see for myself.

Sonnydaze said:
Yes, this thread is "supposed to be" about the knives. No back-door sniping, please. It makes you look bad while you're making other folks look bad... Puts you in the same sack. :yawn:

OTOH...If Chris Reeve was a crook...HE ISN'T...I would still buy his knives. I love 'em; I carry 'em. Have had about 30, all previously owned, and not one had lock-rock, blade wiggle, or required bending of the lock-bar. When you make 'em right...
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