My new Case knife: half 'traditional,' half 'tactical'

[MG_Saldivar]

In this recent thread, BF member jthomas posted pics of a Case knife called a Mid-Folding Hunter. I had never seen or heard of this model before but I had long been wanting a knife with a 'traditional' look but some 'tactical' features like a thumbstud and a pocket clip. I decided to buy one and I received it today.

I'm quite pleased. This is my first Case knife and the fit and finish are great -- the scales are beautiful, the lockup is tight in all directions, and the bolsters and clip are nice and shiny.

The blade was razor sharp but one edge had a lot of burrs, so I gave it a few passes on my Sharpmaker's ceramic sticks and now it's in excellent shape. My only complaint was that there was a lot of gunk at the pivot point -- I could hear the grinding sound when the blade closed or opened!

Some DuPont teflon lube fixed that, though.

I'll EDC this knife for a couple of week to see how it holds up, but what interests me the most at this point is that it seems to have both a linerlock (note how the liner moves ALL the way across when the blade is open) and a backspring -- a design I've never seen before (although I won't pretend to know much about knife manufacturing). I wonder how many other knifes are constructed in this way, and how much better, if at all, such a design is to a linerlock-but-no-backspring design..?

 

[GarageBoy]

The liner is a back up to the primary lock

 

[ItchyTasty]

I just thought of something kind of amusing. "Got any cash on you?" *pull out your Case*

The use of a backspring and a lock does look interesting though.

 

[Ironman]

Yes. That knife caught my eye too. My old Camilus electricians knife has some kind of liner lock and backsprings. In fact, it has two blades. One slipjoint, one locking screwdriver thing. I'll be getting one of those Case though.

 

[Bastid]

Unless I am mistaken the liner is the only lock on the knife.

Like any non-lockback slipjoint the backspring just applies tension to the blade tang and does not act as a lock.

I guess what I am saying is without the liner, I do not think there is another lock on this knife.

 

[KeithAM]

Schrade made a tiny folder with a backspring and a brass liner lock. I can't recall the model #. I've had and lost a couple, but still have the one my daughter gave me one father's day. Anyway, the liner in teh Shrade was all the way over to the opposite side, and in fact I guess you could say there was "play" in the lock because the liner didn't quite reach the tang. But the backspring kept it in position despite the play.

 

[therulebookman]

It kind of looks like Case has stuck their toe in waters they are unfamiliar with. Which they have. I also like the idea, but the finished product actually looks like someone added weird parts to a Case. Like the fact that the blade is way off-center of the handle due to the liner taking up extra room it shouldn't. Its also weird to have a back spring and a liner lock, and that would seem problematic in closing IMO. The pocket clip also looks like someone just drilled holes in a regular case and screwed a generic pocket clip on it. The whole thing just seems like a fish out of water. I'm not saying its a bad knife, in fact, I'm sure its real good. Its just odd, and looks jerry-rigged as opposed to engineered.

 

[Sword and Shield]

Not really weird at all. Off the top of my head, there's the Schrade 125 and 194 OT, and just about every electrician's knife ever made. All of those have backsprings and linerlocks.

 

[shecky]

Perhaps memories around here don't go back too far. Linerlocks were commonly done that way until modern, tactical-ish linerlock/framelock knives became popular. Keep in mind that a linerlock is still a liner, an integral part of traditional knife design. I'm guessing somewhere along the line, someone realized a linerlock knife doesn't actually need a backspring, spurring a new wave of design.

 

[kc2kth]

I'm glad you posted this MG as I was looking for "My First Case" as well and came across this very one. My biggest thing with the "tacticals" over my "traditional" Buck 110 (thinking of my Trance and Delica here) is the one hand opening. This is big for me, and I expect for many. It seems I always have something in one hand when I'm reaching for my knife with the other. Having something that doesn't look "scary" to the average person (like, I believe, the Case), yet having the ability to deploy it quickly with one hand makes a knife far more useful to me as I'll use it more with somewhat less concern about the reactions of those around me.