New Strider failure

[DaveH]

You can see on the knife above the grind is all f'd up, it can't even spread butter!

It's leaves it in one big lump in the middle. How is any hard core individual gonna survive unless their butter is spread?

 

[n00b3r]

That's because it's a tanto grind, which means I should have stabbed the butter instead. Operator mistake. ;-)

 

[hardheart]

I thought my thumbstuds were loose, and I tightened them up so that they won't come off. I also bent the liner because I "thought" that it had some blade play, and now the liner locks up in the middle of the blade tang. I also tightened the pivot.

Thank you for verifying the appearance of such issues with NIB Striders.

We live with the circumstances we're dealt with, and sometimes the hand that we are dealt with sucks, but there are better, more fulfilling ways of getting reparation than just going on the Internet and proclaiming far and wide why a product fails when it hasn't even been through the "ringer", so to speak.

Are you saying it is less of a problem when a lock does not engage and stop pins fall out before the knife has seen any sort of use or abuse?

I may not personally know these guys, but I will give them a first shot at making their product right (should anything go wrong)

like when you sent yours in to have the lock, studs, and pivot adjusted

To each his own. Respect each other's rights and choices, not be preachy and almighty and trying to force your own views down the majority's throats!

yep

By the way, my Strider still isn't perfect- but I'd bet my life on it and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!!

Personally, I'd have it another way-perfect, if I had to bet my life on it.

You and the topic creator had the same issues with the knife, faced the same overseas shipping burden, made almost the same adjustments on your own, and revealed these things to the knife community without contacting Strider first. Perhaps you are twins, separated at birth. What amazing discoveries one can make while discussing pocket knives

 

[Unsub]

When you buy a Strider you are paying for a brand name and the personality behind it. That is not a bad thing. I am reasonably sure that for every hard use Strider there are another 2 living a pampered existence in knife safes.
Strider and small hi end knife companys are inovators and are responsible for
improvments trickling down to the scrapyard/R.A.T level and then to the K Bar level and the people who buy Striders are the early adopters that make this possible. Strider style stripeing is a great example.

I am a value added type guy I like the K Bar bowies ,Byrd folders and for a special occasion will order a scrapyard. I don't buy Strider knives but you can see there influence in the knives I do buy.

 

[MPE]

A lesson learned! Next time buy a Hinderer.

MPE

 

[SIFU1A]

wow i didnt know strider sucked so, its amazing how well the things hold there value and how quickly ya can unload them if ya want/need to especially when ya consider how badly they suck lol.

ya would think they never let one out the door unless somethings wrong with it, suprising since i have had 4 or 5 of them with nary a problem i guess i just got lucky lol.

i have never understood how emerson and strider seem to inspire either undying love or pure hatred, nothing in between,

 

[punisher_nbi45]

Hardheart,

I assumed you read my post since you quoted me, but I may not have clearly expressed what I meant. So, categorically stating, THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY STRIDER KNIFE WHEN I BOUGHT IT. Lock-up was rock-solid, the opening/action was smooth. THERE WERE NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER.

Like I mentioned, I'm an inveterate tinkerer, and in my PERSONAL CAPACITY, I couldn't leave well enough alone, that is why I "TWEAKED" my knife to my personal preference. Again, there is nothing wrong with my knife, I just wanted to personalize it, hence, I did what I did. In hindsight, I didn't have to, but I'm glad I did, because I discovered how superbly engineered a tool it is.

As far as your other "ass-umptions" regarding me, well, you're entitled to your opinion. I'm content with who I am and what I know, and part of me is happy that I don't act like a crybaby (like some people here are) who whine and pout whenever they don't get things just the way they want and who can't understand people who subscribe to the "function over form" concept.

To those of you who don't like Striders - NO MATTER WHAT I SAY, I KNOW THAT I WILL NEVER CHANGE YOUR MINDS!!!!

You guys (yup, you know who you are) aren't gonna change my mind either. Well, I hope this thread doesn't degenerate coz I have this gloomy, foreboding feeling that some of you guys are gonna start slammin' me. Well, I'll just try to be the bigger man and shut my trap up since this is the Internet and your personal degradations of other people don't really matter here.

Now, if you want to say these things to me up close and personal, I guess you have to come visit me here in the Philippines..................

 

[Keith Montgomery]

i have never understood how emerson and strider seem to inspire either undying love or pure hatred, nothing in between,

I am a person that falls inbetween those two extremes. I respect the company and its owners (yes, even though Mick has had his problems, I still respect him), but am not really interested in owning a Strider knife. They just aren't my cup of tea.

 

[TorzJohnson]

Hardheart,

I assumed you read my post since you quoted me, but I may not have clearly expressed what I meant. So, categorically stating, THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY STRIDER KNIFE WHEN I BOUGHT IT. Lock-up was rock-solid, the opening/action was smooth. THERE WERE NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER.

Like I mentioned, I'm an inveterate tinkerer, and in my PERSONAL CAPACITY, I couldn't leave well enough alone, that is why I "TWEAKED" my knife to my personal preference. Again, there is nothing wrong with my knife, I just wanted to personalize it, hence, I did what I did. In hindsight, I didn't have to, but I'm glad I did, because I discovered how superbly engineered a tool it is.

Punisher, I hope you don't think ill of me, but I also misunderstood your post. The part where you said...

I thought my thumbstuds were loose, and I tightened them up so that they won't come off. I also bent the liner because I "thought" that it had some blade play, and now the liner locks up in the middle of the blade tang. I also tightened the pivot.

... made it sound like there was a problem that you fixed, but I see that you said that you just thought the studs were loose, the knife had blade play, and that the pivot needed tightening. Not that those things were actually true, you just thought they were. So don't be too hard on Hardheart, he wasn't the only one who misunderstood your post.

 

[David Schott]

I misunderstood as well....i still dont understand....how can you be forced to bend the liner if there isnt a problem? And doesnt saying "now the liner locks up in the middle of the blade tang" imply that it did not lock up porperly prior? If not, perhaps stop using the word "now" to describe things that havent changed.

 

[darkestthicket]

The pin i am refering to is the pin that sits in the blade itself.
I would not call it a double-sided thumstud, as the oval opening in the blade works much better to open the knife.

I was only holding the SNG in my hand while surfing this forum, opening and closing it now and then, as it suddenly fell out of the blade.

This pin by the way has no thread on it, just 2 marks on it in the middle that seem to be made with a pair of pliers.
When i disassembled the knife earlier to fix the lockbar that wouldn't lock, i did not touch this stop-pin.

By the way, there is also a model SMF on it's way to me as i write this, i do hope STR did the quality control on this one,

I checked the tightness on my striders, none of which had a loose stop pin like you are describing and none of them have tritium inserts, so Strider does not apparently leave the stop pins loose intentionally for instalation of the tritium inserts. after disassembling one, my stop pins have threading just like they should, sounds like you got a bad one, send it to Strider to fix.

I find this whole subject really odd as I pretty much come to two main conclusions. One, the talk of shoddy QC has to be over-rated, or ,two, there are A LOT of really stupid people out there whom have a pile more money to burn than me ! I just don't see how a company could consistently be this bad and continue to sell very expensive knives to what is generally a small market segment without some major backlash. And if they ARE that bad, WTF is wrong with people? From how I see it, you got a dud and hopefully, it'll be made right in quick time. Good luck.

They arent bad, Everyone here likes to make a stink when they do have a screw-up though. QC mistakes do occasionally happen but this is true of ANY company, including Busse (yes Busse is guilty too), spyderco, Microtech, ANY company.

I broke the Titanium on the framelock side of a Custom SMF, Strider fixed and had it back to me in a little under a month, good as new. Use your warranty and problem solved.

"It should be right when I get it on any knife above 20 dollars. Cosmetic perfection is an obvious requirement for 400 dollar knives." - artfully martial

Cosmetic Perfection isnt the first thing on my mind when im looking at a strider, I think to put it simply, Either you like the way they look or you dont, a "strider-mark" does give a blade character, and makes it different from any other GB/SMF/SNG that was made... some of my Strider's have very interesting marks that came from the factory and I am content that they had scuffs. I want a knife that will work, not look pretty. If i wanted a pretty knife id buy a ..... ..... and let it just sit in my pocket.


Well its nice to see even moderators bashing Strider, its tough being a Strider user/fan

 

[bigmark408]

my experiance with strider, i own several and have owned many blades from many differant makers.......i edc a smf nm and i will use it for any task that presents itself because a blade is a tool ( IMO) i have even purchased used striders on the secondary market........the only issues i have ever had were
from use (minor stuff) and when i sent it back to strider they just handle it no questions asked......and it will come back ready to rock and razor sharp.......they have been one of the best that i have ever dealt with right there with chris reeve knives........shit happens !! and when it does you want to make sure you have a product that will be backed.......strider tells you like it is and they dont blow no smoke up your ass and to me that is admirable....just my 2 cents .........dont trip!! just send it back.....in a case like yours i would bet that strider will even pay for your shipping.

 

[tom mayo]

I think you won't believe this........

A few weeks ago i received a brand new Strider SNG.
First thing i noticed was that there was no lock up, when the blade was completely opened the lockbar did not touch the base of the blade.
As a result the blade could rock back and forth.

I corrected it by disassembling the knife, and bending the lockbar quite a bit further, so after reassembling the knife did lock up well.

However.....

Just a few seconds ago the stop pin fell out of the blade.
I don't know what to say, and i am truly speechless,

so, you took it apart, you fixed it, and then the stop pin fell out/how can that be?

Of course the boys will fix it, but it sounds like operator error putting it back together to me???????

 

[David Schott]

Yup sounds like multiple wrongs here.

User: wrong for trying to fix himself
Strider: wrong for shipping a knife that had a lockbar that didnt touch the base of the blade

We could debate which wrong is more wrong....

In the end, im always more than mildly frustrated with the "hey, just ship it back and they will fix it" attitude. People should be excited and focused on quality products off-the-shelf rather than exicted that a company will take back a shoddy product and fix it to how it should have been the first time. Firestone took back all those bad tires and replaced them, but it doesnt mean im willing to write that i think their company is the cat's meow just because they cleaned up their mess.

 

[hardheart]

The stop pins are the thumbstuds. I don't think there was any need to loosen/remove them by kwackster, they should have remained untouched in the blade while he bent the lock. This is why it is so strange that they fell out.

I can understand that people want the look and feel a a big, rough, mean looking knife. But, I always wonder what it is people are paying for. It isn't materials or heat treat, as the exact same are available on cheaper knives. It isn't the general appearance, as other tacticals bear a resemblance, and are not priced as high. To me, this leaves name or build level. Yes, in any product there will be missteps and bad pieces out the door. But, at this price level, what is acceptable when compared to the cheaper knives produced in much greater quantity? Should it be more or less likely that a QC issue slip by a small shop or a large factory? If a $400 knife is not expected to have a superior level of QC compared to knives half to one quarter the price, then you must only be paying for the names/personalities associated with it.

I buy name brand products all the time. I buy them when there are generic or store brands that are cheaper. I've been concerned about the label on my clothes, followed the crowd at times for whatever reasons. The knives I do buy/not buy are largely based on my opinion of th manufacturer. Thing is, my cut off point is a price lower than Strider's, and the like in the production world. It is because I cannot see a reason to spend that much on a name when there is no reason to, yet people say there is. When someone says a $300 knife is 'worth it', I think about threads like this, or the few on the CRK forum about Sebenza problems, or issues with custom made knives that just didn't hold up. Hell, I'm in the process of rebuilding a ~$400 folder right now.

Diminishing returns, many say. I say the returns wind up at zero from a pure practical performance viewpoint. You spend your money at this price level because you want to, not because you need to in order to get a knife that will work. Hell, you have a hard time beating out a Wal-mart displayed Kershaw, red class BM, or frn Spyderco for performance, irrespective of price.

I'm disappointed that Striders exit the shop with problems, but it's to be expected in any product. But for that exact reason I won't pay the asking price for one. I don't need to, I even turned down a trade for one, which would have only cost me the shipping on the knife I had listed. The topic creator titled this thread with the word 'failure', yet turned around and ordered another knife from the manufacturer. We all have our own internal references on what we want and expect.

 

[TorzJohnson]

I misunderstood as well....i still dont understand....how can you be forced to bend the liner if there isnt a problem? And doesnt saying "now the liner locks up in the middle of the blade tang" imply that it did not lock up porperly prior? If not, perhaps stop using the word "now" to describe things that havent changed.

David, I think what he was saying was that he thought there were some problems, and maybe after he fixed them, he realized that he didn't need to fix them because the knife was actually 100% perfect when he got it.

This happens to me all the time in other areas. For instance, I go to a restaurant because I think I'm hungry, but then after I eat, I realize that I was wrong - I now feel perfectly full. I just thought I was hungry before I ate.

 

[David Schott]

David, I think what he was saying was that he thought there were some problems, and maybe after he fixed them, he realized that he didn't need to fix them because the knife was actually 100% perfect when he got it.

This happens to me all the time in other areas. For instance, I go to a restaurant because I think I'm hungry, but then after I eat, I realize that I was wrong - I now realize that I feel perfectly full. I just thought I was hungry before I ate.

Ah makes perfect sense now....

 

[a223cat]

Cars have callbacks. most of them. houses have warranties and thy need them! I could tell you stories about mine.

Buck isnt immune to issues and neither is CRK. No knifemaker is either. none of them.

But Only Mick Strider garners so much hate. Is it jealousy?

Is it some holier-than-thou attitude people have where they need to feel better about themselves by trashing another?

Do they really think him some monster?

very curious.

 

[David Schott]

Might be because he (Mick Strider) told someone to lick his genitals on BF...usually that doesnt do a whole lot for your rep as a professional businessman.....

No one claims knifes dont have callbacks or problems. I think the hostility seen in the past has mainly been in response to equal levels of hostility Strider-lovers have given to anyone who implies that the knives arent gods gift to man.

Its kind of like a right of passage....you buy a strider knife and either love it and defend the brand for life, have a problem with it and take 14 pages of rebuttal from strider owners justifying their purchase, or think its just another knife and it ends up in rotation I just like the conversations the posts bring up. They always seem to point out a weird gray area of communication where a user is supposed to inherently know what is a flaw vs a design feature and also then be required to fully attempt to have all flaws fixed and cleaned up prior to their posting about them.

 

[Artfully Martial]

Come on. This is just faulty comparison after faulty comparison. CRK *does not* have problems like Strider. Maybe 1 part per 10,000--and as far as I know, not a single Sebenza has ever left the line with a lockbar not touching the tang.

And I'm not a sebenza fan--I think they're far overrated and overpriced. But even I concede that their quality is impeccable.

And stop making it so personal about Mick Strider.

I don't care if Jesus made the knives. If I got a 400 dollar knife with any kind of blemish, much left a blatant safety flaw, I would be pissed off.

There is no special bias. No one is out to get Strider. They messed up. I attack them because they messed up. Should my favorite companies ever mess up, I'll be on them just as hard (provided the knife cost as much).

There's no Strider conspiracy.

Strider simply messes up much more often and in much bigger ways than even much cheaper full production knives. I've sat back and watched the decline of the QC over the last year and a half and if this stuff about the lockbar is true, it's gone too far.

No more of this just send it in to be fixed talk. It's unacceptable, period. I had to send in my 130 dollar Morpho for latch repairs and I was angry. Because such flaws are so extraordinarily rare in my personal experience with my many Benchmades, I let it go. But had a Benchmade gold class came to me with a lockbar not in contact with the tang, I would never buy another Benchmade again. I'd send it in to get repaired, get it off to ebay and walk over to Spyderco and Kershaw for the next decade. It's not about the company's name, or who runs it, it's just about the knives...it's so simple. It's just about the knives.