Open construction vs closed construction?

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bushcraft

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Oct 18, 2009
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Hi Everyone,
Does it really matter to you if a knife has Open construction vs closed construction?

I hear people say that open is better because its easy to clean.
Others say that with closed construction, less dirt get there in the first place.

What do you prefer and why.(This picture is stolen from cgmblade)
Endura_Military_4.jpg
 
I'd rather have open construction, but I tend to gravitate towards lockbacks, so I'm sort of out of luck. I honestly feel that my frame lock and liner lock knives with open construction do accumulate less junk than my knives with closed construction. Perhaps the ZT MUDD is the exception to the rule.
 
I love the feel of lock backs, but I have to say that I prefer open construction. Easier to clean by far.
 
I prefer open construction for ease of cleaning, but I have actually once cut myself on a CLOSED Sebenza 21 by just holding it. I think that the Sebenza is too much of an open construction, but otherwise it is my preferred choice.
 
ditto to elkins45. however in my opinion open construction & flippers without assit are the way to go in one handers. i beleive open backs & flippers w/o assist will dominate the market in future. to my knowledge kershaw was about the 1st with the a.o. & i've used this in many of my knives. i like the flippers since they are about as fast & lack the moving parts & necessary cleaning. in all fairness i perfer traditionals in the boonies. one can carry a flipper in right pocket & a traddy in left pocket. traddys for cutting Are based on more than a century of pocketknife users.
 
I like open construction when cleaning, but otherwise it does't really matter too much to me.

I do note that some knives loose some rigidity when they are made open in construction and that bothers me sometimes.
 
I don't have a preference, but do like flippers and am not fond of A/O.
 
Doesn't matter to me. Soap and water clean up both equally well. I think open might look a little better but it doesn't even cross my mind when buying a knife.
 
I carried my Spyderco Delica for a week on vacation once at the beach and without attempting to do any kind of "torture test" on it, the tiny amount of sand that managed to get into the lock prevented it from locking up -so I had to basically use it as a pen knife until I could disassemble and clean it out.

Personally in my opinion, open construction with a frame lock design would be the most reliable solution.
 
You're welcome to use the picture.

I'd have to agree w/ others above; it doesn't effect my purchase decision, but that open construction is easier to clean. Having said that, I have no qualms about using my lockbacks hard, especially my Salt 1 and Pacific Salt. Those knives w/ their H1 steel and linerless FRN handles clean up pretty easily and stand up well to any use I've put them to.
 
I'd rather have open construction, but I tend to gravitate towards lockbacks, so I'm sort of out of luck
Click to expand...
:thumbup:

I have both and have no problems keeping either type looking like new.
 
Flatgrinder wrote

" carried my Spyderco Delica for a week on vacation once at the beach and without attempting to do any kind of "torture test" on it, the tiny amount of sand that managed to get into the lock prevented it from locking up -so I had to basically use it as a pen knife until I could disassemble and clean it out.

Personally in my opinion, open construction with a frame lock design would be the most reliable solution."


You bet Flatgrinder if you want to give your knife one of the most ultimate torture tests you don't need to go to the Amazon Jungles. You just tote it to your local beach and hang around on your spare time for a few days.

The salt air and the grains of sand will work wonders on what you thought was your super steel, super lock knife in no time at all. Although I love lockbacks and consider them reliable I would have to concede that they are not the best choice for the beach. I have had grains of sand wedge between my locking bars and liners rendering the mechanism useless unless manually assisted back into position.
 
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Depends, if I know I'm going to be doing some dirty and I know it involves dirt, mud, or concrete (the dust tends to find it's way in anything) I'll grab an open construction knife, that's why my two work knives are a Kershaw RAM and a Spyderco Para-military. If I'm just laying around the house or going out shopping especially then I tend to prefer a closed construction to keep loose change out of my knife.
 
Open, easier to clean, compressed air, brake cleaner, lube. that easy, no swabbing.

No lint to catch sand or other abrasives and dull the blade.
 
doesnt really matter to me. i have some open and some closed. like other posters have said it isnt really an issue. i focus more on price, blade steel, value, and how sharp it is. but that is just me.
 
most of my knives are open, but since I'm not doing anything incredibly dirty, I'd probably prefer a G10 backspacer or titanium backspacer, just for looks.
 
i had one knife with an open design that after a short time the pin the stopped the blade (when you opened it) actually popped out of position, granted i was flicking it open (with a fair amount of force), but that kinda ruined me on open designs. That said, my leatherman knife (older e302) with the "blade launcher" had a semi open design and was a great knife (until the plastic scale under the pocket clip started to wear making the pocket clip loose).
 
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