Opening in Pocket!

mdauben

mdauben

Joined
Oct 24, 2005
Messages
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I recently picked up a NIB Yojimbo that I had been looking for since the knives when out of production. Being rather pleased with my new aquisition, I decided to take it for a spin so I clipped it to my pocket and went out about my buisness today.

After my first stop of the day, I reached into the pocket holding the knife to retrieve something there and much to my supprise jammed the point of the blade into my finger! :eek:

After bleeding all over my pants and the back of my new SUV I finally retrieved my first aid kit and managed to staunch the flow and get it bandaged up. :o

After I got home, I took a close look at the knife. At first I though I might have cut myself on a sharp edge of the clip, until I noticed the blood all over the blade. Checking the knife, I found that the detent holding it closed was very weak, and it was easy to partially open the knife just by rubbing against the exposed part of the blade. For comparision, the only other frame-lock Spydie I have are my two Millies, and both of them have much stronger detents holding them closed.

As it is, this knife is too dangerous to carry in its current condition, but I'm not quite sure what to do about this. Tightening the pivot screw might help, but it would make the whole opening harder, without directly effecting the detent.

Any suggestions? :confused:
 
Get used to it. The Yojimbo is bloodthirsty.

That has happened to me a few times, and it is the main reason I prefer tip down carry, especially on knives with little closing bias. The best suggestion I can make for the Yo is tailor a pocket specifically for it so it can't move or open during carry.
 
yablanowitz said:
Get used to it. The Yojimbo is bloodthirsty.

That has happened to me a few times, and it is the main reason I prefer tip down carry, especially on knives with little closing bias. The best suggestion I can make for the Yo is tailor a pocket specifically for it so it can't move or open during carry.
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Wouldn't tip-up be a better remedy? If it's tip-up, the blade should be held shut by the spine by the side of the pocket. If it's tip-down, there's a chance that it'll open up, and when you put your hand in your pocket to get something or whatever and bring it back up, you'll cut your hand on the way.

That said, tip-down is still my preferred method of carry.
 
yablanowitz said:
Get used to it. The Yojimbo is bloodthirsty.
Click to expand...
That's very disappointing to hear, as I will not carry this knife again in its current condition as I consider it much too dangerous. The cut I recieved today was deep and bloody but not otherwise serious. I could easily see cutting a nerve or tendon next time, however, I and just won't take that chance.

THG said:
Wouldn't tip-up be a better remedy?
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The knife is tip up, when it partially opened in my pocket the tip was still pointing up waiting for me to impale myself on it as I stuck my hand in there.

Honestly, if I had bought this knife new from a regular retailer, I would be returning it tomorrow as I consider it dangerously defective. Unfortunatly I don't have that recourse so my only other option is to put the knife away in my safe and never use it. Not really what I bought it for.

My first bad experience out of the dozen or so Spyderco knives I have purchased. :(
 
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The Yojimbo models all have this problem.
The detent does not hold the blade shut properly. This problem has been solved, almost, and the new Spyderco compression locks, such as found in the Paramlitary models.
 
THG said:
Wouldn't tip-up be a better remedy? If it's tip-up, the blade should be held shut by the spine by the side of the pocket. If it's tip-down, there's a chance that it'll open up, and when you put your hand in your pocket to get something or whatever and bring it back up, you'll cut your hand on the way.

That said, tip-down is still my preferred method of carry.
Click to expand...

This is an assumption I always see mentioned when people discuss tip up vs. tip down carry, and it is a bad assumption. It only works if the knife is carried at the back of the front pocket and it stays there.If the clip is tight enough to prevent the knife from shifting around, it will hinder drawing the knife and/or shred your pocket in a hurry, especially with the narrow end on the Yojimbo.
 
Hi MDauben,

Sorry 'bout the cut.

You can send it in to us and we can see if we can remedy the stuation for you. Please call it to my attention.

Did you purchase the knive from a regular dealer? Often NIB really isn't.

sal
 
I'v never had any problems with the Yojimbos I have.
I usually carry in my front right pocket so the blade is kept closed by just being up against the seam of the pocket.
 
I haven't either, but I carried it in the left leg pocket of my carpenter jeans next to another knife to wedge it in place. I carried my Dodo the same way after the first time it came open and bit me.
 
mdauben said:
For comparision, the only other frame-lock Spydie I have are my two Millies, and both of them have much stronger detents holding them closed.
Click to expand...

Sorry about your troubles. None of the knives mentioned are frame locks. The Millie is a liner lock, and the Yojimbo is a compression lock. I'm sure that doesn't make your cut feel any better. :o

At least the owner of the company chimed in. Hope you take him up on the offer. :cool:
 
yablanowitz said:
This is an assumption I always see mentioned when people discuss tip up vs. tip down carry, and it is a bad assumption. It only works if the knife is carried at the back of the front pocket and it stays there.
Click to expand...

Well yeah, I'm assuming that you're carrying the knife "properly" ;)
 
Another reason to keep the Millie TIP DOWN RIGHT HAND ONLY! Imagine the cuts people would get if that amazing blade opened up on them in TIP UP carry mode. :rolleyes: :D

Send it back, they'll fix you up. :thumbup:
 
As numerous others have already stated there is no reason to not carry the Yo for fear of cutting yourself. If the knife is placed into the front (hip) pocket of your pants, at the rear of the pocket, the spine of the knife rests against the pocket seam and stays closed ( provided that the clip has enough tension to keep the knife from shifting around).
I love my Yojimbo. It doesn't see much pocket time, for fear of damaging/losing it and not being able to find a replacement.
 
Sal Glesser said:
You can send it in to us and we can see if we can remedy the situation for you. Please call it to my attention.
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Thanks, Sal! That is a very generous offer for a knife that is not only out of production but was bought second hand. I'll send if off to the Golden, CO address marked to your attn in the next day or two. I really like the knife otherwise, and would love to use it as something other than a safe queen. Spyderco Rocks! :D

zenheretic said:
None of the knives mentioned are frame locks. The Millie is a liner lock, and the Yojimbo is a compression lock.
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D'oh! I know the Millie is a liner lock, I don't know why I said frame. As far as the Yojimbo goes... I thought it was a liner lock, too. Guess I didn't look closely enough at the mechanism to discern the difference. :foot:

waveman said:
As numerous others have already stated there is no reason to not carry the Yo for fear of cutting yourself. If the knife is placed into the front (hip) pocket of your pants, at the rear of the pocket, the spine of the knife rests against the pocket seam and stays closed
Click to expand...
People keep saying that, but the fact is that is exactly where the knife was and I got cut the very first time I wore the it. The clip is plenty tight enough but the lining of the pocket simply does not press snuggly enough against the back of the blade to guarantee it won't open. This might work in a patch pocket like the back pocket of a pair of jeans where the knife can press right up against the seam, but not the loose liner of the front pocket of most of the dockers, jeans, and shorts that I own. :(
 
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D'oh! I know the Millie is a liner lock, I don't know why I said frame. As far as the Yojimbo goes... I thought it was a liner lock, too. Guess I didn't look closely enough at the mechanism to discern the difference.
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This is probably the only real short-coming of the Compression-lock....
it doesn't have a Walker Ball Detent like liner-locks have.
Instead it relies upon the compression-lock holding the blade by a milled out portion of the blade tang.

I once had a Vesuvius open in my pocket because of the Compression-lock's weak blade retention.

I wonder if a Ball Detent could be added to the Compression-Lock?
 
allenC said:
This is probably the only real short-coming of the Compression-lock....
[snip]
I wonder if a Ball Detent could be added to the Compression-Lock?
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Seconded.
I'd love if the detent were better - however, my Para-Millies seem to strike a decent balance between detent strength and ease of opening (mind you, no way to flick em open except to press on the lock ;)).
 
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