sak blade play

G

grobe

Joined
Aug 18, 2005
Messages
228
i'v been considering a folder companion to carry with my RD7. i see that alot of guys like the sak trekker, rucksack, farmer etc. i've been carrying a tinker as my edc lately. it's taken alot of getting used to because i usually carry a spyderco delica. no lock, no one hand opening, etc, but that's a different thread. anyway, i looked at one of the larger saks the other day with the grey button lock on the side, and noticed that there was quite a bit of vertical blade play when it was locked open. is this normal, or did i handle the rare fluke that slipped through QC?? what about the one hand trekker?? i haven't seen one first hand but i understand that they have a linerlock. i'm looking for a sak with a saw and am not sure i can get used to carrying a slipjoint anymore. i quit carrying my old tinker years ago after it folded on my thumb, and i've almost done the same thing with the one i carry now.

what folders do you guys carry with your fixed blades for woodswalking??
 
Victorinox doesn't use a real lock as you know it. Their "locking" knives are really slipjoint, with the blade held in the open position my the tension of the backspring. The "lock" is a safety block, sorta like those pre-Walker brass liner locks on old folding hunters and electrician's knives.
 
what about the OH trekker?? does it use a liner lock?? any other reccomendations??

thanks
 
grobe said:
what about the OH trekker?? does it use a liner lock??
Click to expand...
The Trekker works a little more like a Walker-style liner lock, in that you release it by pushing it out of the way of the blade directly, whereas the others use a sliding button with a cam that pushes the liner from the spine side.

Oh, one weird detail about the Trekker: it's left-handed. Looking at the bottom of the knife, you push the liner to the right to release it, rathher than the left like most liner- or frame-locks. Drives some righthanders nuts, but most just learn.

The One-Hand Trekker is a great knife, despite it's idiosyncracies. Really! :D
 
Hmmm. I've had one of those as well and the lockup was tight. Every SAK I've owned has had zero play in any direction. Dunno... ? Jason.
 
Hi, I used to have a couple of the vic with the side button lock and handled a few more. A little vertical play seems to be more the norm than not.In spite of that the locks never really failed, it did bother me enough to get rid of them and I now use the vic versions(2 Trailmasters) with the liner lock. This typ usually locks pretty solid.Still I like their slipjoints and have a couple of them, too.
 
Gryffin said:
Victorinox doesn't use a real lock as you know it.
Click to expand...

The presence of a backspring does not somehow invalidate the presence of a locking device. The Trekker uses exactly the same locking mechanism as a Walker-style liner lock. The side-lock, while not commonly used elsewhere, is also a perfectly effective lock.

If a knife locks open I'd say it has a real lock.

--Bob Q
 
i have vertical blade play with my sak too. my problem is however is the longer tools such as saw and knife worth the extra weight over the traditional sak? i carried a huntsman for over 5 years with no problems but thought the longer saw blade would be more useful. maybe it is but this knife doesn't disappear in the pocket very easily imo
 
Grobe,

I've got a Victorinox Adventurer with the gray locking tab on the right side. It has a goodly amount of vertical blade play, but I've given it nary a thought. My suggestion would be for you to do the same if you want one. There's nothing wrong with this. I also have a Trailmaster and a One-handed Trailmaster (bought before the names were changed to Trekker and One-handed Trekker, respectively). The OHT has just slightly less vertical blade play than the the Adventurer, and the Trailmaster has none at all (well, maybe an Angstrom, but I can't tell any). I'm perfectly satisfied with all three of them, along with the scads of other SAKs that I have and rotate through my EDC.

However, if any of my high-dollar Spydercos had this much vertical blade play, I wouldn't like it as much. I just consider it normal for SAKs, which is not to say that I think they have poor quality control. I'm quite impressed with the consistency of every Victorninox I've ever bought, and it's not a small figure.

Regarding the folder that I like to take to the woods: when backpacking, I pair the Trailmaster up with a Becker CU7 and feel quite happy. Truth is, however, as much as I hate to admit it, about all I've ever needed a knife for whilst backpacking is to open up packages of freeze-dried food, and I really didn't need to use the knife for that (just wanted to justify having it). There was one time when the saw on the Trailmaster came in real handy for cutting a second walking staff (to supplement the one that I always take) in crossing a stream that I didn't feel safe in hopping from boulder-to-boulder to cross. Using two staffs for this purpose makes an amazing difference, and it made me feel quite proud to have had the saw along.

If I'm doing a summit attempt on a mountain, I take the One-handed Trailmaster only, and the same for if I'm on water (like rafting).
 
Every locking liner SAK that I have seen has had blade play. I bought one last weekend but ended up returning it because the play was so bad.
 
bquinlan said:
The presence of a backspring does not somehow invalidate the presence of a locking device.
Click to expand...
My bad, I left out a word: "Victorinox doesn't use a real liner lock as you know it". Better?

What I'm trying to say is, the Trekker's "lock" isn't intended to snug up against the blade tang and hold it positively in the open position, like the classic Walker liner lock. The backspring is what holds the blade open, like any common slipjoint. The Victorinox liner doesn't contact the blade tang normally; there's no angled or concave ramp on the tang for it to mate with. The blade can move a bit, then it contacts the liner, which blocks it from closing.
 
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