Slip joints vs lockbacks

Every folding knife has its disadvantages. It is possible that one can become overconfident with a locking knife and forget or disregard that locks sometime fail. One can also forget at times that slipjoints will close on you if not used properly. I avoid locking folders and strive to be Slipjpoint aware.
 
Mayonardo said:
Every folding knife has its disadvantages. It is possible that one can become overconfident with a locking knife and forget or disregard that locks sometime fail. One can also forget at times that slipjoints will close on you if not used properly. I avoid locking folders and strive to be Slipjpoint aware.
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Locks are fine and some people really like them, but I am of the opinion that they are not necessary for normal pocket knife use. For me, anyways.
 
I prefer a non-locking folder to a locking blade model, although I have and use several locking knives (lockback and liner lock).
Woodrow F Call said:
The 110 has the lock at one end which makes one handed manipulation a little easier. The tribal lock is in the middle making it a little less easy.
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Frailer said:
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Curiously, Tony Bose says he chose the mid-lock design to make one-handed closing easier. See the 3:40 mark in this video:
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Eli Chaps said:
I actually find mid-back locks much easier to close one handed than traditional "end" back locks. That's really the reason they came about.
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Wild Willie said:
My old man carries a Mercator black cat that I gave him every day, I'd also consider them a mid-lock, he closes it one handed very much like everyone else has described.
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Woodrow, my experience with lock release location is the opposite of yours: the farther forward the release bar is, the easier it is for me to close the knife, especially one-handed.

Like Tony Bose and Eli Chaps Eli Chaps , I can close a midlock like the Tribal Lock (essentially using the method Eli describes) more easily than I can a backlock GEC #72. And I call the Black Cat Wild Willie Wild Willie mentions a "front lock" and think it's the easiest to close of any lockback model I have, simply using my index finger to depress the release bar without having to change my grip at all (besides a slight bend of the index finger).

But your claim that the backlock is easier has me thinking creatively about different ways for me to try closing backlock models that might be more efficient than my current method. I currently switch the knife to my left hand and depress the release bar with the thumb of my right hand until the lock releases, then switch the knife back to the right hand and close the blade the rest of the way on thigh or with my left hand. But maybe I should try "reversing" the knife when I want to close it so my right thumb is by the butt end instead of the pivot. Then I could depress the release bar with that right thumb and close the blade against thigh, although I'd have to learn a new way to get my right fingers out of the way as the blade closes (without dropping the knife).

- GT
 
I don't like them and I have absolute no use for a locking knife of any kind.

Its not the knives I dislike, but the total and careless knife handling attitude they breed. I've seen the aftermath of three serious life accidents that resulted in stitches for one, stitches and an operation to restore severed tendons and nerves in an other, and a totally amputated right index finger in the third case. In each case, the knife user was using a brand name locking knife and was confident in its locking ability. The knives were not gas station junk, but a ZT, a Buck 110, and a Benchmade in another.

All of the victims were Kool-Aid drinkers of the particular brand they were cut by, and in the aftermath were shocked and amazed that their wonder knife had failed. The knife industry is partly to blame, showing advertising where a blade of a folder is in a vise with barbell weights hanging from the handle to prove their lock wont fail. Or stabbed through a car door to prove its penetrating ability to young knife buyers with more money than sense. The knife industry has made a lot of money peddling fantasies that have very little to do with real life.

All my life I have used slip joint pocket knives. If the pocket knife wasn't enough tool, I got a tool that was. A sheath knife. What is called a fixed blade now even though its not broken. The only trust worthy knife is one that is not already broken by a designed hinge in the middle of it. A sheath knife with one solid tang running through the whole thing is not going to pack a surprise folding on you. The most you will get if you abuse it is a broken blade.

I dislike lock blades enough to consider the un-folding pocket knife, a small sheath knife that is pocket sized if I worry that much that I need to protect myself from a folding blade. I just find it funny that in this day and age of the office cubicle that people need a much more secure knife than our grandfathers has in an era where men worked more with their hands than today, in much more rural settings. They had lock blade knives as far back as the 1800's, but they never caught on with working folks like the common slip joint. If more knife was needed, then some sort of fixed blade was carried. When John Wilkes Booth was killed at Garrets barn in 1865, he had a folding dagger on him that had a locking blade.

Looking back on history, how many people did well in day to day life with friction folders? Not even a backspacing. I watched all this change take place form the late 1980's with the birth of the "tactical" knife as a response to the increasingly stagnant cutlery market. The need for something new so they could make money. Funny how some cowboy pushing a heard up from Texas with a cattle knife in his pocket, a sailor on a square rigger with a sheep foot clasp knife in his pocket, or a freight wagon driver with a Barlow knife didn't find the need for a lock. But they did find need of multiple blades.

Jeff Randall made a statement in an interview that 99% of the knife market is BS. I believe him. If I was hearing out for work, I'd rather have my old Buck stockman, or a Case Texas jack, or even an old Russell's Barlow in my pocket than any modern locking blade knife. It least I'd have multiblades blades to choose from. If I needed a knife that absolute wont fold on me, I'll put a sheath knife on my belt of in my pack.
 
What are you missing? Ease of opening, the satisfying 'click' when they lock-up, feeling of precision in many of them, compactness so you don't have to carry a fixed blade on your belt or in a pack. Preparing for a move these past days I needed to cut thick cardboard to tape on to furniture for protection, slip joint will not do this task to my satisfaction, it will get stuck and then possibly close, puukko not ideal for this either as its Scandi/Sabre grind may also get trapped. A knife that cannot be shown here whipped through the job effortlessly and folds away after use. But I have quite a few elegant Traditionals too that lock but alas they were all packed away;)
 
spyderg said:
Not a lockback necessarily but a locking knife beats a slipjoint for tasks where piercing is involved. Also I find a locking knife good when cutting through something thick and binding like rubber for example, sometimes you need to rock the blade or back it out.
When I can, I like to carry a slipjoint in my back pocket and a modern locking folder clipped to my front pocket.
Today I’ve got my GEC 35 calf pen
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I like the calfpen, best of both worlds imho. One locking blade,a liner lock but steel and locks positively. And a one hand opening slippie blade. I can unlock and close the blade on it one handed. I have when needed unlock and close a 110 or LB7 one handed as well.
 
jackknife said:
I don't like them and I have absolute no use for a locking knife of any kind.

Its not the knives I dislike, but the total and careless knife handling attitude they breed. I've seen the aftermath of three serious life accidents that resulted in stitches for one, stitches and an operation to restore severed tendons and nerves in an other, and a totally amputated right index finger in the third case. In each case, the knife user was using a brand name locking knife and was confident in its locking ability. The knives were not gas station junk, but a ZT, a Buck 110, and a Benchmade in another.

All of the victims were Kool-Aid drinkers of the particular brand they were cut by, and in the aftermath were shocked and amazed that their wonder knife had failed. The knife industry is partly to blame, showing advertising where a blade of a folder is in a vise with barbell weights hanging from the handle to prove their lock wont fail. Or stabbed through a car door to prove its penetrating ability to young knife buyers with more money than sense. The knife industry has made a lot of money peddling fantasies that have very little to do with real life.

All my life I have used slip joint pocket knives. If the pocket knife wasn't enough tool, I got a tool that was. A sheath knife. What is called a fixed blade now even though its not broken. The only trust worthy knife is one that is not already broken by a designed hinge in the middle of it. A sheath knife with one solid tang running through the whole thing is not going to pack a surprise folding on you. The most you will get if you abuse it is a broken blade.

I dislike lock blades enough to consider the un-folding pocket knife, a small sheath knife that is pocket sized if I worry that much that I need to protect myself from a folding blade. I just find it funny that in this day and age of the office cubicle that people need a much more secure knife than our grandfathers has in an era where men worked more with their hands than today, in much more rural settings. They had lock blade knives as far back as the 1800's, but they never caught on with working folks like the common slip joint. If more knife was needed, then some sort of fixed blade was carried. When John Wilkes Booth was killed at Garrets barn in 1865, he had a folding dagger on him that had a locking blade.

Looking back on history, how many people did well in day to day life with friction folders? Not even a backspacing. I watched all this change take place form the late 1980's with the birth of the "tactical" knife as a response to the increasingly stagnant cutlery market. The need for something new so they could make money. Funny how some cowboy pushing a heard up from Texas with a cattle knife in his pocket, a sailor on a square rigger with a sheep foot clasp knife in his pocket, or a freight wagon driver with a Barlow knife didn't find the need for a lock. But they did find need of multiple blades.

Jeff Randall made a statement in an interview that 99% of the knife market is BS. I believe him. If I was hearing out for work, I'd rather have my old Buck stockman, or a Case Texas jack, or even an old Russell's Barlow in my pocket than any modern locking blade knife. It least I'd have multiblades blades to choose from. If I needed a knife that absolute wont fold on me, I'll put a sheath knife on my belt of in my pack.
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I have to agree here, the idea that a lock is any better than a slippie or a friction folder is pretty much nonsense. I couldn't carry a fixed blade at work for years because as I was told it would be considered an "offensive weapon" this all from guys carrying one handed "tactical folders". I've since ventured out on my own and carry a small fixed blade every day, none of my customers have been offended by one, and my slip joint folder usually covers most of the tasks required of a knife in my day to day activities. However, I live in a fairly rural area and most people appreciate the need for a cutting tool, one also has to temper their needs versus what is acceptable/legal to carry in their particular environment. However since the op is trying to go back to a slippie I think he's on the right track. If one can't find what they want in a particular platform, there's nothing wrong with going to another, as long as it doesn't create bad habits that carry over elsewhere
 
Woodrow F Call said:
Anyways, is there anything else I'm missing on a lock back?
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They are stronger/more reliable than a liner lock?

I agree that a locking blade is really not needed. Unless you are doing something stupid, of course.

I trust no blade lock completely, since I know that any - even a back lock can fail. (Tho a back lock is less likely to than the others) and treat all my folding knives like a slipjoint or friction folder.
If I think a folding knife is not sufficient for the task at hand, I'll grab (by the handle) one of my knives that can't fold.
"Hunting Knife" and "Sheath" or "Belt" knife is what they was called when I was a youngling.
An "Belt Knife" could also be a Buck 110 or a somewhat larger 2 bladed slipjoint folding hunter, that you carried in a belt pouch or "sheath", since it was not practical to carry such in your pocket.
Not to mention that if you put one in your pocket, and lacked a belt or suspenders, your nickers could well wind up down around your ankles.
(oops. I mentioned it.)
It wasn't until I became an vintage antique Oldling that I heard the term "fixed blade".
(My first thought when I heard it was: "What was broken, and who repaired it?")
 
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There's nothing wrong with lock back knives. I like lock backs. I like slip joints. I like fixed blades. I don't do stupid things with my knives regardless of type.

I don't see any reason to rain down on folks who like and use locking knives. Good grief.
 
I still like locking blades, and my preference is a lockback. I had an unmentionable brand liner lock, that when I gripped it the way it was designed to be gripped, my index finger was resting against the lock. If I was using it, putting pressure on it and gripping it tightly, my finger would push the liner lock out of engagement. I don't carry that knife any more.

As an exuberant and ignorant teenager, I would use my sodbuster to poke holes in the thin metal tops of oil cans when doing an oil change on my car. Worked like a champ.

I DO, however, have scars on many of my fingers, most of them from little slipjoints that I was using incorrectly, or carelessly.... such as trying to drill a hole in a piece of wood with the point of the blade. Thanks to God or my guardian angel, I still have full use of all my fingers, and don't engage in that kind of silliness anymore...
 
Actually, I have LT Wright's Patriot, a little "belt knife" on me most days of the week. It's a short, little, robust knife in D2 with a sharp edge. In it's sheath, it'll fit in a pocket. It's not a heavy knife and it's skinned and quartered a few deer since I've had it. Been a favorite of mine for awhile.

i do wear overalls everyday which has a little utility knife pocket and is where the knife rides. I'd probably want a pocket sheath if I wasn't carrying it in a belt when wearing regular pants.
 
Eli Chaps said:
There's nothing wrong with lock back knives. I like lock backs. I like slip joints. I like fixed blades. I don't do stupid things with my knives regardless of type.

I don't see any reason to rain down on folks who like and use locking knives. Good grief.
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My intent is not a thread to rain down on anyone. I had a thought about a new knife I got and wanted to discuss it.
 
Woodrow F Call said:
My intent is not a thread to rain down on anyone. I had a thought about a new knife I got and wanted to discuss it.
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Pretty sure that wasn’t aimed at you. I like and carry both Lockbacks and slip joints about everyday. Sometimes a pinchable Lockback knife is handy and convenient. When needed I can close a back lock or a mid back lock one handed fairly easily. I’ve been doing so for years and haven’t cut myself yet. What works best for one isn’t necessarily best for all. If you find yourself the victim of a catastrophic folding knife failure your own judgment should be something you question.
 
I enjoy variety. The modern knife with its larger dimensions and easily deploying blade has advantages over the old nail yanking nail-nick slip joint. But, my early knives were slip joints and I have EDC’d the same old stockman knife for over 23 years. So while I will often add a modern knife to my carry, I will use it in the same way I use my slip joint, so I don’t let the lock get in my way. It may even be a safer knife; but, only for so long as I continue to use it as a folding knife, without confusing it for a fixed blade.

Btw, other than as a fidgeting device, and in the absence of a physical handicap, why would anyone need to close a knife with one hand?

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
...Btw, other than as a fidgeting device, and in the absence of a physical handicap, why would anyone need to close a knife with one hand?
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“Need” is a relative term, but when I’m finished using a knife it isn’t at all uncommon for my left hand to be occupied holding one or more pieces of the thing I just cut.

I may be alone in this but one-hand closing is more important to me than one-hand opening. So much so that I can count the number of one-hand opening knives I own on...one hand.
 
Frailer said:
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I may be alone in this but one-hand closing is more important to me than one-hand opening. So much so that I can count the number of one-hand opening knives I own on...one hand.
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Which are your favorite one hand closers?

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
Which are your favorite one hand closers?

n2s
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Every slipjoint with a kick is a one-handed closer. As Frailer Frailer says, you just fold it closed by pushing the spine of the blade against your thigh. The thing you just cut will still be in your other hand, so you don’t have another choice unless you want to put one or the other thing down. Some of my current favorites can’t be closed this way, but it is practically reflex for me to do so, having grown up with traditional slipjoints. I did it today in fact.
 
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