Brian's pegged it.
One of the ways to mess up an Integral Lock knife is to mount the clip in a position where it blocks that "reinforce the lock with your grip strength" effect. If I owned a piece with that particular defect, the clip would be removed post-haste and a belt sheath whipped up for carry.
In Darrel Ralph's new Mad Max, he seems to have dodged that problem - the clip isn't getting in the way, by all accounts. But the enormous grip length caused a different problem, whereby it became possible to "choke way back" on the grip (rearwards of the lock) and use it for wood chopping. The first guy that reported trying that suffered a lock failure and a minor cut. I don't think this would have happened had he been holding it in a proper "combat grip" and reinforcing the lock with human grip strength...hence I don't see that failure report as a problem with the Max and when Darrel starts making them with a curved grip, I'll strongly consider buying one
. For that matter, even done straight, that 7" blade beastie is...oh ya
. Damned tempting
.
Darrel, hope you don't see this as "chronic complaint", it's just that this incident illustrates the pros and cons of the integral lock. I'm not panning the Max here, not for it's intended role as a street defense piece
.
Jim