Spine Whack Test

Cliff...

I know that I will never abuse my knives like you do... I have great respect in your testing of knives... In fact I have purchased a few based on your recommondations...

However, I feel that my Strider GB will out-perform any Buck/Strider. I do not feel that the Strider AR or GB is is comparable to the Buck/Strider. I have seen many posts that say that the Buck version has blade play.. both up/down and side/side ...

I respect your opinion on knife testing a whole lot.. but I guarantee that a real Strider folder will out-perform a Buck/Strider any day of the week. Mine will not flex at all... (just fot the hell of it, I tried seeing if it would unlock under flex conditions. It was solid as hell...)

*** please understand everyone... Cliff Stamp is THE MAN!!

Cliff, I mean no disrespect here, I really value your opinion on knife quality... I just want to qualify that there is a BIG difference between Buck/Strider collaborations and the real deal... i.e Strider GB's or AR's
 
When I talk about a lot of knives not passing the spine test, I am talking about using the palm of your hand. Maybe with a small paper pad in it. Not using a very hard surface. Many of the knives that I have tested, custom and production, failed.
Greg
 
Please, someone kill me before I post in another spine whack thread. Anybody? ... Okay, I'll post

Originally posted by James Y
IMO, the spine whack test, esp. if done often, is gradually destroying the lock. Some people have stated that the scary thing about certain locks is that they will pass the spine whack test for months or years, then suddenly start failing. It's really no mystery. Each time the spine is whacked hard, it's causing a small amount of damage/wear against the lock. It prematurely wears out the mating surfaces of, say, a liner lock that might have started out as very reliable.
Click to expand...

I'm one of the folks James is talking about -- I do see liner locks passing the spine whack test, then suddenly starting to fail. My personal interpretation is that a geometry problem indeed occurs, but it's more in the nature of the liner lock and how relatively delicate it is to geometry changes. No damage is being caused by the tests; rather, as the liner wears, the geometry changes and, voila, failures. And that is, I believe, the ultimate problem for the liner lock format: the intolerance to small geometry changes.

A few other things to point out:
- Numerous people have seen me do the spine whack test, and I use a light-to-medium whippy snap. If *that* is what's causing all this hypothesized damage, then it doesn't speak well about modern materials and construction.

- The only lock format that routinely has problems with the spine whack test, and that sees the problem of suddenly failing the test after years or passing, is the liner lock. If it's damage that's being caused, aren't you concerned at all that this is the one lock format that can't handle it? Again, I offer my own interpretation: if it were some obscure lock format that failed the spine whack test, then the test wouldn't be all that controversial. But because the liner lock, the most popular lock format for medium- and high-end knives, has problems with the spine whack test -- compounded by the fact that it's the only format that has such problems routinely -- that makes the test controversial.

No other lock format has these problems. No other fails in such high percentages. No other gets damaged by the tests, if damage is indeed the cause of the failures (I believe it's not). 'course, since no other format is as susceptible to white knuckling or torquing, either, I don't mind taking the focus off spine whacks.

Joe
 
Good call...

My point in posting here is this... I own many knives.. I have used them for hunting.. fishing.. camping.. etc...

I just don't understand the spine-whack test. My knives have held up just fine (without closing on my knuckles) I suppose if my life depended on my knife not closing up on me unexpected... I would worry about it more. I have a few friends in the military, active duty, and out "in there" One is in Afghanistan as we speak.

The fellows I am talking about use Spyderco knives for everyday chores... I am sure they have a fixed blades for other purposes... But even they don't have have any worries about their knives closing on their hands.

I guess I don't get it... Any mechanical device will fail under pressure at some point... I just buy knives that I have confidence in... I still have all of my fingers, and my knives have all been champs.

(I can understand the testing of knives... Why not know which of the bunch is the toughest... But for most everyone out there, a good quality folder will do just fine..)

I must admit, my GB is probably OVERBUILT,,, I doubt I will ever use it to the point of failing... But, then again, I doubt I will ever use my Spydies or Emersons to the point they will fail, either...

-Dave
 
It just takes once.
Lot of posting on this subject in this and other forums, I know cause I went looking after an incident. Seems all the "nays" have just never seen or had it happen to themselves, and the "yeas" have.
Myself I never saw the need for spine whack tests, until one folded while cutting through some rubber tubing (2 foot diameter, 1/4 inch thick). The blade was pinched and normal reflex is too twist/wiggle the blade so as to continue cutting. The blade folded and was lucky that day, but it made my heart stop. When I got back from work, I searched this forum for the correct spine whack procedure and then tested all my knives. The advent was that I threw away several knives, all liner locks.
I returned to work with a Sebbie and don't worry about the problem any longer. Not so lucky a friend of mine at work doing a similar cutting task with a liner lock who had to be medivaced off. He now carries an inexpensive fixed blade for work purpose, though he is saving up for a Sebbie.
1) Dont reply post with some silly comment like "Duh, boy, you shuld a gimme the knives you threw away, hyuck, hyuck. I would no more sell or give a potentially dangerous knife to someone I don't know than I would to a family member.
2) If you don't see the need to perform a spine whack test on a "working/using" (emphasis on working/using) knife then don't. But don't troll for posts from those who recognize the need to do so.
3) Liner locks do fail. Not all, but if a knife does fail, it is most probably a liner lock. Maybe not today, or years from now, but eventually they will fail. A Sebbie will never, ever, ever fold back on you. Other locking devices are just a good or better, that is why so much effort is put into designing good, strong, and safe locking mechanisms for knives. So choose wisely, and be safe, if not for yourself, then for you children who will one day be using your knives.
Nuff said,
Rad
 
Hi Rad..

as you put it...



(2) If you don't see the need to perform a spine whack test on a "working/using" (emphasis on working/using) knife then don't. But don't troll for posts from those who recognize the need to do so. )



Good points you made in your post.. Just wanted to make it very clear... I do not consider the posts I have made here "trolling" in any sense of the word. Although I do not feel the need to spine-whack my knives, I don't see any reason why someone else should not... I apologize to any readers who feel that I was "trolling" by my prior posts. I guess if everyone agreed on everything here.. there would be no point in reading the posts...

Nuff said.
-Dave
 
sory dave, too much coffee
spacecraft.gif
 
Rad.. no problems, I also have had too much coffee (wait is there any such thing as TOO MUCH coffee?) :) Peace,

-Dave
 
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