Spine Whacking my endura

M

Maximus

Joined
Feb 5, 2000
Messages
102
Ok here goes. I have an old plastic clipped, AUS-8 fully serrated endura. Recently, the spine-whack debate got flared up in a general post. So I did something I never did before I spine whacked one of my favorite lock backs, one of my faithful and trusted EDCs. It failed:( , I mean I thought I had some grit in the lock or didn't fully engage the lock, so I cleaned it out, and.... it failed again:( . WTF. I mean I didn't even hit it that hard. I love all my spydies and had the upmost respect for them. I still think spydercos are great, and love all their knives. I hate this, I'm just venting now. I love spyderco, and to see the endura fail the spine whack almost made me cry. It's like seeing one of your idols fall.:( :(

And to make matters worse I gently stabbed the knife into a piece of wood (not to the point of abuse, but so so the point stuck a bit) and it shut on me (I think due to my tight grip)
 
Send it back. It should not be doing that. I've never seen a Spyderco fail.
 
The notch in the tang of the blade of a lockback can wear down over time. You can hear the lock click in but the rounded down notch will allow the lock to disengage. Sounds like your Endura has just finally pooped out on you. My platic clip Endura doesn't fail the test after all these years but I haven't used it for much stabbing. Send it in to Spyderco and see what they'll do for you.
 
I've stated this so many times now that I'm almost blue in the face, but I'll do it again just for giggles.

You MUST know the limitations of your "wunderknife" before you put yer butt on the line with it. Period.

There in nothing inherently wrong with a folding knife, any folding knife, that fails the "Whack" test. The test is only to help you understand that if your knife DOES fail the test, it MAY fold up on you under hard lateral forces....like when you stick it in some dipsmack that's trying to off you.

A tactical folder is a tactical folder until you use it tactically, and then it will become apparent that not all tactical folders are created equal.

If you test your knife under the harshest conditions that you can expect it to perform under, and it fails, you'll know it's limitations, and you'll adjust accordingly. If it doesn't fail, "hallelujah", that just means that it MAY NOT fail...nothing more, nothing less...and you should still be somewhat wary of it's POTENTIAL for failure under load...(stress)

Now, with regards to the old style Spyderco "failures" I've been carrying these daily, daily mind you, for over 8 years. Yes, they fail the spine whack test, and yes, they will fold up on you if you ram it into something. (It's the fleshy part of your palm that's depressing the lock by the way).

I know the limitations now, after cutting the living crap outta my hand six years ago....and I still think it's the best knife for the money out there. Know your gear, know your limitations, and know the limitations of your gear....you know?

Don't believe the hype guys, it's your butt, stress your knife to it's limits....it's the only way you'll ever know diddly squat about it, from a personal standpoint anyway...

(btw, look at your knife hand. Do you like the way it looks? Do you want o keep it looking like that? Good, then don't try this test on an older (pre 97) BM's....they're sharp, it can take weeks for the flesh to heal, months for the nerves...if ever.) IMHO of course ;)
 
all of my knives have passed the wack test, and those that dont are returned for repair - i have a bunch of benchmades (ie 800, 975,stryker, ascent) and they all pass the test - if ya have one fail, its gonna fold up on you, and then what good is it?? i started spine wackin (that sounds nasty lol) all mine after a sifu folded up on me about a year ago - not fun - now when i get a knife to carry not collect i put on a steel glove my cousin the butcher (no foolin) gave me and wack 'em, if nothing else for my own peace of mind - what does it prove? it proves that it didnt fail that time, and hopefully not in the future either, if it fails its broken get it fixed/get rid of it - and i have never seen a good quality lockback fail (well i have tested 5 or 6 so ....) like a kershaw, buck, spyderco, etc - i would send your knife back...and yes all locks can fail too i agree, the rolling lock sifu failed on me and they are supposed to be one of the best.......all my spydies pass too by the way(centofante,matriarch,lum tanto,gunting,delica)


sifu
 
Dang. That sucks, Maximus. What do you think the problem is: manufacturer error or just wear? Either way, I'd send it back to get it repaired or replaced.
 
ehh, I think it might be due to wear, It's one of the knives I don't take great care of, should probably lubricate some more.
I'll probably end up sending it back, but I thought lock-backs easily stand up to spin whacking.:confused:
 
Regarding possible wearing/rounding off of the lock notch in lockbacks, I see a lot of people close their lockbacks by barely disengaging the lock before pushing the blade closed. I think by not carefully/fully disengaging the lock bar, they run the risk of rounding off the notch over time, thereby making the lock less reliable.
Jim
 
That makes sense, James. Luckily, I apparently -- with no thought involved -- started closing lockbacks by depressing the lock until the blade falls, onto my leg. So, at least one potential mistake I've not been making. Quite unusual, I assure you.
 
Send it in.
I had a Goddard ltwt. whose lock would fail. I could close it like a slipjoint.
Sent it to Spyderco, and it turned out the lock was broken due to a "manufacturing defect".
No more Goddards, but they gave me credit, and sent me another knife of my choosing.
Excellent service.
 
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