• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

Spyderco Compression Vs Ball bearing Vs BM Axis?

L

LethaL_98

Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
20
The Compression and ball bearing locks from Spyderco or the Benchmade Axis? Which is your personal favourite? Speed and ease of deployment, lockup, strength, overall feel?

Personally, I like the compression lock. :D You?
 
Compression lock, followed by the Axis. I don't care for any form of the ball-bearing lock personally.
 
Bbl on my manix 2 xhp,just feels sturdier then any axis i have and i like action better then compression
 
Compression lock is the most reliable and probably the strongest..IMO
The other two have springs that could corrode or fill up with dirt...
 
OrdnanceBubbaUSMC said:
Love the Compression Lock but don't like that there seems to be a $25-30 premium attached to it
Click to expand...

$25-$30 premium? Compare a Sage 3 to the Para-Military. Same steel, both G10, and the Sage 3 comes in a few dollars more usually. I know the Bolt-action is not the same as axis and ball bearing lock, but it is a similar lock style. In fact the PM2 is one of the cheapest S30V knives to be had from Spyderco. Only the Native and Sage 1 come in consistently lower than the PM2 from what I can find, and the Native is not G10, and both are smaller than the PM2. S30V, G10, ~3.5" blade for ~$110 is hard to beat from any company imo and is a great deal.
 
The compression lock is great, but I still find it a little more awkward to close than a liner lock or an axis lock. The axis lock on my mini-grip is definetly the 'slickest' lock I've used.
 
These are my two favorite locks on two of my favorite EDCs. I think the compression is the winner for me though.
 
Compression and Axis are my two favorites.
But I do have concerns about the omega springs. (Never had a failure, thou)

Regards,

Andre Tiba
 
Compression vote from me.

The BBL on my Dodo deals so unnatural to me.. But then again I have big hands/fingers.
 
Probably AXIS at the point. I like the BBL, but that ball bearing can break free from it's cage, and then the knife has all kinds of problems. Haven't tried the compression lock, but don't like locks on the backs of knives. Don't ask me why.
 
I prefer the the compression lock.. tho, the lockup on my 710 and 940 are great, and prolly just as strong. Don't have experience with the BBL, but I don't think I'd like it.
 
nccole said:
$25-$30 premium? Compare a Sage 3 to the Para-Military. Same steel, both G10, and the Sage 3 comes in a few dollars more usually. I know the Bolt-action is not the same as axis and ball bearing lock, but it is a similar lock style. In fact the PM2 is one of the cheapest S30V knives to be had from Spyderco. Only the Native and Sage 1 come in consistently lower than the PM2 from what I can find, and the Native is not G10, and both are smaller than the PM2. S30V, G10, ~3.5" blade for ~$110 is hard to beat from any company imo and is a great deal.
Click to expand...

I look at the Native being about $50-55 less than a PM2 with main differences being G10 slabs and liners which should add about $15-20 (cost them maybe $5-7 for materials plus factory and man hours) - maybe add $5 for little bit more blade stock and ffg - so the premium really is about $25-30. Premium would be for it being the most popular/wanted model and Compression Lock in my thinking.

Also would be the same comparing Buck Vantage Pro with basically same material all around and of similar amounts - $50 or so price gap. $20 for the fact that it's a Spyderco and $25-30 for it being most popular/wanted model and Compression Lock.
 
OrdnanceBubbaUSMC said:
I look at the Native being about $50-55 less than a PM2 with main differences being G10 slabs and liners which should add about $15-20 (cost them maybe $5-7 for materials plus factory and man hours) - maybe add $5 for little bit more blade stock and ffg - so the premium really is about $25-30. Premium would be for it being the most popular/wanted model and Compression Lock in my thinking.

Also would be the same comparing Buck Vantage Pro with basically same material all around and of similar amounts - $50 or so price gap. $20 for the fact that it's a Spyderco and $25-30 for it being most popular/wanted model and Compression Lock.
Click to expand...

The Native 5 doesn't follow that line of logic (it's more expensive than the Para2 at most online retailers) and I'm not sure comparing to other manufacturers is fair because Benchmade makes several liner-lock models that are well more expensive with just S30V and G10.

Keep in mind that the Para-2 also has a bushing system, nested liners, and a 4-way pocket-clip (as well as more steel/G10 as well as extra machining in Jimping and overall more attention to detail than most of the Vantage-line knives I've seen).
 
I don't think i'm familiar with the ball bearing locks. Can someone give me a few examples? and between spydercos back lock and the axis i think the axis has the edge. I like being able to pull back the studs and have the knife drop open or closed. Also, i grew up with cheap knives that had back locks so the axis is still a little new and different to me. I've never had either fail though.
 
LethaL_98 said:
The Compression and ball bearing locks from Spyderco or the Benchmade Axis? Which is your personal favourite? Speed and ease of deployment, lockup, strength, overall feel?
Click to expand...

Another one of these threads, huh?

Ease and speed of deployment - this isn't really relevant in comparing these locking mechanisms, is it? Shouldn't you compare ease and speed of disengagement? And in that case, Axis-lock without question.

Lock-up - well, the compression lock would be most prone to blade-play from extended wear, so that would get the bottom of the heap, I don't know if the BBL is designed to accommodate for this the way the axis-lock is, so I'd give the axis-lock the nod here as well.

Strength - tests have shown that the axis-lock is more durable and able to handle a greater variety of stresses than the BBL, and as mentioned above the compression-lock is more prone to wear resulting in blade-play, so if that's what you mean by strength... otherwise, I am not sure which lock gets the highest LFP-rating. I'd again guess that it's the axis but don't know for sure, and I doubt it matters as no normal use would likely exceed the rating of any. However, as others mentioned, the axis springs probably have a shorter life-span than the BBL-spring or the liner-spring of the compression lock, but failure of either or even both springs does not entail failure of the locking mechanism.

Overall feel - I prefer the axis lock to the BBL personally, but can't comment that much on the compression lock as I've only seen it featured on the PM-models and am not a big fan. I think I actually prefer a well-designed liner-lock.

My $0.02
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top