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Spyderco liner locks versus Emerson liner locks
- Thread starter bk400
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,957
I love Spyderco so I hope this doesn't come across as wrong but in my experience Emerson does the liner lock consistantly better than anyone else in this biz. I am not talking about the frame locks because I have not seen enough of those from EKI to judge them.
Liner locks are all Ernie ever made for many years and even today his frame locks are a small part of the overall production. IMO no one does the liner lock better than EKI. That does not mean I have had all good ones. There was a bad SARK I owned once but it was covered under warranty. Many of the things about Emerson that are talked about are how smooth they get after breaking in. I've learned that its best to withhold judgement on his new knives until they have been opened and closed and used enough to give them a good break in. Many guys sit opening and closing the blades repeatedly and smoothing it all out about 500 or more times right after recieving one from EKI. Once they get all the little grainyness and any rough spots worked in they get to be buttery smooth. I have some old ones now that are so smooth that you couldn't expect more from a super high dollar custom.
On my most recent purchase of the CQC14 that just came out I immediately turned it into a frame lock and it broke in after a couple of days to become so smooth that I was quite pleased. Its fast become one of my new favorites even though I shipped it off to a friend to play with for a while.
I've been getting by with my Kershaw Ti Leek ZDP189 but miss the little EKI a lot.
STR
Liner locks are all Ernie ever made for many years and even today his frame locks are a small part of the overall production. IMO no one does the liner lock better than EKI. That does not mean I have had all good ones. There was a bad SARK I owned once but it was covered under warranty. Many of the things about Emerson that are talked about are how smooth they get after breaking in. I've learned that its best to withhold judgement on his new knives until they have been opened and closed and used enough to give them a good break in. Many guys sit opening and closing the blades repeatedly and smoothing it all out about 500 or more times right after recieving one from EKI. Once they get all the little grainyness and any rough spots worked in they get to be buttery smooth. I have some old ones now that are so smooth that you couldn't expect more from a super high dollar custom.
On my most recent purchase of the CQC14 that just came out I immediately turned it into a frame lock and it broke in after a couple of days to become so smooth that I was quite pleased. Its fast become one of my new favorites even though I shipped it off to a friend to play with for a while.
I've been getting by with my Kershaw Ti Leek ZDP189 but miss the little EKI a lot.
STR
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2006
- Messages
- 356
I've never had a single problem with the liner locks on my Emersons. This results in some confusion on my part when I see so many people on here saying how unreliable and weak liner locks are, as I've only ever carried Emerson folders. Granted, I don't make a habit of stabbing cars, or anything similarly abusive.
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2006
- Messages
- 956
IMHO, the real weakness in a liner lock is if it does not have enough "spring" in the liner to keep good, strong pressure against the back of the locking surface of the blade and/or if the angles of the locking surface and liner are such that pressure or a "spine whack" will cause it to slip off the locking surface, causing the blade to fold. If the angle is correct, then the worst thing that can happen is that the liner lock will bend slightly but the blade will not fold. The titanium liner locks like those of Emerson or Lone Wolf seem to be almost indestructible. I used to be down on liner locks because of all the "negative press" they get on the forum but my experience with them has shown them to be very strong and reliable if fitted correctly with thick enough liners.
Regards
