Spyderco military lock failure

Hi Sandman,

I don't think anyone means insult. The occurrence of a Military lock failure is rare, much less twice, so there are some that are surprised, including me. I don't think anyone is doubting that you had a problem. I would have preferred that you had sent the piece to me so I could determine the cause of the failure. Now I have potentially 2 Military pieces out there with a possible lock problem and there is little I can do about it. Perhaps the knives had been tampered with? Perhaps they were counterfeits? Perhaps they were part of another problem? We cannot know. Plus I have an unhappy customer.

sal
 
I was in the shop to get a recall done on my motorcycle a couple days ago and kibitzing around the service desk while it was going on.

Watching people bring bikes, mowers and ATVs in. Had a guy with a motorcross bike that wasn't running. He gave the service manager his assessment of the problem. That led to a few follow up questions as to how he'd figured out the problem (his explanation was impossible as the part in question was keyed to only fit one way) as part of his explanation he listed a long list of parts changed during a rebuild that led to the bike running rough.

During the explanation he got asked several times if he'd had another shop do all this service why not go back to the other shop and explain the rebuild wasn't running right. He totally shrugged that of and just wanted the new place to dive in. No doubt if they do figure out what's wrong he'll complain about the time charges.

This long winded tale of course is not a direct parallel to this knife but it is an example of the weird blind spots people will develop.

For some reason this guy feels bound to come here and post up his rant but he's unwilling to go the extra mile and go to the source with the knife.

Hopefully someone from the HQ can track these 2 down and cap this thread off with a solution.
 
Tried gently testing the lock with my old original Ti Millie, she's just fine despite the lock being a little beat up. I suspect its original owner liked to abuse it.
 
sandman503 said:
I seem to have upset some fanboys, all I was looking for when starting this thread was some honest discussion about the military lock. I appreciate the feedback and honest replies but to the person with the horrible coffee mug analogy, you are telling me that you would be happy with your military lock failing so easy? What if I was stabbing something and the lock failed, I could loose a finger and here you are teasing me for wanting a knife to perform as intended and yes you should be able to spine wack a military and it not fail and I wouldn't consider what I did a spine wack, it was more like a spine tap and I had 2 different knives do it, almost like cables in Tualatin oregon got a bad batch. Side note I have a tenacious that I just got done spine waking like a mad man and it didn't fail once. To the ones willing to have real discussion about my issue I had, thank you. And Sal both knives were bought and returned to cabelas in Tualatin oregon there may be a way for you to locate the knives with that information.
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Sorry if I ruffled your feathers, my friend. It was an attempt to inject a bit of humor by illustrating what I believe is a flaw in your logic. The assumption that the liner lock was designed to withstand the internet meme known as "the spine whack test" is not a true one, in my opinion. So from my perspective, your claim that the lock failed is no more valid than the claim that the mug of coffee failed on the basis that it was unable to retain it's contents when turned upside down (the mug was not designed to retain the coffee in that position, so how can we criticize it for not doing so?).

If you had stabbed the knife into something and the blade collapsed, I believe you'd have a stronger case. Stabbing things is an intended function of a knife. Swinging a knife backwards at a high rate of speed into an object is not an intended function of a knife.

sandman503 said:
"you are teasing me for wanting a knife to perform as intended".
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No, I'm teasing you for believing the Spyderco Military was intended to be used as a hand hammer. But we can agree to disagree, it's no big deal.
 
The 1st thing I do with a new folding lock blade knife is test the lock by whacking it against the palm of my hand, making sure the hand I'm holding the knife is clear of the blade in case it folds.
The only ones that have failed were other peoples knifes, all of which were no name gas station types.
I suggest everyone test their locks for safety purposes.
If I ever do have one fail, it will go to the maker, regardless of compensation. It might help improve QC or design of the product, for everyones sake.
 
jpm2 said:
The 1st thing I do with a new folding lock blade knife is test the lock by whacking it against the palm of my hand, making sure the hand I'm holding the knife is clear of the blade in case it folds.
The only ones that have failed were other peoples knifes, all of which were no name gas station types.
I suggest everyone test their locks for safety purposes.
If I ever do have one fail, it will go to the maker, regardless of compensation. It might help improve QC or design of the product, for everyones sake.
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Totally agree. :thumbup:
The lock must be able to hold against static load (STR test method) or a jarring load (above test). It mustn't slip under both, no heavy force needed, only check out the stability. Full arm swing spine whack against hard surface isn't reasonable, but a whack at the palm or thigh is.

Sending back to maker when it fails helps everyone involved.
 
This is the first time I've heard of lock failure on a Military. I say , better call Sal . :) They would fix it or send you a new one I'm sure.
 
The Military is one of the only liner locks that I trust. Not many people/companies know how to get a liner lock right. Spyderco got the Military right. I have tried, on purpose, to get it to fail (without abusing it) and it will not. It's one heck of a lock for how long it has been around. Other makers should buy a Military and learn from how the lock is built and how the tang has a radius.
 
I hate, I mean hate liner locks. I do not trust them and this is from experience. But, I have two, both Spydercos, that I actually love. One of those is a Military.
 
Chris "Anagarika";16040969 said:
Totally agree. :thumbup:
The lock must be able to hold against static load (STR test method) or a jarring load (above test). It mustn't slip under both, no heavy force needed, only check out the stability. Full arm swing spine whack against hard surface isn't reasonable, but a whack at the palm or thigh is.

Sending back to maker when it fails helps everyone involved.
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Yes I forgot about the static load. I often scribe with the tip of my knife using that type of force. It wouldn't be good if the lock gave way.
Linerlocks are my favorite, got several of them and never had one fail. That's saying something considering how I use my knives.
 
Well, again, thanks for the feedback on this. I wound up going with a benchmade crooked river folder, its part of their hunt line. First off its quite a beauty and solid as hell. One complaint though, I feel like the military was an everything you need and nothing you don't kind of knife, it was light, slim, grippy, I liked the thumb and index finger ramps, the gimping was sticky. The new benchmarked Is bit heavy and chunky. So here I am loving my new benchmade but still wanting a higher end spyderco, like I said before I'm staying away from liner locks, so I'm kind of thinking about a g10 police. Does anyone know if that knife is available in damascus/black g10??
 
Sal will you be doing a run of left handed militaries anytime soon? Thanks
 
sandman503 said:
Does anyone know if that knife is available in damascus/black g10??
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Looks like the Police is currently only being offered with a SS handle and hollow ground blade (PE, CE, or SE)

http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=2

The Police 3 has G10 handle and a full flat ground blade (PE or SE)

http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=358

I did a quick check on Spydiewiki and it looks like the Police has never been offered with Damascus steel.
 
Did some shopping today, checked out a bunch of Spyderco blades. Wanted something fancy in the end the delica was the most practical knife for what I wanted right now though (an edc I wouldn't have an excuse not to carry) it fits the bill. I think I'm just super picky and have high expectations no matter the manufacturer.
 
sandman503 said:
Did some shopping today, checked out a bunch of Spyderco blades. Wanted something fancy in the end the delica was the most practical knife for what I wanted right now though (an edc I wouldn't have an excuse not to carry) it fits the bill. I think I'm just super picky and have high expectations no matter the manufacturer.
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I am a big fan of the Delica. It is simple but it is a very refined design that is the result of a lot of small changes, many of which are based on user feedback over the years. The end result is a near perfect EDC for me. I am also a big fan of Spyderco's lock back knives.

That is a nice looking Benchmade in the picture above. I have a couple and they are cool looking knives with nice fit and finish but anytime I use one as a cutting tool I'm like "meh" and go straight back to my Spydercos. Just my 2¢.
 
Went to Cabelas in Tualatin to pick up some work sharp belts

I've always wanted to get my hands on a military too.





I checked out the military

I doubt it's the same one.

The lock looks and feels solid, no play

No issues with spine whacking on the palm like the OP did.

Maybe there is a technique to it :D
 
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