spyderco military lock test

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nimbusdeluxe

Joined
Feb 4, 2011
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I understand that spine whack test is a controversial way to test lock integrity. But I have performed in on my spyderco military and i realized that the locking liner shifts slightly over to the left (the disengaging direction) after a whack, it does not fully disengage, but my main concern right now is, is this normal for the liner lock on the military? and also, by doing this test have i damaged or compromised the integrity of the lock? Would performing this test actually have made the lock weaker than it was in the first place?
 
I've had Militarys fail a mild spine tap, some hold fast under a heavy hit, and some move a little like you're describing. I've found the ones that shift towards unlocking, will later fail with spine pressure after further lock wear/use. I found these characteristics on over 10 Military Models in the past 8-10yrs. I currently have 2 recent production ones that are perfectly fine though, they hold under a pretty decent spine whack, and have no movement. Very well fitted and have held up just fine, so far.
 
I think the moral of this story is, one shouldn't spine wack a folding knife.
 
All my Military liners "flex" when I apply downward pressure to the spine of the blade with my hand. Never a failure but I can definitely see some flexing going on.
 
I had a lock failure once with a Military, but I pretty aware I contributed for it.
I had nothing better to do at the moment, and I was talking to friends over the fire and sharpening the point of some wood sticks (like a pensil), just for fun.
By the time I did it a lot, I THINK I shifted the Millie handle towards the side of the lock, and the blade only did not close on my hand, because it got stucked on the stick of wood I was sharpening.
It was a moment of distraction, since I always think about what I am doing. After that, I tried to reproduce the failure, and managed to do it again. I was because of the G10 flex in a very specific position, that when combining to lateral pressure on the blade, can desingage the lock.
The point is, I do like the Millie, and have a bunch of them. But I know the lock is not suitable for some kinds of tasks.
And I doubt very much the lock would fail in some normal EDC use.

Just for fun, I tried to desingage the locks of a Benchmade Mini-Skirmish and a Stainless old Endura, doing the same task, at the same moment and the same wood and both of the locks didn't fail. And tried with an old, cheap and beated Tramontina and the lock broke !

And one more thing. The Millie was the only liner lock we had at the moment. I think that ANY othe linerlock can fail this way. It's a matter of design of the lock, not the model of the folder itself.

Regards,

Andre Tiba - Brazil
 
Oh... Just to add...
It was a 440V PE Millie, and I think it happened in 2003 or 2004... The 635 was just released.

Regards,

Andre Tiba - Brazil
 
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the only liner lock test i care about is when you put the knife opened under heavy cutting pressure and the liner moves toward the scale. not the unlocked side, the locked side. this bothers me a bunch. i have seen it happen once on a benchmade and once on a colt. no others i own or have tried have suffered from it, including bunches of cheapo and better quality chinese ones.
 
I have never had to whack the spine of my knife under normal knife usage.

Why do people continue to put stock in this useless test?
 
almtiba said:
I had a lock failure once with a Military, but I pretty aware I contributed for it.
I had nothing better to do at the moment, and I was talking to friends over the fire and sharpening the point of some wood sticks (like a pensil), just for fun.
By the time I did it a lot, I THINK I shifted the Millie handle towards the side of the lock, and the blade only did not close on my hand, because it got stucked on the stick of wood I was sharpening.
It was a moment of distraction, since I always think about what I am doing. After that, I tried to reproduce the failure, and managed to do it again. I was because of the G10 flex in a very specific position, that when combining to lateral pressure on the blade, can desingage the lock.
The point is, I do like the Millie, and have a bunch of them. But I know the lock is not suitable for some kinds of tasks.
And I doubt very much the lock would fail in some normal EDC use.

Just for fun, I tried to desingage the locks of a Benchmade Mini-Skirmish and a Stainless old Endura, doing the same task, at the same moment and the same wood and both of the locks didn't fail. And tried with an old, cheap and beated Tramontina and the lock broke !

And one more thing. The Millie was the only liner lock we had at the moment. I think that ANY othe linerlock can fail this way. It's a matter of design of the lock, not the model of the folder itself.

Regards,

Andre Tiba - Brazil
Click to expand...

I have not had enough experience with the Millie, but the Gayle Bradley would never fail in this manner. The liners and scales are far too rigid and thick, I also believe the liner/lock material is stainless instead of titanium and wears much slower. I am looking to get a DLC Military in the near future and will be very disappointed if this is an issue. Would Spyderco correct this under warranty??
 
nimbusdeluxe said:
I understand that spine whack test is a controversial way to test lock integrity. But I have performed in on my spyderco military and i realized that the locking liner shifts slightly over to the left (the disengaging direction) after a whack, it does not fully disengage, but my main concern right now is, is this normal for the liner lock on the military? and also, by doing this test have i damaged or compromised the integrity of the lock? Would performing this test actually have made the lock weaker than it was in the first place?
Click to expand...

If you take the military and spine whack it hard into your head, it usually fixes these sort of problems.
 
Was it a whack or a tap? How hard did you hit it?


jbmonkey said:
the only liner lock test i care about is when you put the knife opened under heavy cutting pressure and the liner moves toward the scale. not the unlocked side, the locked side. this bothers me a bunch. i have seen it happen once on a benchmade and once on a colt. no others i own or have tried have suffered from it, including bunches of cheapo and better quality chinese ones.
Click to expand...


Why does this bother you? It seems like that is the direction it should move if you push the blade hard enough and something flexes and allows the lock to move over more. I doubt it would be a permanent movement.


Miketbass said:
I have not had enough experience with the Millie, but the Gayle Bradley would never fail in this manner. The liners and scales are far too rigid and thick, I also believe the liner/lock material is stainless instead of titanium and wears much slower. I am looking to get a DLC Military in the near future and will be very disappointed if this is an issue. Would Spyderco correct this under warranty??
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say never. I've seen more beefy frame locks 'walk' towards the unlocked position with repeated spine pressure. Some would say its not a failure but it is in my book. Some frame / liner locks work perfect while others of the same exact model fail. One of the reasons I don't trust any of them any more. I've had too high a percentage fail or close on me and won't trust the lock type anymore. They were also reputable companies and medium priced knives, not CCC. YMMV.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Why does this bother you? It seems like that is the direction it should move if you push the blade hard enough and something flexes and allows the lock to move over more. I doubt it would be a permanent movement.
Click to expand...


cause it was due to a manufacturing tolerances that were too lax. not so much playing with it opening it and closing it, would it move over to the far side, but when cutting you'd feel it give and it was a scary feeling like what might give next, the stop pin? not saying anything else would give and move like it shouldn't, just saying it bothered me.

it was permanent in that it happened everytime, after the intial give.

when i feel parts move on a knife that shouldn't, it's not a comforting feeling to me. i'm not talking about extreme pressure, like putting your weight on it. just shaving the edge of 5/8" plywood and hitting a harder spot and pushing through it.

maybe i'm odd, but i like tools that don't have pieces move when they shouldn't. of course i also like knives to be working sharp or sharper out of the box from the factory. i know i'm in the minority on that one here.
 
I've settled for putting the spine on the skin between my thumb and forefinger, the handle in my left hand, my thumb and forefinger gripping the pivot, and simply trying to flex the knife closed. If it doesn't, then it's secure enough for me. Thus far, only my Benchmade Shoki has failed that test.
 
CrimsonTideShooter said:
I have never had to whack the spine of my knife under normal knife usage.

Why do people continue to put stock in this useless test?
Click to expand...

Me either. I did try it a few times out of curiosity on my Sage1 and after some effort was able to get it to fail usually on the second or third hit. It didn't sway my trust in the lock at all though. I use a hammer if I have to whack something.
 
Unless you're participating in a fencing-style duel, with a little folding knife, your knife usage will never involve spine whacking. Don't worry about it.
 
Just to clarify the Military liner lock is not titanium it is steel.
 
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