Spydie Salsa - lock strength?

E

edb

Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
740
I went to the knife show in Marlborough, MA,
yesterday. Hadn't been to one until then - it's
really interesting to see all of what's there!

Anyway, I finally got a chance to look at almost
the entire line of Spyderco at one time. BTW,
I have a Delica, Endura, Moran drop point, and
my wife has a Dragonfly. Yeah, I realize there
are other knife makers out there, but I'm really
hooked on Spyderco (I've had Bucks, Gerbers, some
others - nice, but not as nice as Spyderco).

I'm looking for a slightly smaller folder than
the Delica, for sheeple-infested situations. The
Dragonfly's handle is just too small for my hands
for me to feel safe, so I handled several other
models. I really liked the meercat (really slick
lock!), but the blade's too short.

I've decided on maybe getting a Salsa PE. 2 7/16" blade
is legal anywhere I know of, yet the handle on the
Salsa is pretty substantial for a blade that short.

I do not trust liner locks, and if the Salsa was a
traditional lockback, I wouldn't even hesitate. But
that compression lock looks to me like a liner lock
on top, sort of hidden, so I supposed it's not easily
tripped accidentally.

To cut to the chase, does anyone have experience with
a Salsa, and have opinions about the lock (strength,
reliability, etc.)?

Thanks
 
I keep a titanium Salsa around for the occasional times when I am forced to carry a shorter knife. I have not done any serious testing of the lock, but I have examined it closely and spine-whacked it a few times. Every indication I see is that the compression lock is very tough!

--Bob Q
 
I sent the passaround Salsa to like 12 people in the US. When it came back I examined it to see if the lock held, show signs of wear, etc.

It seemed perfectly fine in my sample size of one. I think as long as it engaged properly to begin with and you did a spine whack to test to be sure, you'll be fine.
 
I have used a couple of compression locks and they are very stable, much more so than liner locks though they look fairly similar. Sal could probbaly give break point numbers I am sure they are fairly high, most modern locks are very strong, it is the accidental release that is the critical problem.

The only problem I have seen reported with the compression lock is that if it gets dirty with a stick material like dried juices, the lock can stick to the side and fail to engage when opened. I think Howard Wallace was the first to note this happening. A lock back can fail to engage in a similar manner if the cutout gets clogged with lint. So just check it on a regular basis and flush it after that type of cutting.

-Cliff
 
I have a "tan" Salsa in CE ; the "compression lock" on the "Vesuvius"
I passed on to forumite DiALEX's wife ;) The "compression lock" seemed to not hold the blade in place in "tip up"
configuration on the "Vesuvius" so I sent it to SFO warranty & repair and
had it changed to "tip down" carry,
which seeme to solve the problem. Then I got disgusted & sent the "Vesuvius" to DiALEX's wife. On the Salsa, the problem of the blade working loose during rigorous activity ( NOT sex! ;)) seems to have been solved. I'm waiting to see mass production of their new "ball
bearing" lock, but NOT on the highly priced WTC Commemorative which I haven't the "mammon";) for anyway.


AET ;) ( ATE on the Spyderco.com "home" forum ;))
 
Compression locks, like the ti salsa and the oh-so-wonderful (ask anyone here) sebenza are widely regarded as very strong, especially when squeezed in the hand during use. IMO, the salsa is an excellent choice for a blade of that length.

Nathan
 
I have the Ti Salsa, and it is one of the strongest locks I have ever seen. I would even trust it over a lock back.

On superficial examination the compression lock might look like a liner lock, but they work in totally different ways.
A liner lock has the closing pressure applied in the same direction of it's liner flex, whereas the compression lock has the closing pressure applied at right angles the the liner's flex, making it much stronger. Basically for a compression lock to fail the stop pin would have to be torn out of the handle, but because the stop pins are always either in solid metal handles or are supported by dual steel liners this isn't likely to happen.
 
The Ti Salsa is running in the heavy duty range (over 100 inch/lbs per inch of blade length) and the aluminum version is running in the hi medium duty range (50 - 100 inch/lbs per inch of blade length).

sal
 
Thanks for all the responses - I've already
ordered one (now, when will that brown truck
arrive?:)

Went with the tan/brown (seemed to be grey to
me, when I looked at them ?!) aluminum handle
in PE.

Thanks for the technical detail in lock strength,
Sal! I wasn't really thinking I'd probably put
the knife through anything tougher that typical
camping or box-opening duty, but it's nice to
have such a detailed customer response...

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone
 
The brown truck arrived today...

What a sweet little package this Salsa
is! The lock seems extremely strong,
and the handle fits my somewhat larger-than-average
hands.

Don't know why the color was described as
brown/tan - it's most definately grey, which
is what I wanted anyway, after looking at the
pictures.

Another winner, Sal!
 
I'm glad you like yours too! I think the Salsa is one of Spyderco's best designs of the last few years, which is saying a lot. :)

I was so pleased with my titanium Salsa that I sent it off to Bandit for a bit of dressing up. I love the way it looks with the blue anodizing.
salsa.jpg


--Bob Q
 
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