Strider AR VS. Extrema Ratio M.P.C. -- a Pictorial Comparison (lots o pics)

I think your AR is perfectly fine. I've had mine for almost 2 years and the linerlock engages the same way yours does. Never had a problem but if you think it needs a trip to Strider Knives then go ahead.
 
Originally posted by drjones
Um, you should probably send your AR back in to Strider. Your liner probably shouldn't look like that.

Mine catches all the way.
Click to expand...

I have to completely disagree. I am something of a connesseur of locks, i have examined in detail, frame and liner locks on most of the great tac/utility knives, ie. Mayos, Carsons, Obenaufs, JW Smiths, Boguszewskis, Striders, Sebenzas etc. and as long as this liner has a nice strong bend to the right, as im sure it does, it is perfect. There is no reason for it to have any further engagement, it will wear slightly to the right in time anyway, but if you look at a new Mayo, Carson, Obenauf, JWS, etc., arguably the best makers when it comes to a well executed lock, they all start out as far left as possible while still having plenty of engagement, as you clearly have here, the AR has a VERY thick liner, .100, and it doesnt need 100% of that to make contact with the blade, .050 would be plenty and you have more than that here. Tom Mayo designs his locks so that they only engage 30% of the tang when new. Personally, i consider it a flaw if the liner or frame lock is even a little too far to the right, so if i have my choice, ill take one like this AR has over one that starts out towards the middle. Besides, flick that AR open hard, and itll engage fully. Do it a bunch of times, itll start to move to the right quickly. Yes, my brand new AR does engage a little more of the tang, but i honestly wish it looked more like the one pictured above.
 
DITTO what Megalobyte stated.

I have had my GB now for months and the lock started out just like the one in the picture. I have been very harsh on this knife showing it much "love" Spine wacks with a hammer and such to drive it through objects, the liner now catches just full on.

Mick Strider said somewhere on the forum "they are desinged that way to wear in and provide longer life. The liner is set up %25 engagement to allow for use wear."
 
I agree also -- while it's nice to get 100% liner engagement, the more important issue in regards to reliability is lock geometry. I've seen plenty of locks way over to the left that I couldn't get to fail, and plenty with full engagement, or even far-right engagement, that I could get to fail. In fact, I'll take it a step further and say it's not that uncommon that a lock is reliable until it starts wearing to the right, and then one day it mysteriously starts failing (I've attributed this to the change in geometry, but really, who knows).

I do want enough engagement to inspire confidence and give a good firm lockup. If it isn't quite as worn as I'd like, usually 30 moderately-hard openings will bump it over a bit.

Joe
 
"hard-openings" "spine-whack test with hammer"

You guys sound like my kind of people. :D
 
My 2cdn... roughly 2 cents... LOL!

If you were to do a tip pry with the er, you would be exerting more force then you would the strider. Leverage, so depending apon how much you trust the blade... i wouldnt go prying on the thing... 10 inches by say 45 lbs of torque applied to the "tip" , i know most of my tools dont/cant handle that. And most of em are hardend tool steel.

I like them both, the ER apears to have more flash to the design... an the strider being more buisness.

Thanks for the pictures, and until I hit the lottery, I'm not gonna be able to put in any more then .02 :(

Edit:

Ok so 45 is not the tip... pull back on the handle as hard as you can with the tip jammed in between a door and the frame... 10 inches of leverage to a 1/10th of an inch of steel.

I am horrible at gettin the "point" across... must not be real "sharp" :p
 
Well take a look at the warranties,

Strider - "All strider knives carry and unconditional, lifetime guarantee. In addition, our knives will be resharpened, refinished, and rewrapped as often as needed at no cost to you other than return postage"

Extrema Ratio- “Limited Lifetime Warranty to Original Purchaser. The knife will be repaired/replaced free of charge if the knife fails due to defects in materials or workmanship. Abuse or normal wear is not covered

So if you did push both these knives to the edge or BEYOND,you would have one that would be returning in a brown box like new again, and have another thats an Extrema-moneyclip (or extrema-paperweight whatever you prefer).
 
Entoxica ,

Very good point !! It's something I look at closely, almost as closely as the knife itself. How will the maker or companies customer service treat me ??? Are they e-z to get in touch with ? Will they return my calls or e-mails ?? Are they willing to answer my stupid questions ?
Strider , CRK and BM, EK, Buck all are great at keeping me as a customer, by repairing or sharpening with no hassle. And, they treat me as if they want me to remain a customer.
we have to read enough "small print" in our daily lives, I don't want that in my knife warranties, also.
NOTHING against E - Ratio. I don't own any of their products. But by just reading their warranty, I'll stick with my listed companies.
 
I don't have any worries about the warrenty on the ER that I have. 1). I don't see it failing in the first place, and 2). Frank from ER has been a great person to buy from and I think he would go out of his way to make his customer's happy.

I'm not a rich man, so I ask a ton of questions before I purchase, and he was more than happy to answer anything I wanted to know.

What are we talking about "pushing these knives beyond?" What could we possibly do in our environment to push the knives in their known capabilities as knives to fail? I believe we are going to fail before the blade does. If you're talking "beyond," as in a real use situation that only military personnel in highly hostile territory could possibly push the knife to, then I don't think either company would have qualms about replacing the knife.

As far as some warrenty issues go, I think it's just a thin line separating the company's warrenties, and no-one would have problems with those issues in real-world use. I think ER is just protecting themselves from the armchair commandos that would ruin a good knife just to get a new one.

Just my ol' two cents. :D
 
Nice job!

I've been a knife knut for about four years, but only took delivery of my first two Striders last week (an AR and a SnG). I bought them, quite honestly, just to see what the fuss is all about.

I must admit, in that short period of time I've become a Strider convert! :D :D :D (don't bother responding, RL! ;) :p ;) )

(but I must admit, that ER looks tempting....)
 
The ER ranks in my book as one of the most fugly folders ever made.

However it looks like a Hell of a user.
 
Well even if you arnt worried about the knife failing you still have to deal with them wearing down. hard use tools wear (if you use them for the purpose they were built) and ER dosnt cover that unless it came from the factory with defects.

If you are going to make a hard use tool Like Strider, Busse, CRK, notice they all have unconditional warranties because wear is the nature of their product.and i dont think its right you would need to be a military commando to get your knife replaced. arm chair commando, firefighter, electrician, whatever, if your knife breaks or wears from these coompanies it gets replaced. But ER makes a hard use tool but dosnt have the back up(warranty) for a hard use tool, so i think its a very wide separating line. .
 
These are folding knives we're talking about. What can wear down under normal use, other than the blade from sharpening it?

And what exactly is hard use? Can someone detail various things they do with their folding knife that is hard use?
 
There is no linerlock that will be stronger than a lockback, by design under hard use. Plain and simple.

I'm in the process of having the MPC evaled by a big burly cop friend of mine who has a mitt like a baseball glove.

About 4-6 weeks, depending on what he gets into in that time.

Warranty questions? It may not be spelled out but the ER's will pretty much match any makers warranty through Frank.

I have it on good authority that one was altered physically and thus became unuseable. Frank is taking care of it which says it all for me.

I like the Striders, they are rugged knives, for hard use, cutting your way out of an elevator, prying hard laterally and from the spine, which knife do you think would hold out longer?

BTW-----------Nice photos and comparison.

Brownie
 
I suddenly want to go get a nice hot steaming cup of joe ....

Hey - It's that inviting avatar of Brownies!
 
Boink,
Thank Argyll for the avatar. he sent it to me after watching my java consumption for a few days on the snake river.
;)

I'm sitting here with mine right now.

Brownie
 
The ER looks pretty impressive. What is the balance like? I like a blade heavy knife. I like the lockback, too. The only liner lock I really trust is on my GB. Thanks for the pictures. The comparison really shows what a monster the ER really is!

Keep us posted on how it performs. Do they make it with a plain edge?

Thanks, again.

GD
 
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