- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,956
Maybe you should end all this hard decision making about which lock and just get you a smaller fixed blade with a nice horizontal sheath made for it by Bob Dozier making it as convenient to carry and use as any folder. Then you don't have to worry about all this lock question stuff.
On the locks though there are some things I want to point out with more clarity for you since you seem confused. This may backfire though and confuse you even more and if so my apologies. I believe in being thorough. Strength is irrelevant if the lock is so unreliable it slides to defeat way before the lock even begins to reach any kind of stress point testing its strength. It can be as strong as a bank vault but it doesn't matter if reliability is low. Any lock must be seen as an individual. You cannot judge the rest of them by one but after seeing many you can get a better idea of where each may stand. Any lock that is new and untried must be tested out and used slowly at first to get to know it.
In my experience:
Liner locks typically are not as reliable as frame locks, axis locks or lockbacks. Frame locks rarely defeat the same way a liner lock does by sliding off the contact from light pressure and when they do its often times for reasons other than those associated with liner locks. Frame locks have a bare side so the main thing that can happen is the lock can be hyper extended to lose its spring to make it move in adequately behind the blade to support it. Reduce the spring tension and you make it unreliable and also easier to defeat by possible slide off of the contact since there is less resistance AKA 'spring tension'. Some locks of this type on rare occasions are not properly tensioned from the factory. In other words the locks are not traveling in far enough to make adequate contact to support the blade under load. This can of course be related to a weak spring or just a tight tight contact that will require some care to break it in properly to get the lock in there adequately for use. This is done on your part either by noticing right away its precariously sitting too close to the edge of the contact and sending it back to be looked at or by replacing it or using it to break it in slowly. In these cases its a quality control issue from the makers stand point because when done right the frame lock is the better choice for reliable performance IMO.
Lockbacks as has been mentioned are largely based on a trust issue. You have to feel good about it and unless you can take it apart to examine how it works, well, you'll never really know just how good or how bad the contact is. When done right the lockback offers both a high strength and a high reliability rating.
Axis, ball, liner and frame locks all allow you to see at a glance just how the lock up is. You can see clearly to know where you stand with it each time you use it. For this they are probably better in my mind for the average user that isn't comfortable taking a knife apart to examine it. On some knives taking it apart will void the warranty.
Once the hand is wrapped in behind a good frame lock where your grip supports the lock and proper contact is there with proper spring tension its hard to beat that for everyday ease of use and reliable performance. Even if the lock cut is thin its still going to exhibit a very high reliablility rating. Strength may not be its forte` but it will certainly be strong enough to use regularly and even heavily. I've seen some lock cuts taken down to extreme thinnesses and the knives have obvioulsy been well used and even abused in some cases. Most folks are not going around stabbing their knives in a tree to use them as a leg up. So unless thats what you want any of the mentioned lock types will probably suffice.
When the locks mentioned work as they should the Axis is the strongest. It also has a high reliability close to the top I'd say.
The ball is also strong but since this is usually done without liners of metal I'd still give the lead to the Axis here personally. Reliabilty is also high.
Lockbacks offer about as good a balance for both strength and reliability as can be found I'd say. I would not rate the lockback as the strongests for most made out there. I would say for normal and even into most heavy usage they'll offer more than adequate strength though and a more reliable lock.
Liner locks and frame locks are both sometimes problematic but both have a lot of good things going for them. Its a tough call. There are issues of the 'gravity knife' that come up many times with many of these where the blade is not properly kept shut. If the point can raise up out of the body of the knife by flipping it upside around and flicking it its going to be an issue more and more as we get into the 21st century. The detent ball that is supposed to keep that point down for you is often times not doing its job. This can be a safety issue as well as a legal one. There are reports here on these forums of people losing knives by the gravity knife law that makes it illegal. Each state varies. If you live in New York. I'd avoid the Dejavoo just for this reason. I've never seen one that the detent ball worked properly on.
STR
On the locks though there are some things I want to point out with more clarity for you since you seem confused. This may backfire though and confuse you even more and if so my apologies. I believe in being thorough. Strength is irrelevant if the lock is so unreliable it slides to defeat way before the lock even begins to reach any kind of stress point testing its strength. It can be as strong as a bank vault but it doesn't matter if reliability is low. Any lock must be seen as an individual. You cannot judge the rest of them by one but after seeing many you can get a better idea of where each may stand. Any lock that is new and untried must be tested out and used slowly at first to get to know it.
In my experience:
Liner locks typically are not as reliable as frame locks, axis locks or lockbacks. Frame locks rarely defeat the same way a liner lock does by sliding off the contact from light pressure and when they do its often times for reasons other than those associated with liner locks. Frame locks have a bare side so the main thing that can happen is the lock can be hyper extended to lose its spring to make it move in adequately behind the blade to support it. Reduce the spring tension and you make it unreliable and also easier to defeat by possible slide off of the contact since there is less resistance AKA 'spring tension'. Some locks of this type on rare occasions are not properly tensioned from the factory. In other words the locks are not traveling in far enough to make adequate contact to support the blade under load. This can of course be related to a weak spring or just a tight tight contact that will require some care to break it in properly to get the lock in there adequately for use. This is done on your part either by noticing right away its precariously sitting too close to the edge of the contact and sending it back to be looked at or by replacing it or using it to break it in slowly. In these cases its a quality control issue from the makers stand point because when done right the frame lock is the better choice for reliable performance IMO.
Lockbacks as has been mentioned are largely based on a trust issue. You have to feel good about it and unless you can take it apart to examine how it works, well, you'll never really know just how good or how bad the contact is. When done right the lockback offers both a high strength and a high reliability rating.
Axis, ball, liner and frame locks all allow you to see at a glance just how the lock up is. You can see clearly to know where you stand with it each time you use it. For this they are probably better in my mind for the average user that isn't comfortable taking a knife apart to examine it. On some knives taking it apart will void the warranty.
Once the hand is wrapped in behind a good frame lock where your grip supports the lock and proper contact is there with proper spring tension its hard to beat that for everyday ease of use and reliable performance. Even if the lock cut is thin its still going to exhibit a very high reliablility rating. Strength may not be its forte` but it will certainly be strong enough to use regularly and even heavily. I've seen some lock cuts taken down to extreme thinnesses and the knives have obvioulsy been well used and even abused in some cases. Most folks are not going around stabbing their knives in a tree to use them as a leg up. So unless thats what you want any of the mentioned lock types will probably suffice.
When the locks mentioned work as they should the Axis is the strongest. It also has a high reliability close to the top I'd say.
The ball is also strong but since this is usually done without liners of metal I'd still give the lead to the Axis here personally. Reliabilty is also high.
Lockbacks offer about as good a balance for both strength and reliability as can be found I'd say. I would not rate the lockback as the strongests for most made out there. I would say for normal and even into most heavy usage they'll offer more than adequate strength though and a more reliable lock.
Liner locks and frame locks are both sometimes problematic but both have a lot of good things going for them. Its a tough call. There are issues of the 'gravity knife' that come up many times with many of these where the blade is not properly kept shut. If the point can raise up out of the body of the knife by flipping it upside around and flicking it its going to be an issue more and more as we get into the 21st century. The detent ball that is supposed to keep that point down for you is often times not doing its job. This can be a safety issue as well as a legal one. There are reports here on these forums of people losing knives by the gravity knife law that makes it illegal. Each state varies. If you live in New York. I'd avoid the Dejavoo just for this reason. I've never seen one that the detent ball worked properly on.
STR
