Strongest Folding Knife Lock?

zombieassassin said:
After seeing that Opinel vid I asked myself a question. ..."Who in the world likes those hunks of junk?"
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Wonder why the comments are closed on that video. I'd like to congratulate the poster on how he can wreck stuff up.

Pai Mei himself taught me spine whacking is the true test of a Kung Fu blade.
 
Seems the Axis Lock on the Benchmade Adamas and 808 Loco have been built to withstand extreme pressure...
 
zombieassassin said:
After seeing that Opinel vid I asked myself a question. ..."Who in the world likes those hunks of junk?"
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Whoa.

There is actually quite a following of people that love Opinels. I'm guessing that most of those that do love them, love them because they cut circles around most other production folders, and not because they give two hoots about lock strength.

Although, as an owner of exactly one Opinel, I can say I'm disappointed that the person that created the video didn't even attempt to give it a fair chance. He hardly turned the lock ring (freeze the video at 13 seconds and you'll see that the lock ring just barely covers the path of the blade/tang). At least on my Opinel, the lock ring would turn another 1/4in or so (maybe 1/5 - 1/6th of a turn?). I've heard in the past that the lock rings actually pop off under heavy load, while this one slipped closed. I just tested what would happen with mine if I didn't rotate the lock all the way... and as it would happen it does close just like that video "shows"... because the lock wasn't even engaged.

Anyway, I've explained my thoughts on lock strengths in the past, so I'm not going to expand on it here. Just know I'm not actually trying to "defend" the Opinels lock strength, as I'm sure its lower than many others. Its just disappointing to see someone spreading misinformation by apparently purposefully halfway engaging a lock, and recording it to share with others to lower their opinion of something they've not yet tried.

Just maybe someday give one a try, and you might be surprised. There is a reason they've been around for so long, they work quite well.

And now you can all go back to arguing about other locks :p.
 
If you use an Opinel as a knife, to actually cut things, they work wonderfully. I have a few Opinel's that I use around the house for cutting chores, but mostly in the kitchen and I've yet to have any issues with the lock. Hell, most of the time when I'm using an Opinel I don't even bother to turn the locking ring to lock the blade in place. I'm applying pressue to the cutting edge not the spine...never had an issue with any slipjoiint either. Having a strong lock is great, but there is more to a good knife than just the lock, if you're using the knife to cut something rather than just beating on the spine to see how much damage it can withstand.

If I want a knife that I can beat on with a hammer and still have a functioning knife I'll grab my Busse TGLB. Use the right tool for the job and use it was intended to be used and you'll have no issues.
 
Honestly, unless you are spine whacking the thing, pretty much any lock will do the trick. If the folded on people all the time, companies would be losing tons of money due to liability issues. As for my answer, I'd have to say the lock on an opinel is probably the strongest. I just don't see that thing breaking. Probably the first thing to go on one of those would be the blade, and that's saying a lot.
 
The OP asked for the strongest lock, not why strong locks are unnecessary.

To that OP, thus far, it would seem that Demko's Triad is the strongest lock. Spyderco's Power Lock is very strong as well.
 
ursamajor said:
The OP asked for the strongest lock, not why strong locks are unnecessary.

To that OP, thus far, it would seem that Demko's Triad is the strongest lock. Spyderco's Power Lock is very strong as well.
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Agreed. It always amazes me that a lot of people troll this simple question with the "if you use it as a knife should be used..." objections.
 
singularity35 said:
Agreed. It always amazes me that a lot of people troll this simple question with the "if you use it as a knife should be used..." objections.
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The OP is getting an answer: many people are trolls; most people don't care how strong the lock is; lock strength depends on the user using it properly.
If troll's played it straight, & just gave an answer, it would sound believable. Wouldn't you rather just know they were a troll?
 
mtangent said:
The OP is getting an answer: many people are trolls; most people don't care how strong the lock is; lock strength depends on the user using it properly.
If troll's played it straight, & just gave an answer, it would sound believable. Wouldn't you rather just know they were a troll?
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Not at all. Lock strength depends on the engineering design and the material. Saying lock strength depends on the user is just a rephrase of "if you use a knife as a knife should be...."
 
How about the Opinel example? The lock must be manually engaged. Other locks can fail due to dirt or foreign body's in the action. The user should inspect them.
 
mtangent said:
If poorly engaged, it will not be as strong as when fully engaged.
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Again not true. You're making up skewed situations trying to prove something. If an opinel lock is not fully engaged, then it measuring the strength will be useless. If somebody did that deliberately, then he's trying to skew results.
 
singularity35 said:
Again not true. You're making up skewed situations trying to prove something. If an opinel lock is not fully engaged, then it measuring the strength will be useless. If somebody did that deliberately, then he's trying to skew results.
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Well, exactly. Everybody's experience is different.
It is not trolls who derail a thread, but fanboys & antifans who offer skewed opinions.
How many of us have destroyed a knife, to test lock strength? I never have, but without doing so, one can't answer the question.
 
singularity35 said:
Not at all. Lock strength depends on the engineering design and the material. Saying lock strength depends on the user is just a rephrase of "if you use a knife as a knife should be...."
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IMO many people here have butthurt with that the strongest lock is from Cold Steel knives, manufacture they hate. I guess the same people could worship triadlock if it was Emerson's/Strider's/Spyderco's patent.
 
mtangent said:
Well, exactly. Everybody's experience is different.
It is not trolls who derail a thread, but fanboys & antifans who offer skewed opinions.
How many of us have destroyed a knife, to test lock strength? I never have, but without doing so, one can't answer the question.
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See? That's the point. You try to argue that lock strength is subjective then bring up the different experiences. Experiences can't change material properties. They are what they are.

Lock strength is an emperical value that is the result of the materials and engineering. It may vary from different specimens but there is a range that manufacturers aim for. Just because one triad is defective does not mean that triads are weak even if you personally experienced failure. They are still probably one the strongest locks today by design and your experience won't change the stress points one bit.

Same with the opinel. Just because a user didn't lock it correctly doesn't mean all others are weak. If you incorrectly lock an opinel, that doesn't make opinel's lock weak. It's operator error.

When an airliner crashes because of pilot error, it doesn't make other planes of that particular design unsafe.

Say you have a triad, whether you need the strength or not doesn't change the material properties. No amount of wordsmanship will change the material properties of a concrete object. At least in this reality.

The OP was asking for a judgement based on materials and engineering. An answer that doesn't address that is off topic and an answer that dismisses the question is trolling. Trolling is trolling whether or not it derails the thread.
 
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