strongest plastic lockback

W

Wunderbar

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May 2, 2003
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Which do you think is the strongest plastic handled lockback? Not including the ones with liners. Cold Steel, Spyderco, Benchmade, Kabar? I have only owned a few Spyderco's and Cold Steels. I dumped them mostly because they didn't have adjustable pivot pins. How are the other models?
 
From what I have heard, usually the Cold Steel has the thickest handles. Crkt also makes the Cascade with a pivot screw. Don't know if SOG still makes an
X42 Clipit with bg42 steel. The old Benchmade Ascent was fairly solid, problably
in line with the Cold Steel. Don't know about the Pika yet.
 
My Cold Steel large Voyager has held up really well.
It's true, the riveted in pivot pin isn't adjustable, and the plastic will flex over time (like mine has), leaving a less than perfectly tight lockup in the handle. But it doesn't matter, honestly. It'll still go through a car door, and it's lasted 2 years of me beating the crap out of it. The tip came off, I reground that, though I was throwing it around (literally, throwing). It's tough as nails, I drop it all the time, throw it around at a 2x8 we have in our living room (full of knife marks :p), hammer stuff with the handle, pry stuff with the blade, use it as an axe vs. a knife sometimes, and it's still plenty functional for me.

People complain about lockup a lot, but the lockback doesn't come loose, and the blade, although having some wobble side to side, still does its job every time I ask it to.

And for a thick 3.75" blade, 3.75 oz. is darn light (plastic handle).

Just my $0.02

_z
 
Maybe the Spyderco Native III.

It has a rather thick FRN handle.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
Most of spyderco's FRN line will handle 50-80lbs/inch... On the other hand, CS fails at 80-100lbs on the tip...

Buy a spydie endura and try to break it.
 
I have the large Voyager and the Endura. I haven't tested either to failure, but they have about the same amount flex and feel at the pivot and handle. The Voyager does have a thicker handle.

Will
 
Well, if you've ever seen Cold Steel's videos, they put their knives thru tests that I've yet to see another knife maker even try. For the money, I'd say Cold Steel has the best value in a strong locking knife.
 
When I use my knife for prying, I grab it at the pivot point, so there's little to no strain on the handle, just the blade. And I make sure not to put all the force on the tip. I have had one snap off on me, but it's (AUS8) easy enough to regrind and resharpen.

_z
 
Does anyone have a comaprison of how these plastic handled knives hold up in the long run? Do they develope blade play, or the the pivots loosen? If so, is it just from being opened and closed too much, or do you actually have to put lateral strain on it, like prying? I wonder if this will be a long term problem for knives with pivots that cannot be tightened (eg. Endura, Voyager).

Will
 
I've beat my CS voyager tanto severely in the last 5 years with no loosening. I've even used a brick on it as a baton, stabbed it into a beam and twisted out pieces 'cause Melvin Purvis said it couldn't take it. Still locks up great. I've got a Puma general that after 10 years got some slippage in the pivot. I just peened the pivot a little using a hammer and the anvil on the back of a bench vise and it holds tight now.
 
VampyreWolf said:
Most of spyderco's FRN line will handle 50-80lbs/inch... On the other hand, CS fails at 80-100lbs on the tip...

Buy a spydie endura and try to break it.
Click to expand...


I have indeed broken an Endura, albeit a very early one (with the molded on clip). After some heavy use (not abuse IMHO) cutting carpet under conditions that required some twisting-type cuts, the lock failed and would no longer support more than about 10lbs of force. However, the later Enduras look tougher, so this may not be a continuing concern.

I have also owned a Voyager - broke off the clip, but the lock mechanism never failed. Cold Steel seems to have a bad rep around here, but I think it's for the wrong reasons. I don't particularly like Lyn Thompson, either, and I agree that some of the products are gimmicky. However, the Japanese made, AUS8 CS products that I have owned are of very good quality.

Some of the posts around here are on the order of "Thompson is too fat and wears ugly shirts, so the Voyager is a POS". Didn't any of you ever study logic???
 
Since you didn't say "in production" :D I'll go with my Benchmade Ascent 835HS Limited Edition. An oversized adjustable pivot, Zytel knife with an M2 tool steel blade and a swappable clip (which screws into long life steel inserts). It don't get no better than that. Oh, yeah, full height flat ground leaf blade (before Spyderco decided they were cool :) ) and thumbstuds. Made in the USA, of course. :cool:

This was Benchmade's Knife of the Month, July, 2000. The KotM's were 1000 piece runs. Sorry, some things are too cool not to brag about.

I don't expect to ever get another plastic folder I like as much.

Today I'd guess the Spyderco Native III is probably the toughest plastic knife. That's an overbuilt little FRN tank. The D'Allara would also been in the running if a serrated sheepfoot meets your needs.
 
My Voyager's held up great (with some side to side and a little lock play, but nothing that affects how the knife feels or functions in use), after 2 years carrying, and me beating the crap out of it (abuse is more like it...remember that throwing board I was talking about? I rarely land it point first... :rolleyes:).

Like I said, a little play doesn't affect anything except what happens when you grab it and shake the blade back and forth. It's still just as functionally strong and useful as when I got it.

_z
 
3Guardsmen, thanks for telling me that, I never noticed it, though I only watched the movies once. And I personbally do not like Cold Steel at all, and I sold the only one I had, and wont be buying more.
 
The SOG Autoclips have an adjustable pivot and I've used the heck out of them. I've owned a bunch of them too. They do a good heat treat and they hold an edge for a long time. The opening slot is lightening-fast. They'll even flick open (unless you get the X42 one with the studs which I don't care for). Very under-rated knife IMHO. If you like plastic-handled knives you should at least try one sometime.

I wish they made one with a hawk-shaped blade.
 
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