Szabo slow deployment speed

J

Jim malone

Joined
May 25, 2007
Messages
1,157
I have been EDC my new Szabo for a few weeks now. I like the knife. It's big, but i don't notice it in my pocket.
I am a big fan of the bigger Spyderco knives.
The only drawback i seee is the SLOOOOWWW deployment speed of the blade.
I have been practicing opening and closing this blade but i keep beeing slowed down by the spring of the self closing mechanism.
Is there a way to improve deployement speed, without disassembling the knife and fidling with the spring?
Closing the knife one handed is also impossible.
I realise the self closing mechanism is due to the big blade mass, but it's a big tactical drawback for fast opening.
Any advise?
This is a MBC designed blade but the speed is a real let down.
 
I have posted about the same , but with mine the internal stop pins rubbed against the liners
making it even harder to open/close , but after wiggling it back and fourth 1000´s of times it´s
finally getting there , now I can flick it open with my thumb 3-4 times out of 5 , and then flick it closed about the same.

1234,,,:)
 
With a bit of wrist action you can flick it open. I'm able to flick mine open about 98% of the time.
 
austonh said:
With a bit of wrist action you can flick it open. I'm able to flick mine open about 98% of the time.
Click to expand...
I'm having the same problem as the OP. Mine rubs the liners and no amount of adjustment makes it easier to open/close. I practically have to throw the darn thing to get it to open quickly. That's not safe at all and it's completely counterproductive to the purpose of a defensive knife. Doesn't make any sense to me.
 
I really wanted to love this knife. My only gripe is the retention spring. If it was a ball detent then i would love the knife. ohh well.

JD
 
Thank you all for your interest in the Szabo. As one of the largest folders Spyderco has ever produced, it is unique in a number of ways.

The original prototypes of the knife were made with a ball bearing detent in the Compression Lock mechanism. Like all our protos, Sal and Eric spent quite a bit of time actually carrying the knife to evaluate all the subtle details like clip height, etc. Because of the length of the blade, the Spyderco Hole worked best when positioned well above the knife's centerline to provide proper leverage for a thumb opening. However, with that leverage came an increased possibility of unintentional opening. The solution was the self-close mechanism.

The self-close on the Szabo does its job, but the strength of the spring and its leverage on the blade is actually less than that of many of our lock back knives. If you're used to the ball bearing detent of a liner lock, it may seem strong. If you're used to the self-close of a lock back, it shouldn't be an issue.

Having seen many people handle and deploy the Szabo at trade shows, the biggest issue I see is that they don't understand the effect that a long handle and deep-pocket clip have on drawstroke. For most people, even when they dig deep to initiate the draw, they end up gripping the handle very close to the butt. Unless they have very large hands, they cannot initiate a thumb opening without first repositioning the knife in their hand.

Thinking that they're "stuck" with that grip, most try to initiate an inertial opening or "wrist flick." Unfortunately, inertial openings work best when a knife is gripped near the pivot pin and the whole knife is rotated around the pivot pin. Gripping near the butt end of the handle won't open the knife, it will just burn a lot of calories.

My preferred method of deploying large knives is to dig deep for the initial grip. As soon as the knife clears the top of my pocket, I brace the pivot-pin end of the handle against my hip and slide my hand down the handle to re-grip it closer to the pivot pin. I can then proceed with my preferred opening--including the standard thumb opening.

With the Szabo's four-position clip, the other option is to reposition the clip to carry the knife tip down. In this position, the self-close mechanism does its job to keep the blade--which now faces the interior of the pocket--safely closed during carry. The knife can then be drawn and opened with the "Spyder Drop" opening (gripping the blade hole with a pinch grip of the thumb and index finger and swinging the handle down) or by gripping the handle near the pivot-pin end of the handle, drawing the knife, and pivoting it in the hand to position it for a thumb opening.

Large knives often require you to adapt your methods a bit. I hope these suggestions help.

Stay safe,

Mike
 
Michael Janich said:
<snip>

The self-close on the Szabo does its job, but the strength of the spring and its leverage on the blade is actually less than that of many of our lock back knives. If you're used to the ball bearing detent of a liner lock, it may seem strong. If you're used to the self-close of a lock back, it shouldn't be an issue.

Having seen many people handle and deploy the Szabo at trade shows, the biggest issue I see is that they don't understand the effect that a long handle and deep-pocket clip have on drawstroke. For most people, even when they dig deep to initiate the draw, they end up gripping the handle very close to the butt. Unless they have very large hands, they cannot initiate a thumb opening without first repositioning the knife in their hand.

Thinking that they're "stuck" with that grip, most try to initiate an inertial opening or "wrist flick." Unfortunately, inertial openings work best when a knife is gripped near the pivot pin and the whole knife is rotated around the pivot pin. Gripping near the butt end of the handle won't open the knife, it will just burn a lot of calories.

<snip>

Stay safe,

Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike. I have noticed exactly what you are referring to on the grip. With the Szabo i have to "choke-up" on the knife after it clears my pocket before i can open it. I figured this was due to the pivot point and thumb hole locations. The only knife i have that is close to the Szabo size is the spyderco Police. I have zero issues flicking that knife open. I do not have to as close to the pivot point as i do on the Szabo.

I think i have felt what you are referring to in respect to the lockback have more pressure against the blade than the Szabo does. I do feel the lockback adding drag the entire opening arc of the Police. With the Szabo the drag feels to be about half of the opening arc, however, this initial drag on the Szabo feels much stronger than the entire drag on the Police.

To help with perspective my Police is only about two weeks old. I have only flicked it open maybe 2-3 dozen times. I have owned the Szabo since release and have actuated it many hundreds of times to try and break it in and it doesn't appear to getting any easier.

I am in no way trying to shun the Szabo. It is a very nice knife. For me i had felt that the Schempp Tuf was one of the hardest knives to flick. The Tuf is easy now, it's the Szabo that has taken the #1 difficulty spot.

JD
 
Dear JD:

Because hand sizes vary, knives--especially large knives--work better for some people than others. The mechanics of the knives themselves are tuned in design and manufacturing to support the function of the design. The longer a blade is, the stronger the retention should be in the closed position to keep the knife safely closed. The length and mass of the Szabo's blade demand an authoritative self-close feature to ensure that the knife carries safely.

The "drag" you describe on the Police model is constant pressure of the lock bar on the tang of the blade throughout the opening arc. All back lock knives are like that--again, because of the mechanics of the lock.

The more lock mechanisms you play with, the more you'll understand the dynamics of each--and how those dynamics change as the size of the knife changes. You'll also learn how to adapt your handling and operation of the knife to fit those dynamics.

I hope this helps.

Stay safe,

Mike
 
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