the average new military- how much lockup?

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bdmicarta

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Feb 16, 2012
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I have a new military that locks up "late". The lock bar barely (liner lock) engages the blade tang. The lock bar slides over just far enough to engage the full blade tang but no more than that.

I'm wondering how common this would be. I'm also wondering how much farther the lock bar will engage with a little bit of use (wear).
 
Mine is not too old less than a year and it locks up at about 40 percent, it started a little less than that. I don't know that you would have much of an issue as long as there is enough of the lock bar on the tang to securely engage the lock unless it is barely engaging with the tang? I would think it will wear another 10 percent as it settles in but that is just a guess on my part, it is steel on steel so its different than say a titanium frame lock. Maybe you should email a photo to Spyderco and get there opinion.
 
My BG42 carbon fiber one was like that and in several years of hard use it has barely moved (it did move a bit the first few weeks, but very little and nothing I can detect the last couple of years). Lock up has been safe and no issues. Open it hard a few times to let it settle in. None of my Militarys lock up later than 40%

PS! Isn't this called early lock up?
 
Yes... it's "early" rather than "late", if I read the OP correctly. My dino-jimping Military (early model) engages at about 40% after years of use. My two latest models (digi-cam & black, digi-cam & satin) engage just the full width of the lock bar. All are secure when opened and locked.
 
I always understood that "early" lockup meant the lock bar moved before the blade was 100% open, and as the blade opened all the way the lock bar moved farther across the tang. Mine locks up at the last minute, and if you open the blade slowly it may not lock up at all. Locking at the last minute would be "late" lockup.
 
Your thoughts on the terminology actually makes sense however it's not the way it's intended to be understood.

The terms 'early' and 'late' are not in reference to the timing that the lock begins to engage, but actually how far the lockbar engages horizontally with the blade tang. Therefore a lock that hardly engages = far to the left = early lockup. A lock that engages very far = far to the right = late lockup.

Semantics :p
 
bdmicarta said:
I have a new military that locks up "late". The lock bar barely (liner lock) engages the blade tang. The lock bar slides over just far enough to engage the full blade tang but no more than that.

I'm wondering how common this would be. I'm also wondering how much farther the lock bar will engage with a little bit of use (wear).
Click to expand...

I have quite a few Militarys from the last several years and they are all about the way you describe ("early").
 
I have three Millies. One was purchased new in 1996 and sees every day use more than any other knife I have.
The other two were purchased new in 2012. One is a lefty, the other an all black right.
All three show about the same, between 40 and 50%.
Especially for the one bought new in 96, this is quite nice. It's hardly worn at all in 18 years. And I use it many times a day for various things.
 
Early, late or whatever, my lockbar is 100% on the blade tang with about half the width of the lockbar's worth of blade tang showing on the left side with the blade pointed away. Mine is the CRUWEAR version dated 08-13.
 
I took a quick cellphone photo of the lockup today. Is this enough lockup for reliable performance?

photo012614db_zps45791125.jpg
 
I would be OK with that - as long as there's 100% engagement of the locking leaf, it should be safe.
 
Early lock up is always preferable, it means less bending of the liner and as a result more structural rigidity.
 
bdmicarta said:
I took a quick cellphone photo of the lockup today. Is this enough lockup for reliable performance?

photo012614db_zps45791125.jpg
Click to expand...

That is what is called or known as "early" lock up. If it were on the other end in the same spot respectively that would be called "late". I have a Military that I bought new years ago, my most used Spyderco and it locks up in the same, exact spot as yours. Well, possibly .25mm to the right of yours. Also, i own about 14-15 Militarys, they pretty much all lock up in the same spot. The oldest one I own is the ATS-34 version with a 2 screw (Phillips) clip.
 
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