The Evil Slipjoint

BackwoodsBummin'

BackwoodsBummin'

Joined
Feb 26, 2010
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129
So I bought my girlfriend's dad a Northwoods Slim Jack for Christmas. Nice knife. Buffalo horn handle, D2 steel, smooth action, solid lock-up (or whatever you would call it on a non-locking blade).

Her dad fancies himself a hunter, of the gun club variety, and somewhat of an outdoorsy fella. I have noticed over the last few years that he never carries a knife, something I find a little odd. Where I come from, men carry knives, end of story.

Anyhow, I bought him a nice slipjoint since he wears suits to work all week. A proper slipjoint seems, at least to me, to be a gentleman's knife. More so than the tactical-type knife I generally carry.

So when he opens his Christmas present he gives the standard "Oh! Nice...." that dads are accustomed to giving from so many years of receiving ugly ties and macaroni art for gifts.

"Whatever," I think to myself, "Maybe he's just not a knife guy."

A man still needs a knife and I bought him one.

Well, today my girlfriend went and spent some time with her family. When she got home I asked her if her dad was carrying his knife. She's a little hesitant to tell me but finally does.

"He says that it's a very nice knife but he won't use it because it doesn't lock and he doesn't want it snapping shut on his fingers."

"..."

Are you kidding me?!?? What's this guy doing with this knife that's going to cause it to fail? Prying apart rotten stumps for grub worms? Shanking people? More likely it'll be used for loose strings, mail, and dirty fingernails.

I have heard this argument a lot over the years. I carry a Benchmade AFCK and the hype with the AXIS lock is always about how strong it is, how many pounds of pressure it would take to cause the locking mechanism to suffer a catastrophic failure. I reckon that is a real concern on a true tactical knife, but I can't think of a single time that I have ever used a pocket knife in a way that would cause it to close unexpectedly. And I carried a SAK daily for many years; still carry one in the woods.

In fact the only thing that I can think of that would cause an unexpected closure would be a thrusting motion, as in stabbing. And 99.999999999999999% of people are never going to test a pocket knife under these conditions.

So my question is this: Has anyone ever seen a documented account of a knife accidentally closing on someone's fingers? Ever had it happen to you? A friend (not your brother-in-law's best friend's uncle's ex-girlfriend's brother, but someone with an actual name)?

I don't think it is near the concern that it is made out to be by all of the unsubstantiated "Be careful with that knife", and "I wouldn't trust that lock."

Agree? Disagree? Somewhere in between?
 
i had a sak close onr time but it was cuz i was being stupid i had been cutting tires with come other knives and i wanted to see if my sak could handle the task well it couldnt lol. that is the only time i have ever had a knife close on me
 
My kid almost had his sak snap shut on him yesterday, about 1 hour after he got the thing. Think it came close enough to teach him a lesson. At least I hope it did.
 
bigasswiteboy said:
i had a sak close onr time but it was cuz i was being stupid i had been cutting tires with come other knives and i wanted to see if my sak could handle the task well it couldnt lol. that is the only time i have ever had a knife close on me
Click to expand...

Almost the same story. A few years ago, SAK, bored and stabbing it through random things outside, and it snapped closed and sliced my middle finger a little.

Under normal EDC purposes I also can't think of a job that would cause it to fail.
 
If you're stabbing with a traditional slipjoint, you deserve to get cut. The OP's girlfriend's dad's comment seems to me to just illustrate his ignorance about pocket knives and/or how to use them.
 
I've never had a slipjoint close on me during actual use. That's an issue of properly using the knife for the task at hand. If the blade closes accidentally from full open, odds are something inappropriate was being done with it.

The only times I've been 'bitten' by a slipjoint, were during the actual opening or closing of the blade. Some slipjoints come with very strong backsprings, and you've got to be careful to really hold on to the blade when opening/closing. That, and make sure no fingers are in the way, if the blade does slip from your grip.

Beware of 'display' folders in tins. They often have multiple blades partially open, just waiting for the slightest 'nudge' to make 'em SNAP shut. They'll snap doubly hard if two blades at opposite ends of the same backspring are halfway open. Puts a ton of tension on the spring. I neatly clipped a flap of skin off of two of my fingertips once, when 'extracting' a partly opened multiblade slipjoint from the display tin. One of the blades snapped shut as it came out of the molded insert in the tin.
 
FWIW, I tend to agree with the O.P.

Raised to understand that 'you don't 'stab' anything with ANY folding knife', therefore never had a problem, other than not paying attention to what your doing when closing a folder, I truly can't imagine how you could cut yourself except with the general carelessness that will get you nicked by any knife.

There was an article a couple years back, about a fella had a Cougar pounce on him, and while he was trying to stab it in the head with his SAK, the blade folded and cut two fingers to the bone. But IIRC he said later that that was pretty minor compared to what the cat did to him.

My EDC is either a Kershaw Blur or a Buck 110 and a Case large Stockman, in an emergency I might stab something with the Kershaw or the Buck, though I'd rather not, the Stockman ... never.

All JMHO, YMMV.

Regards,
:) ...
 
I have had a cheap knife with a lock back fail when cutting some van tires... That was me being stupid and a cheap product, thankfully I didn't injure myself though.

I had a case start to close on me while whittling, but again that was me being foolish and I only got a small cut. I was applying direct pressure to the back of the blade with my thumb.

And I had a SAK close on me when I got really hurried and accidentally waked the back of the blade against the bottom of a table after opening a box.

All of these though were years ago when I first started using knives and was still a clumsy teenager (I am still clumsy, just not a teenager). All of these could easily have been avoided, it was pure user error. The only incident that involved a knife failure at all I was using a ridiculously cheap folder, the entire folder feel apart and the blade broke. Unless you are fighting with a knife (or clumsy like me) there is little need for a lock, and even when there is the lock doesn't matter that much. If you are doing something that you are worried you need a good lock, get a fixed blade. Or better yet the proper tool and stop abusing your blade.
 
I got bitten by my first slipjoint once when closing it when I was 7 years old. I have never had one close on me in use. But then I was taught to use them properly.
 
I think what really irks me is the shear ignorance displayed by my girlfriend's dad. I consider him an intelligent man but his statement is uninformed hogwash.

And, to top it off, I am quite certain that he would feel comfortable using any number of cheap, tacticool wannabe knives that come free with my monthly order of ninja stars and flashbang grenades:rolleyes:
 
I remember having a SAK close on me once when trying to cut something. Don't remember what it was, but I was wiggling the blade up and down and when the blade made it through there was nothing holding the blade open and it closed on my knuckles. Didn't cut me though.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
The only times I've been 'bitten' by a slipjoint, were during the actual opening or closing of the blade. Some slipjoints come with very strong backsprings, and you've got to be careful to really hold on to the blade when opening/closing. That, and make sure no fingers are in the way, if the blade does slip from your grip.
Click to expand...

I've cut myself several times with SAKs when closing them. That spring does indeed like to snap shut.
 
BackwoodsBummin' said:
I think what really irks me is the shear ignorance displayed by my girlfriend's dad. I consider him an intelligent man but his statement is uninformed hogwash.

And, to top it off, I am quite certain that he would feel comfortable using any number of cheap, tacticool wannabe knives that come free with my monthly order of ninja stars and flashbang grenades
Click to expand...

If it were me, I'd make a point to use that knife (or one just like it) at every opportunity while he's around to watch. There's a 'learning curve' to knives, with non-knife people. I think, a lot of times, if they actually see someone properly and expertly using a slipjoint (or any knife), they'll be more interested in learning to properly use it themselves. Especially, if he considers himself a 'hunter' or otherwise an 'outdoors' sort of guy, I think it'll occur to him, sooner or later, that he ought to be embarrassed by the notion of fearing a slipjoint. If nothing else, his pride should goad him into getting accustomed to it.
 
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Not a bad tactic, Obsessed.

And a good excuse to buy a nice slipjoint for myself:D

Of course, I'll probably just end up being "another in a long line of retards that date his daughter and don't know !@#$ about !@#$.";)
 
A couple of times when closing small knives, especially small slipjoints I has cut the fat of my palm, not bad but a bunch a small cuts
 
You could also use it as an opportunity to score points, if articulated properly. Explain that the gentlemanly nature of the traditional, non-locking knife struck you as something suitable for a professional man who dresses smartly for work. Say that you understand it takes a certain level of care and precision to use such a blade safely, and you felt he was a man to demonstrate these things among peers. Also reinforce that being an outdoorsman as well as a working professional displayed to you a gentleman of means and capabilities - and the knife, one of man's earliest and most basic tools, speaks to that.

Basically, repeat everything in this thread, but through the proper "my girlfriend's dad" filter :D
 
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