Ti framelocks - a longstanding fad, or the new standard?

[Comeuppance]

Almost every single high-profile knife is a Ti Framelock these days. Strider, Chris Reeve, Hinderer, ZT, and Spyderco's most-praised models are almost exclusively Ti framelocks. Boker, Quartermaster, and others also have an abundance of Ti framelocks that are also some of their best offerings. Even Benchmade's Ti framelocks are highly sought after.

High-demand customs and mid-techs are almost entirely Ti framelocks. Heck, the only "overbuilt" and "hard-use" custom I can think of that uses anything else is the AD-10. Curtiss, Grimsmo, Moon, Direware, and almost everyone else uses them primarily - if not exclusively. You might see a Shirogorov with an axis-style lock, and there are the slipjoints here and there, but when's the last time you've seen a high-demand or high-profile knife with a lockback or a linerlock? It's so rare that it's downright notable.

I'm not opposed to Ti framelocks. I like the lightness, I like the ability to anodize them, I like that they are nonmagnetic, I like that Ti doesn't rust, I like the simplicity, I like that framelocks give you a visible measure of the "life" left in a knife. Most of my favorite knives are Ti framelocks, I have an 0562CF on pre-order, there's a Kizer in my pocket and another on order, Will Moon has my 0801 and a MK7 on the way to me, I really like the look and concept behind Direware, the solidest-feeling knife I have ever handled was a XM-18, I'm looking at getting a large Insingo, the most awesome knife I have handled to date is the Benchmade 7505-132… Yet I'm also not opposed to other locking mechanisms. It would seem, however, that it's going to be Ti framelocks for now and for the forseeable future.

How long will it stay this way? Are we talking years? Decades? Will they ever fall out of favor?

 

[Locutus D'Borg]

Fad. They give the impression of strength. I own both and I prefer well-made liner locks. Yo can grip the knife and not affect the lock bar. Many of the top custom makers, like Terzuola, make liner locks.

 

[Kowan]

Since the knives I buy are keepers, it doesn't matter to me if frame locks go out
of style.
If the market moves to follow another lock up, the makers will too.

 

[Comeuppance]

Fad. They give the impression of strength. I own both and I prefer well-made liner locks. Yo can grip the knife and not affect the lock bar. Many of the top custom makers, like Terzuola, make liner locks.

I suppose that really depends on how one defines a "top" custom maker. Volume, demand, quality, or reputation? Terzoula is not a name you see all that often around these parts despite paradoxically being a well-known maker. I'll chalk it up to blind ignorance that I cannot think of any other high-profile custom makers that primarily use linerlocks.

It might be a case of blindness stemming from personal taste; My typical knife interests lie outside of smaller EDC-oriented knives and are primarily overbuilt or on the borderline of being so. That said: from my perspective, and certainly from reading here and on USN and JZD, Ti framelocks seem to rule the custom and production market - and have for quite some time.

EDIT: As a bit of a counter-point to the "impression of strength" and linerlock notions, isn't that your hand is against the lockbar of a framelock a source of added lock stability/safety? Your hand is literally in the way of the lock slipping off the tang, and you're also going to feel it move if it does which allows you to stop whatever you are doing before it folds. Linerlocks give no such tactile feedback. Of course, I've never actually had the issue of a lock failing like that, but, I thought it might be worth considering.

 

[ezmorningrebel]

Fad. They give the impression of strength. I own both and I prefer well-made liner locks. Yo can grip the knife and not affect the lock bar. Many of the top custom makers, like Terzuola, make liner locks.

:thumbup:

 

[Stays Sharp]

They are simple enough to produce and is not proprietary/protected which explains their popularity with makers. Frame and liner locks have worked well for me so fad or not I'll continue to use them. I know there are haters of the lock, I'm not very lock-centric and preference of locks are secondary to me compared with overall design, quality, steel, grind etc.

 

[Comeuppance]

They are simple enough to produce and is not proprietary/protected which explains their popularity with makers. Frame and liner locks have worked well for me so fad or not I'll continue to use them. I know there are haters of the lock, I'm not very lock-centric and the choices of locks are secondary to me.

To be honest, I've purchased many knives just based on the locking mechanism. I really like G&G Hawk knives just because of their novel locking mechanisms. I'd be down to see the RAM lock become the new standard. I bought a PM2 just because of the compression lock, too. I also enjoy Hogue's button lock mechanism, Benchmade's Nak-Lok, and others.

 

[RamZar]

Those manufacturers that have not addressed the titanium lock stickiness and wear need to do so either by carbidizing the titanium portion that contacts the steel of the blade or much better yet with hardened replaceable steel insert on the lock face. It's good to see some manufacturers retrofit new models with a steel insert. For instance, the latest Zero Tolerance 0300 series.

My first choice is a titanium frame lock due to the strength of the material and generous / thick lock contact area. I've had titanium frame locks since my Benchmade Mini Skirmish back in 2006.

 

[wjswiger]

I like liner-locks, frame locks, axis locks and triad locks......for me it is the knife itself that speaks to me rather than the lock itself. I've never had any type of lock fail so I'm happy with any of them.....

 

[Kwon Kwang]

They're definitely not a fad, but I think their premise is way overhyped. I do own a Ti framelock, a Spyderco Military. I like it a lot...but I don't maintain any illusions of its lock's ability to stay locked over that of my PM2, for instance, which I believe to be a far stronger (and much lighter!) design.

There are many less expensive knives which will give you a stronger lockup than any Ti framelock. I'm talking the $80 Benchmade Griptilian with its much-loved Axis lock, Cold Steel's $35-55 Voyagers with that unbeatable Tri-Ad lock, and Spyderco's $130-$180 Paramilitary 2 and its wonderful Compression lock. I'm sure we'll see more awesome locks which surpass the Ti framelock in performance in the future.

 

[fetzer85]

I don't think they'll ever 'go away' however I'm sure there will come a time in the not-so-distant future where they become less popular. After all the Sebenza has been around for 20+ years.

 

[powernoodle]

Much of knife usage and enjoyment is the bling factor, and this is especially true among those who are dropping hundreds of bucks on a mere knife. Titanium is basically there for the coolness of owning a knife made from the same stuff as the XR-71 Blackbird, and it may be easier to fabricate than a liner lock (not sure about that). But a titanium framelock is colder, heavier and slicker than its G10/liner lock siblings. Is a titanium framelock "stronger" than a stainless liner lock? First of all, if a guy is using a regular Spyderco Military (just as an example) in such a way that he "breaks" the liner lock (and I'm not even sure what that means), maybe he's not using it as a knife to begin with. So no, I don't think that a titanium framelock is "all that". Its basically bling. If a guy really wants a strong lock, he can spend $35 on a Buck 110. Or he can just be a little careful with his knife, like the WWII generation seemed to do just fine with their slipjoints. This whole "strong lock" thing is largely used as a justification for dropping $400 on a cool knife. Just my take.

 

[o4tg]

I don't like them. That's because I absolutely hate metal scales. Having worked outdoor construction, automotive, and my current job, I tend to be outside a lot. Sometimes you have to take your gloves off in the cold, and metal scales are VERY unpleasant when it's -20 degrees outside. Same for summer. Just a few minutes in the 105 degree sun and you could light a cigarette off of them. G10/micarta/FRN still get hot and cold, don't get me wrong. However, the temperature transfer is no where near as extreme as metallic objects.

Add in some oil or hand sweat and grippiness also goes out the window.

I also think most of them are ugly. I think the flat piece of metal approach is kind of cheesy when most of them have nicely carved G10/micarta on the other side.

 

[Comeuppance]

Much of knife usage and enjoyment is the bling factor, and this is especially true among those who are dropping hundreds of bucks on a mere knife. Titanium is basically there for the coolness of owning a knife made from the same stuff as the XR-71 Blackbird, and it may be easier to fabricate than a liner lock (not sure about that). But a titanium framelock is colder, heavier and slicker than its G10/liner lock siblings. Is a titanium framelock "stronger" than a stainless liner lock? First of all, if a guy is using a regular Spyderco Military (just as an example) in such a way that he "breaks" the liner lock (and I'm not even sure what that means), maybe he's not using it as a knife to begin with. So no, I don't think that a titanium framelock is "all that". Its basically bling. If a guy really wants a strong lock, he can spend $35 on a Buck 110. Or he can just be a little careful with his knife, like the WWII generation seemed to do just fine with their slipjoints. This whole "strong lock" thing is largely used as a justification for dropping $400 on a cool knife. Just my take.

Overbuilt knives? For sure. Direware, Medford, etc - all extremely unnecessarily overbuilt, and have price tags that put them beyond almost anyone who needs a knife that sturdy.

I would argue that an overbuilt knife is a bit of a blessing, however. I like to know that my knife can withstand ridiculous stresses, as I will never get anywhere close to that when using knives for day-to-day tasks. Confidence in one's tools can mean quite a bit.

Ti does have some non-arguable advantages over steel - it won't rust, it's non-magnetic, and it's lighter. Certainly, though, a steel lock is going to wear less and doesn't have nearly the same stickiness issues. It's a tradeoff.

It probably is easier to fabricate at some level as you don't have to then mount a scale on it. However, most linerlocks that I have seen do not have cutouts for flexibility at the beginning of the lockbar, whereas framelocks typically do. I don't know how much more difficult that does or does not make them to produce.

It does seem to be a market-demand-driven fixation. I do wonder what would or will break us of it.

 

[Will Batayte]

I think that when done right they are pretty much perfect and will be around forever. I mean look at the slip joint knife or the revolver, it serves it's purpose so it's still around. So even if they make a newer design someday that surpassed the framelock in some way I think the framelock is a strong enough design to stand the test of time. I mean someday we'll all probably have little light sabers in our pockets. And when we do there will no doubt be guys with a slip joint whittling on the porch.

 

[stabman]

Fad. They give the impression of strength. I own both and I prefer well-made liner locks. You can grip the knife and not affect the lock bar.

I like how gripping a frame-lock DOES affect it...by preventing any lock slippage.
I've take a worn out, cheap ass steel frame-lock with mystery steel and a steep blade tang where the lock would slip right off with the slightest of pressure, and used it because, when held in a regular, hammer type grip, one's grip keeps the lock-bar from moving.

And I've never experienced the "twist and disengage" phenomenon, but those who have claim is happens with liner locks too.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Somewhere in between. I honestly think the dominance of the framelock is due to it being a relatively simple design in concept, if not in execution, and one that is not patented. Many other lock mechanisms that are not proprietary require several small, machined parts which would make sole authorship difficult, at best. As patents expire on more of the popular lock mechanisms I would expect framelocks to become significantly less ubiquitous, but I suspect they will still maintain a majority market share. The patent on the Axis lock will be up before too long, and I'm already drooling at the thought of a midtech Axis folder with truly tight tolerances.

 

[Cynic2701]

Hasn't CRK been producing a titanium frame lock for the past 25+ years? I'm not sure that one could say that it's a passing fancy in knife making--though it is certainly popular.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

I like how gripping a frame-lock DOES affect it...by preventing any lock slippage.
I've take a worn out, cheap ass steel frame-lock with mystery steel and a steep blade tang where the lock would slip right off with the slightest of pressure, and used it because, when held in a regular, hammer type grip, one's grip keeps the lock-bar from moving.

And I've never experienced the "twist and disengage" phenomenon, but those who have claim is happens with liner locks too.

Got a friend with a nasty scar because he twisted a liner lock and it closed on his finger. It's one of the reasons I'm not overly fond of either frame or liner locks.

 

[stabman]

Got a friend with a nasty scar because he twisted a liner lock and it closed on his finger. It's one of the reasons I'm not overly fond of either frame or liner locks.

But with a frame-lock, no matter how you twist, if you keep your hand closed, the lock cannot slip.
I can see how on some liner locks it might happen, but I cannot fathom what weird way people must be gripping a frame-lock to get such results.