titanium frame locks, what's the big deal?

Neomentat said:
I dont understand the popularity and high prices of titanium frame lock folders. Its not the strongest lock, have the potential to develop more problems, premium priced, slippery, accidentally disengage some times. Why are they so popular these days? And makers charge ludicrous prices for these when titanium is not very expensive. Has these become a knife snob status symbol? Is that the true reason for their popularity?
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you can also anodize titanium and get beautiful results.

I think framelocks are the sexiest of all styles of knives. They just look, and feel great for me.
 
I love framelocks. Spyderco, Kershaw, ZT, Benchmade, CRK, Strider and on. I enjoy the (to me) simplistic design, the solid "thwack" when a good blade/lock snaps open, the feel of titanium (or G10, CF) in my hand. I usually have a folder with a grip-width about 0.460" thick, which just happens to feel very good to me.
Any other lock might be just fine in strength of design, or whatever, but for me it's the frame-lock every time.
 
GronK said:
At least there's a cure for slippery.;

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You made a very incredible, and gorgeous knife look incredibly ghetto.

Congratulations. :p
 
stonproject said:
You made a very incredible, and gorgeous knife look incredibly ghetto.

Congratulations. :p
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Mama always said, "Beauty is as beauty does." A lot of the beauty of a Ti Mili is in what it does. It does it better with skate board tape. If it was permanent I'd take the time to style some meaningfully perfect bits of tape to make it artistic. Since it's temporary and can be removed leaving no scars I don't bother.
 
GronK said:
Mama always said, "Beauty is as beauty does." A lot of the beauty of a Ti Mili is in what it does. It does it better with skate board tape. If it was permanent I'd take the time to style some meaningfully perfect bits of tape to make it artistic. Since it's temporary and can be removed leaving no scars I don't bother.
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To me, that is a pretty obvious indicator that the knife gets used as intended. I respect that, and have no issue with how it looks.
 
GronK said:
Mama always said, "Beauty is as beauty does." A lot of the beauty of a Ti Mili is in what it does. It does it better with skate board tape. If it was permanent I'd take the time to style some meaningfully perfect bits of tape to make it artistic. Since it's temporary and can be removed leaving no scars I don't bother.
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Okay Okay fine.... atleast its not pink.
 
I have been beating the cr*p out of a large Sebenza going on 15 years now and had zero issues with it.

I got a small one a few years ago and proceeded to beat the cr*p out of the one too. One of the screws fell out once, so Chris's shop replaced the screw and freshened up the whole thing for me while it was there. Never had any failures of any kind with the locks on either.

I see the OP's point clearly, though as some of the new knives are stupidly priced, but as another member said, we choose what to buy. I have a 777 that I will probably never carry because to me it is art, on the other hand, I paid about a grand for an Elishewitz custom earlier this century and used it everyday for a while. I think it comes down to finding a knife you are happy with, and have confidence in, and that becomes the knife for you. Some else said that for most use, a frame or liner lock is more than adequate and I have to agree. Only once have I had a lock fail, and that was on a newer "semi-custom" that carries the name of a very long time maker and I am shocked he'd allow his name stamped on such a turd, but hey, we all have bills to pay.
 
Titanium is cool but the framelock is a bit played out IMHO...

It's no longer an innovation in terms of the knife industry and lock designs and is over hyped.

I'd like to see something like Demko's triad lock or Spyderco's new lockback put into use in more knives by other companies as a symmetrical handle with matching slabs is so much nicer looking. YMMV. ;):D
 
I don't see them as "played out" so much as timeless. My general preference is frame or liner locks, simply because they are so easy and natural to operate. While I wouldn't say it's challenging to disengage the caged ball lock on a Manix 2 with one hand, or to disengage a back lock, the little difference in how you manipulate the device is enough to constitute a tie breaker among mechanisms that all work very well.

As for the Ti part... Indifferent. I have an 0550, a TiSpine, and an 0566, and the 0566 works just as well as the other two. I don't care that the slab side is steel. It's great. No insert needed. Weight isn't an issue, because I don't carry a fannypack full of blades, I'm in shape, and I don't wear slacks to work.

It just happens that there are an awesome number of very well made folders in that basic configuration.
 
Personally I tend to lean towards Frame Locks and Liner Locks. :)
 
What's the big deal absolutely nothing it's a lock it can be good can be crap not the strongest but really sought after and I don't know why I like them but so many people limit themselves to just frame locks add on a flipper and boom it's magic lol
 
My current favorite lock is a variation on the liner lock, the compression lock. Simple to operate with either hand and seems to be very strong.
 
Neomentat said:
I dont understand the popularity and high prices of titanium frame lock folders. Its not the strongest lock, have the potential to develop more problems, premium priced, slippery, accidentally disengage some times. Why are they so popular these days? And makers charge ludicrous prices for these when titanium is not very expensive. Has these become a knife snob status symbol? Is that the true reason for their popularity?
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They're over represented thats for sure.. There is a weight savings from steel and unless you're a habitual flipper, the lock will last for a good while. But they're the "it" thing with the big beefy tactical blade fad and thats WHAT SELLS. Personally, I don't have a real opinion on em, but the G10/Titanium knife has always felt cheap to me, thus I don't buy em.

Why do they charge ludicrous prices? Because they can and people will pay. Price/value is relative anyways
Do you honestly believe that Emerson or Strider cost anywhere near what they charge? The profit margins on those are probably huge and people will pay what they ask. Not to badmouth RMJ but they recently had a "customer appreciation" sale where they sold a particular model "at cost" which was a little over half the price of their other models. So he's making a 50% profit for every hawk he sells. I bet its probably run of the mill for most other companies also.

There is a bit of a perception between "cheap" and "expensive" knives. Generally speaking most people believe that cost is representative of quality (craftsmanship and materials used) and it does to a large degree but the cost is also part of the brand image. Why is it that Sabenza and Striders have such a devoted following? Heck, you often hear that you have to try one out to understand. Same goes for BMW/Mercedes/Arcteryx/North Face etc fans.
Somewhat offtopic, but I have a Chinese friend whose dad is a doctor in HK. One thing that baffles me is that people actually want/expect to wait for an hour in a doctor's office. That gives the image that the doctor is busy and important. Thus people are more likely to say that he's good/you should go to him etc. Reality is that he probably sees the patient for 15 minutes and spends the same amount of time talking golf, but his "brand image" is that of a busy and important doctor.
 
Naphtali said:
Simple. Efficient. Secure. Attractive.

TwistMaster
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Since you've gone to the trouble of posting about the Twistmaster twice on this thread, what exactly does a zytel and sheetmetal framed manually locking two hand opeing knife have to do with the OP? It is difficult to imagine a folding knife less functionally similar to a metal framed framelock than an Opinel copy.
 
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