Tough Liner lock

L

lagriffe

Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Messages
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Am I to expect that a knife that closes as a result of a fairly reasonable whack against a wooden table top is unsafe? Or do all liner locks have a tendency to slip off contact when subject to impact? I understand that "fairly reasonable" is relative, thus allow me to qualify it by stating it would be the amount of force you'd dispense on a new knife to see how good the lock is without permanently damaging it. Any vids out there of such failures?
 
In my opinion, a quality and properly fitted liner lock should not slip or fail.

Anything mass produced item will have the occasional bad one, but if it will fail at all when whacked on a wood table top, I'd be wary of carrying it.
 
Would executing the "whack test" do any damage to the knife, either if it stays open or closes?
 
lagriffe said:
Would executing the "whack test" do any damage to the knife, either if it stays open or closes?
Click to expand...

Opinions will vary on that, I've done it and never noticed it hurting a good knife, but I don't hit them like I'm trying to break a brick with it.

I mainly just want to make sure it won't slip it I accidentally hit the back of the blade on something.
 
Well I am of a different opinion. I smack it hard out towards the tip. Any movement at all in the liner I want to see towards the center of the blade tang if at all. I think it is a valid test of the locks integrity. I also perform the test out towards the tip, it just puts a wee bit more stress on the lock up. Every single liner lock/frame lock I currently own passes this test, except for a Buck 882 pse. Won't sell it nor trade it because of this. keepem sharp
 
I spine test every liner lock that I buy . I just bought a couple of Emerson CQC7A models and I'm carrying one now. I tested it first thing with the usual spine whack and it failed. After a few more aggressive snap openings it was locking up tight every time. I've come to expect this from most production liner locks and I actually prefer it because I know that the lock face will wear in and seat itself fairly quickly. I'm pretty forceful with my spine testing because I see it as a worst case scenario.
 
I use my liner locks as I do any other working knife---that is including back locks, Compression Locks, Axis locking mechanisms, etc. My high-quality liners have never failed, even when I have utilized the spine tap test.

A relevant fact to this is, I use high quality liner locks---Spyderco Millies, etc. Seating, engagement, and other miscellaneous qualities of a liner lock may be different in lower grades of fit and finish, and in lower-echeleon folders.
 
I am a spine tapper and with 5 rapid taps, I figure if the liner is going to slip it will have done so. There is one thing I do on the linerlocks, and framelocks that are in my edc. I will disassemble them and and give the liner/frame more bend so that the lock is stiffer than before, yet not impossible to open. This does put more pressure on the lock face and lock bar and will probably cause a faster rate of wear, but I figure I will it, the knife, will still outlive me before it becomes a problem. I've done this to both my ZT0200 and my Kershaw Tyrade. Let me stress that there is nothing faulty with the way both of these knives come from the factory, this just something I prefer in my knives to have.
 
pholder said:
never had the need to spine whack since i usually cut with the other side
Click to expand...

Thats about how I see it.
I will check it out if it doesn't look right though. Like my Blur I have. The liner would only engage half the liner onto the tang. It didn't even need to be tapped. I could hold it in my hand and push the blade closed with one finger.
I filed it with my Sharpmaker rods and now it locks up tight with full engagement.
 
i'm a slipjoint fanatic:thumbup::D, where you cant be exerting too much pressure or doing anything out of the ordinary with the knife, there is no lock to rely on. That being said one of my favorite knives is my alpha dorado (liner lock) but i still carry it like its a slippie, i dont fully trust any lock, thats just my opinion. Folding knives by their nature can be unsafe if used improperly, they fold...Some times a guy just needs a good sheath knife or other tool for the job:)
ivan
 
I hate liner locks. Let me list for you the ones I have owned that failed either by a spine whack, or a white knuckle grip (by this I mean gripping the handle of the knife hard as heck like you are trying to crush it).

Benchmade 910 Stryker
Benchmade 912 Stryker
Benchmade 670 Apparition
Benchmade 745 Mini-Dejavoo
Benchmade Vex
Benchmade 880BT
Al Mar SERE 2000
Kershaw Leek (black, red, and grey aluminum handle with liner lock)
Buck Strider 880SP



Here are the liner locks I have owned that DIDN'T Fail!

Spyderco Military
Spyderco Tenacious
Benchmade 425 Gravitator


And this is not biased against Benchmade I just happened to have owned a lot of their liner lock knives.

Due to this I will not own anything that is a liner lock other than a Spyderco Military. The Tenacious slips if I white knuckle it but not as much as the others I've had to the point of failure.

I've also have white knuckled a Strider AR and had the liner lock slip a little and then created blade play. It didn't fail but due to that I sold it with that disclaimer.

I have seen some really bad liner locks on some really expensive knives.

-

Now I'm sure you can get any and every lock to fail. I have only seen 2 kinds of locks never fail. The Ball Lock and the Compression Lock.
 
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I just tap the spine a few times with my hand with about the same force I'd use to tap someone on their shoulder to get their attention.

I can't see myself in a situation where there's going to be that much force applied to the spine for it to really matter. In fact, I'm curious as to what most of the liner-lock detractors were doing when their liner locks failed on them. I'm not mocking either. I'm genuinely serious. I always read on here about liner locks failing, but RARELY do I ever here about which knife it was, and NEVER do I hear about what the user was doing with the knife when it failed.
 
I find the whole spine whack test useless. To me it would be like buying a new car, getting it home and ramming it into a wall to test bumper failure limits.

When I am using an extremely sharp knife I use it with care. I use the sharp side of it. If I am cutting with alot of force, I think to myself what will happen if the knife goes through faster than anticipated.

I have personally stabbed a cqc 7 through a steel wall stud. It is a liner lock, I made sure that the motion I was using would put little if ANY pressure on the lock. It did not fold.

I think spine whackers ought to stick to fixed blades.
 
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