**UPDATE**Would Sal ever consider another lock type for the Para 2?

mwalle6 said:
I have been carrying a Para 2 for about a week and the comp lock is really growing on me. I am a lefty so I had my concerns about it, but the more I use it the easier is seems to get. Obviously the lock was made for right hand operation so it is much easier to use with the right hand. For me the only difficulty about operating it left handed is that I have to use my thumb to push the tab which really doesn't allow much grip on the rest of the knife. I hold my hand palm up with the knife sitting across my fingers when I push the lock tab with my thumb. I think I would risk dropping it if I tried to close it in a regular cutting orientation.
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Great description. I'm a righty but I like to practice opening and closing my Para 2 with each of my hands and I find I do it lefty exactly as you have described.

Responding to the OP: I'm another who just loves the compression lock (at least the iteration of it on the current Para 2) and I hope they never change to another lock style. It just takes a little practice to get comfortable with opening and closing it one handed.

Absolutely no hot spots and no way to release the compression lock by accident. It's an incredible and ingenious design. It's super strong and rock solid, yet when the release lever is depressed, the blade swings freely. As far as who designed it, iirc, Sal has a patent on it, which I guess means he either invented it or at least invented this version of it.
 
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i'm in a very small minority here then as i dislike the comp lock. i gave a super leaf to a coworker because it just never felt right to me. not that it wasn't secure but it just didn't click with me. coworker (non-knife person) loved it immediately, especially being able to close it with fingers out of the path of the blade. to each their own
 
the comp lock is an excellent lock, why mess with a winner.

the good thing about spyderco (among many other things) is that they make knives with many different lock designs. if you don't like the comp lock, pick up a spydie with a back lock, liner lock, frame lock, ball bearing lock or no lock at all.
 
Let's hope to God he won't. If you have a hard time with the compression lock, that most likely means you're doing it wrong.
Learn how to do it properly instead of lobbying for a lock change.
 
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I love the compression lock so much I dont see why liner locks still exist. Such an easy one handed operation and the crisp sound it makes is music to my ears, second only to Ti frame locks. I love everything about the para2. However, I would not oppose a spring run Ti frame lock side with m390 or s110v :) Better yet, fluted Ti framlock side
 
Speaking of sprint runs. A left handed para 2 would be awesome. I have a lefty military and its probably my favorite knife simply because it feels like it was made for me. It seriously makes me jealous of the righties since every other knife is that comfortable for them to use.
 
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I'd like to see an integral titanium compression lock--like we were supposed to see on the Tuff. I hope that the Tuff having a RIL means that the Para 2 with an integral titanium compression lock is on its way.
 
Let me tell you a short story about my Para with the compression lock. I had the knife in my pants pocket. I was taking my pants off to go to bed and the knife fell out of my pocket and bounced on the rug. It bounced up and partially opened, came down on the top of my foot and put a real nice cut on it. So, I experimented, I dropped the knife from about 3 ft,
20 times and it opened about 50 % of the time. It depends how it hits the floor, the blade opens about 40 % enough to expose the blade. I don't use the knife anymore.
 
Jack142 said:
Let me tell you a short story about my Para with the compression lock. I had the knife in my pants pocket. I was taking my pants off to go to bed and the knife fell out of my pocket and bounced on the rug. It bounced up and partially opened, came down on the top of my foot and put a real nice cut on it. So, I experimented, I dropped the knife from about 3 ft,
20 times and it opened about 50 % of the time. It depends how it hits the floor, the blade opens about 40 % enough to expose the blade. I don't use the knife anymore.
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Let me tell you a short story about a guy who decided to drop his loaded firearms on a concrete floor to see if they would go off. :rolleyes:

How about, I don't drop my knives on the ground and don't have any issues.
 
Jack142 said:
Let me tell you a short story about my Para with the compression lock. I had the knife in my pants pocket. I was taking my pants off to go to bed and the knife fell out of my pocket and bounced on the rug. It bounced up and partially opened, came down on the top of my foot and put a real nice cut on it. So, I experimented, I dropped the knife from about 3 ft,
20 times and it opened about 50 % of the time. It depends how it hits the floor, the blade opens about 40 % enough to expose the blade. I don't use the knife anymore.
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If you don't use that knife anymore, I'd be willing to give it a new home.
 
I think the Para 2 in it's current form is one of the best folding knife designs. I love the fact that you can engage the lock and swing the blade shut with very little repositioning of the hand and no flesh in the blade path.

I'm not sure why it has been awkward for you but maybe you just need more practice.

I wouldn't change anything about the knife besides asking Spyderco to put the pocket clip in the right-side tip-up carry position so the majority of us who carry our knives tip up don't have to look at the smoothed spot on the G-10 that the pocket clip leaves when you reposition it. Very minor detail but it's the only one.
 
Jack142 said:
Let me tell you a short story about my Para with the compression lock. I had the knife in my pants pocket. I was taking my pants off to go to bed and the knife fell out of my pocket and bounced on the rug. It bounced up and partially opened, came down on the top of my foot and put a real nice cut on it. So, I experimented, I dropped the knife from about 3 ft,
20 times and it opened about 50 % of the time. It depends how it hits the floor, the blade opens about 40 % enough to expose the blade. I don't use the knife anymore.
Click to expand...

So the lesson to learn is don't drop the knife or be prepared to move your feet quickly if you are prone to dropping them.

I have dropped quite a few knives because I play with them and set them in my lap and then jump up to get something or answer the phone and it falls on the floor. The blade opens about half the time no matter what type of lock it is. It's what happens when forces are applied to a knife that folds in the middle. Have you tried your experiment with your other knives of choice? It wouldn't be fair to look down on the compression lock unless you have tested all types of locks. Even locks with a substantial detent have popped open when they fall and come to a sudden stop in my experience.
 
I have posed the question to spyderco CS months ago, and also did a photoshop job of a Ti frame-comp lock. I don't know how difficult it would be for them to engineer this. I do know they had the ti and ss frame-comp locks on the ATR's many years back, so the technology is in their hands.
Link to spyderco.com forum where my original post was [or in the usn forums]
http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48511

Heres some direct images
para2withatrconversionp.jpg


These were my templates the atr and my para2 cf
spydercoatrtiposting.jpg

para2cfpost.jpg
 
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I'm a big fan of the compression lock. It's very similar in strength and function to the Axis lock, but with a tougher liner spring instead of omega springs.

The Para 2 is by far my favorite knife, and the comp lock is a big part of that favoritism.
 
Jack142 said:
Let me tell you a short story about my Para with the compression lock. I had the knife in my pants pocket. I was taking my pants off to go to bed and the knife fell out of my pocket and bounced on the rug. It bounced up and partially opened, came down on the top of my foot and put a real nice cut on it. So, I experimented, I dropped the knife from about 3 ft,
20 times and it opened about 50 % of the time. It depends how it hits the floor, the blade opens about 40 % enough to expose the blade. I don't use the knife anymore.
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Funny guy. I truly hope your not being serious. With the exception of most lock backs and slipjoints this will happen with nearly all lock types.
 
...Hence my preference for lockbacks.
The Para2, mini-manix style lockback, would be great :) But don't get rid of the comp lock.
 
Jack142 said:
Let me tell you a short story about my Para with the compression lock. I had the knife in my pants pocket. I was taking my pants off to go to bed and the knife fell out of my pocket and bounced on the rug. It bounced up and partially opened, came down on the top of my foot and put a real nice cut on it. So, I experimented, I dropped the knife from about 3 ft,
20 times and it opened about 50 % of the time. It depends how it hits the floor, the blade opens about 40 % enough to expose the blade. I don't use the knife anymore.
Click to expand...

Why don't you use it anymore???

Any of my knives (spanning basically every lock type offered by Spyderco) will come open when dropped most of the time. That is with the exception of lock-back knives, which have an extremely strong self-close feature. Liner-locks, frame locks, ball bearing locks, they all come open just as readily, if not more so, than compression locks. In fact, the locks on my Para 2 and Superleaf have very strong bb detents, stronger than any liner or integral locks I have. So actually, if coming open when dropped is a deal breaker, I guess you're stuck using lockbacks pretty much exclusively for your folders. That's just based on my experience.
 
Sal, offer a Para with a liner lock just like the regular Military! Please! When I first joined, a friend on the forums loaned me his Para, to see if I could get past the Compression lock. Nope, not for me. The folder is absolutely great. Except for that lock, I just couldn't get past that.
 
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