Well...are slipjoints safe or unsafe??

O

oldways

Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
168
Noticing the comments in the what features you dislike thread, I would like your comments on the saftey of slippies. I have been using them over 50 years and think they are fine....still have all my fingers :D:thumbup:
 
nothing wrong with slipjoints, if used properly like a pocket knife should be used.

in the hands of "operators" or whatever the mall ninja buzzword is these days, slippies might cause injury
 
I don't understand the term "mall ninja." I have no idea what that implies. Trendy?

Also, I use almost exclusively slip-joints. SAKs mostly. Fingers intact here also.
 
Safe is relative. If you use them properly, they're not particularly unsafe at all. Folders in general I would call unsafe, as compared to proper knives that do not fold over as if broken in half. The distinction between locking and not locking folders to me is not relevant - both can be used safely if you know what you're doing, and both are folding knives, inherently inferior to a well designed fixed blade, including with regard to safety. Perhaps it says something that my favourite "folder" and only folder that I will actually bother to carry is a SAK Ranger, which doesn't have a lock of any kind.
 
I'm a SAK junkie. my first knife was a slippie, and ive been carrying one ever since (no cuts yet). Currently im carrying a Vic Cadet.
 
"Mall ninja" is usually a term for wannabees that have to have the latest "tactical" stuff, but not necessarily need it.

Aside from that, slip joints are fine if used within their limitations. People in the FireFighting, LE, &/or Military fields are probably going to need something with a more substantial blade & locking mechanism. They don't need to be "Operators", "SpecOps", etc. either. There're also other people (Ones in construction comes to mind) that might also need knives with a more substantial locking mechanism, too (Liner locks, lock backs, frame locks, etc.).

As a useful pocket knife, nothing's wrong with a good slip joint. In fact, I think they're rather tasteful & elegant, plus sometimes it's just a good idea not to show that you have a knife on you.
 
A lock is like a seatbelt. Doesn't prevent misuse, just helps minimize injury.

For pure cutting, slippies are fine. I like having a locking folder in case I have to work in an awkward position. That said, I've done a lot of work with SAKs, and my dad carried a stockman while he was a foreman, crane operator, owned his own fab business, and while teaching me mechanics, carpentry, metalworking, raising a little livestock, gardening, etc etc etc.
 
A folding knife is always a folding knife. If anything I find that folks put too much faith in locks. When you use a knife that you know wil fold when pushing on the spine (slipjoint), you use it more safely than when using a folding knife you have faith will not fold, until it does. When they do, it's usually suddenly without warning, to boot.

I liken the blade lock to the gun safety. It's ok for additional insurance against accident. But relying on one to counteract risky behavior is asking for trouble.
 
Knives are meant for cutting. Cutting is done with the edge. If you are putting pressure on the edge, the blade isn't going to close. If you think the knife IS going to close, the chances are good that you're using the wrong tool and any fingers you lose will be your own fault, not through any "flaw" in design or inherent lack of safety.
Folding knives have been around since at least the first century when the Romans were carrying them. Safety is a matter of personal responsibility, not something you get in a package or guaranteed on a piece of paper, contrary to today's popular opinion.
Consensus, slipjoints are absolutely safe. I've never seen one jump up and start stabbing people at random. It's people that aren't safe.


Gautier
 
All knives are unsafe, they are sharp and pointy!

Any knife used incorrectly is unsafe.

Slipjoints are for cutting, best is a slicing cut using the blade from the tang to the point.
Cut away from the body, and have the object secure...

You cannot use a slipjoint for a stabbing cut or a prying cut, they will fold.
But for safety reasons you should not use any folder for stabbing or prying because you are relying on the lock to never fail. It only has to fail once...

That is why there are fixed bladed knives....

So any folder is safe if used correctly, and unsafe if not.
 
Last edited:
I don't think slip joint pocket knives are unsafe at all, exept to the young guys who never had to deal with them because all they have had is the blade lock of the month.

I've been using slip joint pocket knives for almost 60 years now, and sure I've cut myself. But that was back when my age was measured in single didgets, and I did something stupid with my pocket knife that an elder told me not ever to do.

When I was a kid, (late 1940's to 50's) the only folding knives I saw were the Italian switchblade type of knives. Thus, a knife with a single blade that locked open was looked at as a punk's weapon. Most of the men I grew up around carried a basic two blade jackknife about 3 inches long. A few barlows and stockmen here and there. The feeling was, if your pocket knife was not up to the job, then thats what sheath knives were for. They weren't called fixed blades then.

I agree with Elen, if the knife folding up is a concern, then use something that won't fold. Any lock can fail from dirt, wear, misuse. At least with my slip joint pocket knife, I know its going to fail if I misuse it. I once saw a young guy in the machine shop I worked at misuse a Buck 110, and he lost the first part of his right index finger clean off at the first joint back from the nail. Did a severe amount of damage to the middle finger as well. But he had alot of faith in that blade lock.

I still carry a sak as my main pocket knife, but in the last couple years I've taken to carrying a small sheath knife in the side pocket. Sometimes a Buck Hartsook, other times a very small Puuko made by somebody named S. Dauvi about the size of an open barlow knife. Very sturdy.

I've never liked knives with a single locking blade, too limited.













t
 
Safety is relative! I know some people who I would not trust with a stick let alone a knife, but any responsible person with even the most fundamental knowledge on knives should be able to use one with minimal risk!
 
Slipjoints are perfectly safe. They're inanimate objects:)
People, on the hand...
 
Slip-joints are safe if used properly, but locking folders are far more forgiving of human error.

BTW....

For what it's worth, I work in a hospital ER ,and I have seen many many many more accidents involving fixed-blades than any other type of knife.
So it seems that what should be the safest is not always so.
 
Sure you can use a slippie for 50 years and never have a problem. By the same token, you can ride 50 years w/out a helmet and never have a head injury. Does that make it 'safe?'

I recall that Steven Dick had a column once about a co-worker from when he was in the Forest Service. The guy was cutting samples out of trees (if memory serves) with a slippie. It closed on him, badly cutting him. He got lost trying to find his way back to his truck and co-worker. By the time they found him, he had lost a lot of blood and was in bad shape. After he recovered, his wife bought him a lockblade.

If there were only slippies available, I'd carry a slippie. But since there is no shortage of locking folders, it seems like a no-brainer to use one of those.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top