Well...are slipjoints safe or unsafe??

I think slips are perfectly safe but if I am doing a lot of cutting I would much rather have a locking blade -- no one is perfect or coordinated all the time...
 
I have been using a SAK climber for 15 years. I have yet to have the blade close on me. Its perfectly safe for me. If I need something more heavy duty for work related purposes, I will get the right tool for that job.

...and the "Mall Ninja" link is one funny read, i am still laughing. hahahaha LOL :D
 
As with OLDWAYS and OLDKNIFE, I've been carrying a Camillus Stockman since 1950, when my father gave it to me as a birthday present. My thirteenth birthday. He also taught me how to use it safely.

I can't even begin to imagine all the chores for which that Stockman has been used, from working on elk, deer, antelope, Black bear, upland birds and small game, ducks and geese, fish, sticks, string, rope, picking out splinters, drilling holes in smashed thumbnails, cutting steak at several restaurants where their "steak knives" were useless, etc., and I've never had one safety problem with it.

The blades are razor sharp and it still "walks and talks" just as it did the day my father gave it to me, although the stag scales are much thinner.

It is in my pocket as I type this, and it'll be there until I die. Other than on an airplane (and this is only since 9/11) or other metal detecting entrances, I am never without it.

Can't beat a good Stockman or Trapper, in my opinion. ;)

L.W.
 
as a kid i was given a massive camillus #26 2 bladed slipjoint...
My old man gave it to me said it was my grandpas and to be careful... that was it no users manual, no charts or graphs... i like many before kinda figured out what to do and not to do with a folding knife, forced me to learn the tools limitations and also the consequences of being wreckless with it.
I love all kinds of knives, lockback, liner lock etc. but my heart always goes back to the slipjoints:D
and i suppose its colored my view on all folding knives, i wont completly trust a lock, not even on my beloved Alpha Dorado...
Locks can provide a false sense of security i suppose
good discussion
ivan
 
For me, a locking blade just makes sense; my pocket knife is my first "go-to" tool, and admittedly, it gets used for things it shouldn't and often I don't pay as much attention to safety as I should. A locking blade is just a safety feature that I like because its one more thing I don't have to worry about. I have nothing against non-locking blades though, they're just less utilitarian and more of a novelty for me.
 
shecky said:
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.
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I couldn't agree with you more sir, how many here have done this so called SPINE WHACK test with a slip joint?
 
Quality tools used by a competent person should be generally safe. What's unsafe in my opinion is using the wrong tool for the job or improperly using a tool. Locking knives can be just as dangerous to the idiot/ignoramus.
 
"It´s safe if you use it properly"

Well, yes. The thing is, it´s not safe if, by some chance, you don´t use it correctly. I fail to see any reason why you would want to use a non-locking knife over one with a lock. It´s like steel toecaps. If all goes according to plan, you´ll never need them and they have certain disadvantages. Still, all else being equal, I´ll use shoes that have themm
 
Non of my slip-joints will pass a spine wack test. :D.

My experience mirrors that of jackknife's; a subset really since I am 10 years give or take younger. I was in my single digit years the last time I cut myself with a slipjoint too. Never got bit bad, but enough to learn how to use one. ;)

I own a few knives of quite a few types, but the ones that really get used are my mutliblades. They are not built to take as much abuse as a lot of modern designs, but those thin blade thicknesses sure cut better and with less effort in general than the thicker heavier duty knives.

*disclaimer since I have so many friends in the Traditional forum and also moderate there with my brother Blues, I am a little prejudice, but not that much. My pocket carry knives include quite a few slipjoints that get pocket rotatation. They vary from very small to large custom and production multiblades, a Kit Carson lockback, Scott Cook Lochsa (both for heavier duty folder work) and a Don Cowles small fixed blade. The slipjoints see the vast majority of work.

I mainly collect slip-joints and damascus daggers, but do branch out often to other examples of other styles.

I like having the choices, but sometimes I think the tried and true multiblade gets overlooked a little. In my everyday life, when it come to usefulness and versatility I have yet to encounter another type of knife that outshines it, but I also had some pretty wise folks as teachers. ;)
 
Arkeld said:
"It´s safe if you use it properly"

Well, yes. The thing is, it´s not safe if, by some chance, you don´t use it correctly. I fail to see any reason why you would want to use a non-locking knife over one with a lock. It´s like steel toecaps. If all goes according to plan, you´ll never need them and they have certain disadvantages. Still, all else being equal, I´ll use shoes that have themm
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I could wear steel toes to the office, I could also wear a hard hat while I'm at it. It's not necessary though.
 
When I was young, I was scared of them, but I always liked the classic look. Some of the crap knives I was exposed to definetely helped poison me for a time. Now, unless I intend on cutting something heavy, or using the knife for something a knife ought not be used for- a slipjoint will be fine- nearly always. This isn't to say I don't use lock knives- both classic and modern as well. Never closed a slippy on my fingers, and I carry one (or more) regularly.
 
Like I said in the other thread, slipjoints are as safe or more safe than locking folders because you will use them safely. As for wutitiz motorbike helmet- if I knew I was in a situation where my knife was going to fail, fold on me, brake, whatever, regardless, I would carry a fixed blade. If I get on a bike, I know I'm going to fall off a some time (actually, I'd probably fall off just trying to get on : D ). Thus I would wear a helmet- thus I would carry a fixed blade if I'm going to do something where my knife is going to be subject to abuse. However, in normal use, I'm not expecting to have to abuse my knives, and I'm not expecting them to break, as I don't buy junk. I don't wear a helmet in my car.
This isn't to say I don't carry, like, use, or trust locking folders- I just think that slipjoints are as safe if not safer than locking knives.
 
Any knife or tool is only as safe as it's user. An idiot will hurt himself severly on a pair of pliers if left alone. If you, however, take the time to properly learn how to use your tools, you will not hurt yourself. All accidents (save malfunctions of course) with knives come from carlessness on the users part.
 
I bought a Victorinox Soldier last fall, just to see what all the fuss was about. Well, I have to admit it is one fine knife. I guess beauty in simplicity is a good way to describe it. Anyway, I do get a little antsy when closing it. You definitely have to watch yourself, those SAK's close with a good snap. In my opinion there is a much higher risk of the knife closing on you than there is of a good lock failing in regular use. Both can happen if you aren't careful, but one seems a little harder to avoid.
 
Creel said:
Any knife or tool is only as safe as it's user. An idiot will hurt himself severly on a pair of pliers if left alone. If you, however, take the time to properly learn how to use your tools, you will not hurt yourself. All accidents (save malfunctions of course) with knives come from carlessness on the users part.
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I think there's a lot of truth to that; that most of it's just knowing the limits of the tool, and not using a slipjoint folder in a way that it is apt to close on you.

Just like you learn to keep your fingers and the fleshy, tender parts of your hand away from the jaws and wire cutter on a pair of pliers. ...Of course, I still get some fairly painful injuries from pliers once in a while, but that has more to do with being tired and just not paying enough attention than any defect in the tool!
 
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