Who makes the strongest slip joints?

dogstar said:
Which brands can stand up to hard use year after year?
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What kind of failure are you talking about?

In terms of scales falling off, I've got a bunch of Victorinox and SAK knock-off laying about that have lost their scales partially or entirely. Different traditional scale materials wear and fail in different ways. Bone can crack. Wood can nick and eventually crack along the grain. Riveted plastics or composites seem the toughest.

In terms of springs breaking, that appears to be a crap shoot. It's not something I worry about.

In terms of blades holding up to hard use, that's a blade materials question. Which is best depends on the type of cutting you're doing.

In terms of integrity of the pivot and bolsters, I think that depends on the quality of construction and at this point, I think the better question is who is making crap knives? If durability of joints is an issue, I would steer clear of the old Ulsters that were made with the Swinden key type of assembly. Beyond that, I think one would be hard pressed to make a case that any of the US made slip joints are hugely better or worse than others in terms of the durability of their pivots. Fit and finish and aesthetics will vary, obviously, but it isn't clear to me that is tied in any way to the integrity of the joint.

I'll second the nod to the classic friction folder - the Opinel. That's definitely a case where the durability comes from it's drop dead simplicity of design. Nothing left to take away, as St. Expurey correctly put it. And lastly and obviously, the Buck 110/112s are super duper durable, but they ain't slip joints. Holy bolsters, batman.
 
Case, GEC, Boker (Tree Brand, not plus or magnum) Schatt and Morgan, Buck, Queen, victorinox, Wenger, the list goes on.
The old Camillus knives were nice knives too.
 
Not much to add from me as I agree with what has been said. If you use a knife as a cutting instrument, even a medium quality knife will most likely last for a couple of decades.

I have some old CASE knives that I have had for 30+ years and a couple that my Dad used to carry that are much older than that. My knives were used at work in my construction job, my favorite CASE being carried almost every single day for about ten years. My Dad carried his for unknown tasks, but just liked having a traditional pocket knife in his pocket.

They are a little weak on the snap now, the handles are a bit worn, and the blades in a couple have been "reshaped" from sharpening.

I would think that they are down to their last few decades, depending on how they are used.

Seriously, if you use a knife as a cutter/slicer, any well made knife will probably outlast you.

Robert
 
Douk Douks are both great, thin, cutters and very solidly build slop joints. A simple all steel constuction keeps the price down and the strengt up.
 
Hard to beat a big #23 Pioneer Very solid built Slipjoint.
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