I'll admit, I've got caught up in the whole " stronger lock/ new lock" crave. But lately I'm thinking why? I use a knife to cut, which means pressure on the edge, not the spine. Technically we don't even need a lock if we use a knife right. Maybe I'm missing a view on this, but slip joints have been around a long time.... I'm pretty sure I could live the rest of my life with slip joints and have no problems. If I need something stout, fixed blades are around too. Idk, hearing people say this lock is stronger than that lock blah blah blah, I'm like who cares? Anyone else feel this way, or am I alone ( kinda hope I am)
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
why do we even need locks?
- Thread starter Jastab
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2013
- Messages
- 615
I think the main selling factor in modern folders is the ease and speed with which they can be opened and closed, especially with one hand. Slipjoints generally require a slow, 2-handed motion to open.
Modern folders require a lock because a backspring makes one handed opening difficult, and without one the blade would just fall closed on you. Plus, the lock is an added safety feature if your blade sticks or slips through a tough material.
Two-handed opening isn't much of an issue if all you're doing is cutting up fruit and opening mail, but easy one-handed operation is a big deal to many people (myself included) who need to cut things without setting everything down.
Modern folders require a lock because a backspring makes one handed opening difficult, and without one the blade would just fall closed on you. Plus, the lock is an added safety feature if your blade sticks or slips through a tough material.
Two-handed opening isn't much of an issue if all you're doing is cutting up fruit and opening mail, but easy one-handed operation is a big deal to many people (myself included) who need to cut things without setting everything down.
Spyderco ukpk, one hand opening all day. Even friction folders, with enough practice alot of knives can be one handed or close too. Legs can aid in the opening process too...
You've got it right my friend.
Slippies and fixed blades have past the test of time.
Big Mike
The truth is, for the 98% of what we use a knife for most, a lock is not needed. If you know what your doing with the knife, a back spring is not even needed. For the past year, I've been using a knife that a fellow forum ember in Sardinia gifted me. It's a Sardinian friction folder called a resolza, a style of knife popular on the island for a few centuries. It has no springs, no locks, and it cuts great. The very forces at play when using the knife keep it open. Sardinian shepherds and farmers use this knife, which is very similar to other European f riction folders. Growing up suing typical American style slip joints like scout knives and stockmen, it was a little unnerving at first, but once uyou get used to it and see how it works, it actually feels better than a slip joint.
I've been using pocketknives for about 60 years now, and I've never chad a locking blade knife. I cut myself once on the old scout knife my dad gave me when I was 12, but since I learned that lesson, it never happened again. In my life I've carried and used a knife here at home, North Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia. I've never found the lack of a locking blade to be a handicap, but many times I appreciated having a couple of blades on hand in one package.
Each to their own, buy unless you're stabbing into something, a lock on the blade is not really needed.
When I was in the service, I saw all kinds of workers from the local populace using non locking folders for heavy work. I was in the engineers, and we did construction work all over. Germany, where I saw local workmen using the old Herders sodbusters made there in Germany. In Libya, at the old Wheelus Air force base, local arab workers used the Douk-Dou for everything on the construction site. No locks, and no severed fingers. But modern society has become safety gadget conscious, and that supersedes intelligent thought in action. Folding knives go back to Roman times, and yet locks were not common until Buck came out with the 110 in 1963. People just gave a thought to what they were doing. All the millions of Opinels made since 1890, and the loving ring was not added until 1955. Yet somehow generations of people using this knife kept all their fingers.
I've been using pocketknives for about 60 years now, and I've never chad a locking blade knife. I cut myself once on the old scout knife my dad gave me when I was 12, but since I learned that lesson, it never happened again. In my life I've carried and used a knife here at home, North Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia. I've never found the lack of a locking blade to be a handicap, but many times I appreciated having a couple of blades on hand in one package.
Each to their own, buy unless you're stabbing into something, a lock on the blade is not really needed.
When I was in the service, I saw all kinds of workers from the local populace using non locking folders for heavy work. I was in the engineers, and we did construction work all over. Germany, where I saw local workmen using the old Herders sodbusters made there in Germany. In Libya, at the old Wheelus Air force base, local arab workers used the Douk-Dou for everything on the construction site. No locks, and no severed fingers. But modern society has become safety gadget conscious, and that supersedes intelligent thought in action. Folding knives go back to Roman times, and yet locks were not common until Buck came out with the 110 in 1963. People just gave a thought to what they were doing. All the millions of Opinels made since 1890, and the loving ring was not added until 1955. Yet somehow generations of people using this knife kept all their fingers.
Last edited:
You're not alone. 99% of the things I use a knife for would require nothing more than a slip joint. If I'm going into battle or need something for a more tougher task, I'm going fixed blade.
Slipjoints are slower to open, most often can't be easily and quickly opened with one hand, and with the spring, are usually slower to close and you must pay more attention as well. Some people also like to use their folding knives for things which could cause a slipjoint to shut, like opening tin cans or scraping with the spine or whatnot.
The question would be - why WOULDN'T you want a lock? Is there a downside to having one? I don't see it.
I like slipjoints, I have a couple GECs. But I also like locks.
The question would be - why WOULDN'T you want a lock? Is there a downside to having one? I don't see it.
I like slipjoints, I have a couple GECs. But I also like locks.
Here you go: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/773-Traditional-Folders-and-Fixed-Blades
You will find many like minded members there, it's an awesome subforum in my humble opinion.
I also think for the majority of times you use a knife a lock is not necessary, but I also think they were created for a reason. No one is perfect and therefore everyone makes mistakes. That mistake might one time when your hand slips and you hit the spine of your knife on something. I promise you will be thankful for a lock in that moment.
You will find many like minded members there, it's an awesome subforum in my humble opinion.
I also think for the majority of times you use a knife a lock is not necessary, but I also think they were created for a reason. No one is perfect and therefore everyone makes mistakes. That mistake might one time when your hand slips and you hit the spine of your knife on something. I promise you will be thankful for a lock in that moment.
True story i ve got a scare almost around my index finger where a slip-joint closed on my when i was younger, since then ive kinda stayed away.
True story; one day in the machine shop at the Watkins-Johnson company in Gaithersburg Maryland, just after lunch, a kid neatly amputated his right index finger at the second joint, and darn near took off the middle finger. He was using his Buck 110 very hard, and was told by a few of the older guys to knock it off and use a real tool. His reply to the guys was "It's a Buck knife, it'll take it". Just after lunch, about 1pm, he leaned a bit on the knife and the lock gave way. The forman ran up to the second floor cafeteria while the ambulance was enroute, and got a cup of ice to put the severed finger in for transport. They took him to the hand clinic at Johns-Hopkins in Baltimore, and re-attached the finger. The kid was fired of course for violating shop safety rules. But he had a lot of faith in that Buck knife!
Nothing, no mechanical device, safety lock, is idiot proof. If you really want to keep the knife from folding, use a fixed blade.
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2012
- Messages
- 29,050
This is an excellent explanation.
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2011
- Messages
- 27,509
The world is an imperfect place. Accidents happen and I'd rather keep my fingers when they do.
It's because knives are being "hard used" these days - doing things other than cutting. I don't really see why, but then again, I'm just a "casual user." You'll have to wait till a "real" knife user chimes in and educates all of us.
I carry the Svord Peasant knife (mini). It is a friction folder that can be easily opened and closed one handed. That is a nice convenience, and it's one of the reasons I prefer the Peasant over other knives. However, I really can't think of many situations when you have to use only one hand for operating your knife. Just a little foresight and planning should eliminate the need for that.
I carry the Svord Peasant knife (mini). It is a friction folder that can be easily opened and closed one handed. That is a nice convenience, and it's one of the reasons I prefer the Peasant over other knives. However, I really can't think of many situations when you have to use only one hand for operating your knife. Just a little foresight and planning should eliminate the need for that.
stabman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2007
- Messages
- 21,336
If that were true, then why were there lock-back knives when my father was a teenager?
It isn't a new-fangled, tactical-I-pry-through-helicopters-for-fun thing...it's just a lock.
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2009
- Messages
- 2,932
It is kind of ironic and ridiculous, but I tried doing some spine whack tests with slipjoints, and the majority of the time, the blade never fully closed. It would usually stand around 90 degrees in relation to the handle (with or without half-stops).
The springs actually slowed down all momentum after the initial whack. (I'm sure many slippies will behave differently than others though, and I only tested a few)
I really had to hit the spine at a hard angle and push on the blade past the 90 degree point to get the blade to close all the way. It was almost like I was intentionally closing the blade, rather than "whacking it."
I'm sure there is a possibility of accidentally choping off your fingers, but it isn't as dire a situation as it is sometimes made out to be, IMHO.
The springs actually slowed down all momentum after the initial whack. (I'm sure many slippies will behave differently than others though, and I only tested a few)
I really had to hit the spine at a hard angle and push on the blade past the 90 degree point to get the blade to close all the way. It was almost like I was intentionally closing the blade, rather than "whacking it."
I'm sure there is a possibility of accidentally choping off your fingers, but it isn't as dire a situation as it is sometimes made out to be, IMHO.
Last edited:
bigmark408
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2006
- Messages
- 4,990
It's no fun opening and closing your slipjoint several hundred times while your watching TV. 
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2014
- Messages
- 19
You dont need locks on knives. Locks on knives are like safety rails ontop of highrises. Let the idiots fall over if they want to be careless.