Why the fatigue off button locks?

Do you love or hate button locks?

  • Love

    Votes: 22 35.5%

  • Hate

    Votes: 5 8.1%

  • Meh!

    Votes: 35 56.5%
  • Total voters
    62
Yo Mama said:
Seems a lot of people are hating the proliferation of plunge locks. I don’t get it. They are my favorite lock. What’s not to like? They are as strong as liner or frame locks, easier to use, fun to fidget with, and durable.

When a beautiful design comes out with a button lock I get excited! Rag on the steel choice but to attack the button lock I just don’t get the hate?
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is it as strong as a properly made liner or frame lock? when those fail they fail open and dont close on your hand. I cant see a button lock being as strong and if it fails it closes on your hand.

not wanting to turn this into a strongest lock competition.....but i haven't seen a legit good video proving its even strong let alone as strong? why do you believe this what have you seen that I havent?
 
knarfeng said:
I won't use them, because in my opinion the knife could then be assessed to be a "gravity knife" by an over eager DA.
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The Smock is an interesting "work around" . I don't think people fully apreciate what is going on there .
Let me say up front I almost . . . almost hate the knife : blade too thick at spine (aaaaaalllll thaaaaaaway to the tip . . . sheesh_ , silly swoop near the pivot to accommodate the misplaced button mechanism and the god awful over done hollow grind (so it cuts little round ropes or some such ) . . .

anyway THE GOOD THING ABOUT IT is when pushing the button in , the blade doesn't drop unless you are really trying . People disable the "second detent" . I never understood that until I got a Smock . Then I saw what all that was about and kept the knife factory stock .

(((little known secret . . . apparently . . . is that one can easily get the blade to drop past the second detent by pressing in with a thumb nail just that micro amount below the surface of the handle .

It's what I do anyway)))
 
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jbmonkey said:
is it as strong as a properly made liner or frame lock? when those fail they fail open and dont close on your hand. I cant see a button lock being as strong and if it fails it closes on your hand.

not wanting to turn this into a strongest lock competition.....but i haven't seen a legit good video proving its even strong let alone as strong? why do you believe this what have you seen that I havent?
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I more have experienced with light to medium cutting the button lock is fantastic. Most of my knives have flippers so if the frame, liner, or button break I figure it will act as a guard. The amount of tang and lock face engagement will be about the same.

If I want a heavy use I would far trust the shark lock but it’s pretty rare I need it.

They need to be properly made any lock can be sloppy. But I just adore button locks man! 🤪
 
Yo Mama said:

I more have experienced with light to medium cutting the button lock is fantastic. Most of my knives have flippers so if the frame, liner, or button break I figure it will act as a guard. The amount of entanglement and lock face engagement will be about the same.

If I want a heavy use I would far trust the shark lock but it’s pretty rare I need it.
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its weird they say that when they've done their own knife lock tests and I didnt find them testing a button lock? im not taking what theyre saying there as a fact without a proper ref proving it.....

it reads like a blog post for google search better results than a proper serious knife article.....but is bladehq BladeHQ BladeHQ still active here...they can come and tell me im wrong about their blog reading article and comments if they want.......
 
jbmonkey said:
its weird they say that when they've done their own knife lock tests and I didnt find them testing a button lock? im not taking what theyre saying there as a fact without a proper ref proving it.....

it reads like a blog post for google search better results than a proper serious knife article.....but is bladehq BladeHQ BladeHQ still active here...they can come and tell me im wrong about their blog reading article and comments if they want.......
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Just for giggles! 🤭. This is JoeX with the Elementum 2 button lock. The blade broke immediately. The lock went through hell much more than I’d ever do to a folder.

Then there are other videos where light spine whacking defeated the button lock. But same can be found with almost every other type of lock.
 
Yo Mama said:

Just for giggles! 🤭. This is JoeX with the Elementum 2 button lock. The blade broke immediately. The lock went through hell much more than I’d ever do to a folder.

Then there are other videos where light spine whacking defeated the button lock. But same can be found with almost every other type of lock.
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yeah the stabbing part showed decent lock strength. I was actually amazed the entire pivot failed like it did. not as surprised on the blade snapping so easily.
 
Seems a lot of people are loving the proliferation of button locks, so I do not know where the OPs deduction came from.

Button lock is a general term, that incorporates various locking mechanisms that are operated by a button on the side.

The strength and function of the button lock will depend on the actual locking mechanism being operated by the button.

I have a few "button operated locking knives" and they are fun to use and as solid as my other locking knives, for my usage.
 
I only have one, a Les George VECP button lock. I'd be surprised and disappointed if he hadn't tested to determine any inherent issues.

That said, I have no specific information and haven't requested any.
 
I like ‘em, maybe my favorite lock type. I have a bunch of them. You just need to be careful where you place your fingers if the knife is too drop-shutty, but that’s the case with just about any other lock. I try to adjust the pivot on all my knives so it takes just a hair more effort than gravity alone to close them. Unlike frame, liner or axis type locks, a button lock still works well when my thumb is sweaty or wet.
 
I don't want to say I 'love" them but I do "like" them when they are done well enough. Take the button lock to button liner, frame, top liner, or proper compression lock and I like it even more. I look at that thick liner on the Spyderco Tenacious and think that would make a great button liner lock that you would no longer need access to the liner with your finger. Which would also remove a weakness of your finger acting on the liner when twisting in hand and also make the scales feel more uniform. Or I really like the Civivi Button Lock Elementum that locks both open and closed and is a top liner lock that very securely locks the blade in place making that one feel very nice in hand during use with its great little hollow ground blade. The CJRB Pyrite is an okayish plunge lock design that manages to stay thin but it the only one that when I tested I could get to bounce the blade closed. The G10 scaled Civivi Elementum II wouldn't bounce closed and feels great in hand but adds a bit of thickness over the standard Elementum. But if you switch to the aluminum scaled version it gets thinner again.

Maybe I do love them since I do have enough of them to rattle on about them. I do want to say I don't.
 
EatingSarma said:
I prefer triad lock or eventually backlock, for safety and because it's a thing of habbit by now.
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who doesn't love the tri-ad or even a well made no blade play lockback. people who dont scare me.......

its too bad Busse isn't making more of his new lock, hes claiming its stronger than a tri-ad......
 
jbmonkey said:
stronger than a tri-ad......
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At full risk of derailing but not the intent. The whole "stronger than a Tri-Ad" lock has always sounded a bit off to me. My understanding of the Tri-Ad is it's less that the lock itself fails so much as the knife tears apart. Since it relies on the pins and wedges held in place by the scales or liners then it's the scales or liners letting the pins come loose and then the lock fails. Which I think is how many of these newer designs are working with the exception of the compression lock. Pretty sure that one is wedging a piece of liner between the blade end and a pin so I don't know what would fail first, the liner bit or pin in liners.

So if the Busse was Ti slabs then it would be as stong as steel pins in Ti slabs should be in any design, wouldn't it? I'd like to see an apples to apples like a Cold Steel AD 10 or SR1 with Ti scales get tested, not just test the standard model with G10. Which if I remember is what they did in their test where they ran out of weights and started adding random stuff until they just stopped.

Can't believe this only now occurs to me but the blade and lock bar thickness I assume will also play into this. I would think that thicker blade staying straight will help. I'm stacking a lot of assumptions building this castle.

Button locks!!!!
 
Maximumbob54 said:
At full risk of derailing but not the intent. The whole "stronger than a Tri-Ad" lock has always sounded a bit off to me. My understanding of the Tri-Ad is it's less that the lock itself fails so much as the knife tears apart. Since it relies on the pins and wedges held in place by the scales or liners then it's the scales or liners letting the pins come loose and then the lock fails. Which I think is how many of these newer designs are working with the exception of the compression lock. Pretty sure that one is wedging a piece of liner between the blade end and a pin so I don't know what would fail first, the liner bit or pin in liners.

So if the Busse was Ti slabs then it would be as stong as steel pins in Ti slabs should be in any design, wouldn't it? I'd like to see an apples to apples like a Cold Steel AD 10 or SR1 with Ti scales get tested, not just test the standard model with G10. Which if I remember is what they did in their test where they ran out of weights and started adding random stuff until they just stopped.

Can't believe this only now occurs to me but the blade and lock bar thickness I assume will also play into this. I would think that thicker blade staying straight will help. I'm stacking a lot of assumptions building this castle.

Button locks!!!!
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those who like strong locks and testing......we all would like to see a side by side test on Busses claim......yeah didnt really want to derail the button lock topic either.....
 
The Civivi Elementum was my first button lock and I love it! The knife itself is a great small folder and the lock is the handiest type available, besides an auto. I can open and close it all day long with one hand, without having to practice using momentum or anything. I can't speak to strength, and I have Cold Steel folders if I want to treat a folder like a fixed blade, but for general pocket knife tasks, the Civivi button lock appears perfectly capable. We used knives without locks forever. I'm a big fan of button locks, at least for typical folding knife uses.
 
jbmonkey said:
those who like strong locks and testing......we all would like to see a side by side test on Busses claim......yeah didnt really want to derail the button lock topic either.....
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I think it would be stronger in some of the tests demko does. The hardened steel plates offer significant strength.
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