- Joined
- Feb 17, 2002
- Messages
- 53
I know that, at least for me, the type of lock used on a knife makes a big impact on whether or not I decide to buy the knife. I wanted to know how many of you feel the same way, and which locks you prefer over others, if you have much of a preference.
Myself, I think the compression lock is one of the best things to happen to knives in a long time. Strong, stable, smooth-opening, extremely difficult to inadvertently close, and, in the case of the Salsa, a slight curved bevel to the tang's shelf allows the lock to adjust itself for wear automatically. And, the piece that goes between the tang and stop pin is usually narrow enough that bending it is almost impossible without damaging other parts of the knife, unlike a linerlock, which takes its pressure from the end and along it's entire length, giving more length in which the metal can fail.
Lockbacks are also high on my list. Again, very strong, but with time they can develop some blade play. None of mine have been abused to that point yet, though. The only major problem I've had with lockbacks is that, to open the lock, you have to overcome all the force that holds the lock closed. Thus, the stronger the lock, the harder you have to press to close it, which means that smoothness and ridigity of the lock have to be balanced. Spyderco tends to lean in favor of lock strength instead of smoothness when designing lockbacks, and in most cases that's not a bad thing. The Boye dent helps make accidentally opening the lock more difficult, but it also makes the knife harder to close, especially on a new knife, where the lock pin hasn't worn down a lot, and therefore you have to push the bottom of the dent below the scales of the knife. The may I hold most of my knives (thumb on the spine), my hand position gives even more strength to the lock by holding it closed. In reverse position, the knife can be accidentally opened quite easily, even with the dent.
Liner locks are my least favorite. Yes, they're smooth, but even when done correctly (as is the case with Spyderco), they look too flimsy to trust. Also, they're usually placed such that a finger would be over the lock release when the knife is held. If the knife were to rotate just slightly in the hand during an impact, the rotation would open the lock. Even without a hard impact, holding the knife white-knuckled sometimes produces enough pressure to open the lock. Blade play is an issue as the knife wears over time as well. Its one saving grace is that should the lock break, the liner will bend and jam the blade open so it can't possibly close on the fingers. However, you then have a knife you can't close to put in the box and send back for repairs. If a lockback fails, the blade WILL close on your fingers, since the only thing keeping it from rotating at all is the pressure of what's left of the spine on the tang, which, without the pin, isn't much.
Myself, I think the compression lock is one of the best things to happen to knives in a long time. Strong, stable, smooth-opening, extremely difficult to inadvertently close, and, in the case of the Salsa, a slight curved bevel to the tang's shelf allows the lock to adjust itself for wear automatically. And, the piece that goes between the tang and stop pin is usually narrow enough that bending it is almost impossible without damaging other parts of the knife, unlike a linerlock, which takes its pressure from the end and along it's entire length, giving more length in which the metal can fail.
Lockbacks are also high on my list. Again, very strong, but with time they can develop some blade play. None of mine have been abused to that point yet, though. The only major problem I've had with lockbacks is that, to open the lock, you have to overcome all the force that holds the lock closed. Thus, the stronger the lock, the harder you have to press to close it, which means that smoothness and ridigity of the lock have to be balanced. Spyderco tends to lean in favor of lock strength instead of smoothness when designing lockbacks, and in most cases that's not a bad thing. The Boye dent helps make accidentally opening the lock more difficult, but it also makes the knife harder to close, especially on a new knife, where the lock pin hasn't worn down a lot, and therefore you have to push the bottom of the dent below the scales of the knife. The may I hold most of my knives (thumb on the spine), my hand position gives even more strength to the lock by holding it closed. In reverse position, the knife can be accidentally opened quite easily, even with the dent.
Liner locks are my least favorite. Yes, they're smooth, but even when done correctly (as is the case with Spyderco), they look too flimsy to trust. Also, they're usually placed such that a finger would be over the lock release when the knife is held. If the knife were to rotate just slightly in the hand during an impact, the rotation would open the lock. Even without a hard impact, holding the knife white-knuckled sometimes produces enough pressure to open the lock. Blade play is an issue as the knife wears over time as well. Its one saving grace is that should the lock break, the liner will bend and jam the blade open so it can't possibly close on the fingers. However, you then have a knife you can't close to put in the box and send back for repairs. If a lockback fails, the blade WILL close on your fingers, since the only thing keeping it from rotating at all is the pressure of what's left of the spine on the tang, which, without the pin, isn't much.
But until I do try it I would have to say that the Axis lock is most definately my personel favorite.
