Lock Fail?

[Oofa]

Hello everyone. I have a few knives in my collection and I do believe that Spyderco has the best price/quality/usability combination so most of my knives are Spydercos. I'm new here although I've been reading the threads for quite a while now and I thought I'd ask what may seem like a dumb question.

I read a lot about which locking mechanism is the best and which is not. Which blade material rusts and which does not. I have never had a locking mechanism fail on me so I think the only difference is what is comfortable for your individual hands. I've never had any blade material not be able to do it's job and quite frankly, unless it comes to ease of sharpening, I haven't really been able to notice the difference between steels at all. Am I missing something?

Anyone have first hand experience with their locking mechanism failing on them while being used in a normal, reasonable manner?

How about photos of blades that rusted or were compromised after normal, everyday use?

[casey1]

agreed in full. bladeplay is more of an issue to me than lock strength because i am reasonable with my knives and can avoid breaking my lock (not that i could break my Sage 1 if i tried!), but can't always avoid the play (not that the Sage has any). Steel is a minor minor nitpicky thing when it comes to S30V and beyond (and VG-10 is also incredible), and if many users were honest, they care more about the stamp on the blade than the upgrade in performance (Not that that is a bad thing). This is my opinion of knives after being a member and watching it from time to time.

[The Deacon]

Not much, IMHO. You're probably something like me. You know how to use a knife. You don't expect it to do things that it was never intended to do, or at least have the good sense to tread lightly when you do. You probably haven't bothered with the super cheap stuff that needs sharpening after opening a couple envelopes, and take good enough care of your things that differences in rust resistance aren't all that obvious. IMHO, 90% or better of the "failures" reported on the internet are the result ofe ither user error or intentionally destructive behavior, and most of the remainder are anomalies, rather than expected behavior of the lock, steel, etc. Any knife, including a full tang fixed blade, can be defective and any knife can fail if misused or abused.

[MsbS]

I suppose the steel/rust can make a huge difference with very specific usage patterns, like:
- using the knife on a boat at sea or diving (exposure to salt water),
- pocket carry when doing sports (like jogging) - again, moisture/sweat might be quite deadly on carbon steel.

If I sailed at sea, I would probably only consider the Salt line of knives.

As for the lock breaking - if you are concerned that the lock might break, then you should probably be using a fixed blade knife for the task. Although I am a newbie and I mostly use my knifes for small tasks at home or at the office.

[Blerv]

It's more fantasy than reality if you take into account the number of knives sold. I think Ford had more trucks start on fire years back due to the faulty cruise control switch and you could count those on one or two hands. At least not neglected knives or compromised due to large amounts of dirt/mud.

If you want to further play the probability game take out the situations where a failed lock wouldn't injure the user (light use, choil, etc) and the odds drop further into the abysmal.

[Zenith]

Only lock that has unlocked on me while in use was a liner lock, that happened while the blade rotated sideways and the fatty parts of my fingers unlocked it. That was user error and it was not a Spyderco.

Sal mentioned that designers such as Gayle Bradley and Ed Schempp design their knives with minimal lock cut out to prevent exactly what happened to me. I have tried to unlock the Gayle Bradley the manner that caused the other knife to unlock with no success.

Of course a smaller cut out to access a liner lock or frame lock makes it harder to unlock with gloves.

None what so ever has failed and you can see how I use my knives in the youtube link below.

As for rust. I have a CPM-M4 Gayle Bradley. A steel that some feel rusts easily. From day to day use and even swimming with the knife as well as leaving it on purpose with orange juices all over it I have had no issues. It seems once you let a patina form on the blade it becomes much harder to have the steel rust. So one either need to have some potent sweat or live in a VERY humid area to have a steel just rust with ease.

Silicone spray can help with corrosion prevention and I use it when knives are put in storage. No rust on any of my carbon blades or M4 knives.

[Mr Blonde]

In my 10+ years of collecting, carrying and using Spyderco knives, I've only had two lock-failures. One was an old Police model that went back to Golden and was replaced, the spring malfunctioned and wasn't giving the proper resistance. Another 'failure' was with an old Military, I hit the exposed liner when cutting and torqueing the knife through a tough cutting chore. This unlocked the blade, my hand hit the choil so no injuries. Since then, no failures whatsoever.

[Oofa]

Not much, IMHO. You're probably something like me. You know how to use a knife. You don't expect it to do things that it was never intended to do, or at least have the good sense to tread lightly when you do. You probably haven't bothered with the super cheap stuff that needs sharpening after opening a couple envelopes, and take good enough care of your things that differences in rust resistance aren't all that obvious. IMHO, 90% or better of the "failures" reported on the internet are the result ofe ither user error or intentionally destructive behavior, and most of the remainder are anomalies, rather than expected behavior of the lock, steel, etc. Any knife, including a full tang fixed blade, can be defective and any knife can fail if misused or abused.

I think you are right. You have to remember that it's a pocket knife and not a fixed blade. A lot of complaints come from having a defective knife or using the knife in a way that it wasn't meant to be used. I do take care of my knives and do not have the super cheap knives. For some reason, I missed the whole "cheap knife" part of collecting and started out with good quality knives so that may have something to do with my take on it.

[sal]

Hi Oofa and MsbS,

Welcome to the Spyderco forum.

The world of knives is vast once you pass through the doorway. Design, steel Chemistry, handle materials, mechanisms, edge geometries, carry methods, purpose, brand, history, geography, etc.

Knives are one of humans oldest tools and there is more to learn about the "edge" than is possible to learn in one lifetime. I will say that this is a good place to learn about those interests, probably one of the best. We have a very astute group of knife afi's (aficianado's) visiting here and we try to keep a comfortable friendly atmosphere.

I've learned a great deal here.

sal

[JNewell]

Not much, IMHO. You're probably something like me. You know how to use a knife. You don't expect it to do things that it was never intended to do, or at least have the good sense to tread lightly when you do. You probably haven't bothered with the super cheap stuff that needs sharpening after opening a couple envelopes, and take good enough care of your things that differences in rust resistance aren't all that obvious. IMHO, 90% or better of the "failures" reported on the internet are the result ofe ither user error or intentionally destructive behavior, and most of the remainder are anomalies, rather than expected behavior of the lock, steel, etc. Any knife, including a full tang fixed blade, can be defective and any knife can fail if misused or abused.

Quoted because this really hits the mark, in my opinion.

[fliktrik]

I've heard of lock "failures" due to excess lint or debris getting into the lock mechanism, but have never experienced anything like that myself. Such a failure might reasonably be considered a user error rather than a failure of the knife.

[Drkknight614]

Yea I think the only time you have to worry about whether your lock is super strong is if you plan on doing something with your folder it wasn't designed to do. Oh and incase you new members don't know, Sal, who responded in this thread...is Sal Glesser, the CEO of the company. Hows that for customer service?

[Leatherneck]

I haven't had a failure of any sort since I was 10 years old and trying to stab something with a slipjoint! It was obviously user failure! In this arena most people realize they need a particular style of knife for the intended use and like mentioned most failures are a result of needless abuse. As far as rust and rot goes, just a tad of PM will usually suffice.

[DCDesigns]

Ive never had a spyderco fail on me, dont think I ever will. Owning different knives for me is about the combination of steel, handle material, and lock type (and having a variety to choose from). The steel does vary quite a bit with the spyderco offering, perhaps you just need to use some vg10 for a while, then switch directly to s90v and see if you can tell a diffence edge retention, Before too long you will be able to tell the difference how one steel cuts vs another. Like super blue, if I was blindfolded and made to cut a piece of paper with knives and guess the steel. Im fairly confident I could pick out super blue. The edge has a bite from the tungsten content that is unlike any other steel I have ever used. Now if we are talking about sharpening steels. if you took all the labels off my knives, then gave me each to sharpen(say they are all mules with the same handle), Im pretty sure I could put them back on. Handle material is all about grip and looks to me. And really the differnces in lock type are just about convenience. Sure there are some things some locks do best, and thats why Im glad there is a plethora.

Quite a few of us like to talor the knife (steel, type, lock) to what we plan on doing that day. Nerdy I know, but I love it.

[MsbS]

Oh and incase you new members don't know, Sal, who responded in this thread...is Sal Glesser, the CEO of the company. Hows that for customer service?

I know that - before joining any forum, I always spend some time just lurking around and reading And yes, it is quite impressive indeed. The best I can hope for in most 'official forums' is a customer representative - occasionally useful, rarely welcoming, and never definitive in his/her answers.
Sal, thanks for the warm welcome, and thanks for setting up this community. Even though I am fairly new to knives, I can see and appreciate it when true passion drives the business.

[akaAK]

I have only ever had one spydie fail on me, a Sage 2, where the liner lock seemed to have been rounded off enough that the blade would slip with minimal pressure. It was never used and replaced by Spyderco. The Sage 2 I recieved back is absolutely rock solid.

Ocassionaly in the manufacturing process mistakes can be made, I have found them to be extremely rare with spydies or at least they haven't made their way into my hands. I also give every new knife a solid once over when it is recieved to weed out any issues it may have (loose screws etc.), I go through the same process occasionaly as general maintenance. It has worked for me.

Welcome to the forum by the way.

[jossta]

Never had a lock on a knife made by reputable company fail. Never had any blade performance issues, but like anything else, a little maintenance never hurt anyone. I've had 1095, M4, Elmax and S30v develop rust just sitting.

[Jim Malone]

Never had a lock fail on me.
I use my folding knives as folding knives meaning that i remind myself that it has a lock that could fail at any moment.
With this in mind you use safe ways of cutting
I never use my folding knife as a fixed blade, i have fixed blades for that