Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

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OBJ Viking
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Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#1

Post by OBJ Viking »

Has anyone here experienced lock failure on a Spyderco Endura?

I gave one to my son that failed on him recently and I was wondering how common failure of this sort is in the Endura line? I have never had this happen before with any other Endura and want to replace his knife, but I also want to give him something that isn't going to close on his hand again. I think possibly this was an anomaly and this is definitely not "bashing" Spydercos (as I own several and have given others to my family), but I wanted to see if anyone here has experienced this issue with the Endura.

I cleaned the knife and checked the blade channel to see of I could see an obstruction, and could not, but that doesn't mean there isn't something in there that has worked it's way into the internals that I couldn't see. I sent the knife back to Spyderco (arrived there on Dec 1) for them to check it out, but I haven't heard anything back from them yet.

Edited to add: The knife seems to open all of the way, but the lock does not "click" into place and engage.

Thanks in advance for any information.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#2

Post by defenestrate »

I've never had any :spyder: lockback fail on me, but I've had enough crud in one keep the lock from engaging properly to begin with.
OBJ Viking
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#3

Post by OBJ Viking »

That is what I am wondering - ie: If maybe he got junk/crud, etc, from his pocket into the lock that I can't see. I soaked it in warm soapy water and tried to clean it with a can of compressed air/keyboard cleaner, and as I said I looked in it to see if it had any visible obstructions, but didn't see any.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#4

Post by StuntZombie »

I've had something similar happen with my Delicas. I looked in the locking channel, and couldn't actually see anything, but when I started poking around with toothpick, I pulled out a bunch of lint. It was pretty packed down in there, and wasn't readily visible, but it was enough to keep the knife from locking properly.

Either way, I'm sure Spyderco will get straighten it out for you.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#5

Post by twinboysdad »

I don't consider lint to be lock failure, and get annoyed ( no offense to anyone here) when lock failure is used as a diagnoses for what could be called "maintenance failure". To me, lock failure is when the lock no longer functions as a result of a mechanical or structural defect or simply being worn out. Your son's Endura could have actual lock failure, so I am not discounting that possibility.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#6

Post by OBJ Viking »

twinboysdad wrote:I don't consider lint to be lock failure, and get annoyed ( no offense to anyone here) when lock failure is used as a diagnoses for what could be called "maintenance failure". To me, lock failure is when the lock no longer functions as a result of a mechanical or structural defect or simply being worn out. Your son's Endura could have actual lock failure, so I am not discounting that possibility.
I agree totally - Not knowing the cause of the problem is why I placed a question mark in the topic title.

The knife will open fully as I said, but the lock will not engage. This may be from a deep internal obstruction or it may be a broken internal part. I don't know. I am sure Spyderco will figure it out, as I am sure they are as curious as I am about it.

I just want to know if this has happened to others before I give him back the same model. Accidents happen, but I would like to take prudent precautions to avoid them, especially for my kids.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#7

Post by StuntZombie »

OBJ Viking,

Is it one of the newer Enduras, or is it the older one piece handle style?
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#8

Post by xinam »

Have two enduras, great knife... They are both rock solid and came from the factory very nice. I'm guessing that this is one of spydercos most refined lock setups. The possibility of failure is always there with mechanical objects, the spring may have a hairline crack that you cant see that prevents proper operation amongst other things . That said a knife should always be used safely, cutting away from yourself. The lock is merely a safety measure that shouldn't be needed, IMO a slipjoint knife is a great tool for learning proper knife techniques and can be safer because you know that the blade WILL close on your hand if used improperly. I'm sure regardless :spyder: of your knifes problem spyderco will take are of it :)
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#9

Post by DutchBlades »

I own 4 Endura's (soon to be 5 :D) of wich I use 2 on a somewhat regular base and 1 is used allot.
I've never had any of them fail on me.

There have been some reported lock failures on them, but that's usually when batoning wood or something.
When you want to baton with any knife, it's better to hold the handle paralell to the wood and letting the blade rest upon the wood, so you whack it without the blade locked in place.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#10

Post by OBJ Viking »

StuntZombie wrote:OBJ Viking,

Is it one of the newer Enduras, or is it the older one piece handle style?
I went back and looked up when I bought it to put up and later give him and it is an Endura 4 that I ordered in August 2012.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#11

Post by OBJ Viking »

DutchBlades wrote:I own 4 Endura's (soon to be 5 :D) of wich I use 2 on a somewhat regular base and 1 is used allot.
I've never had any of them fail on me.

There have been some reported lock failures on them, but that's usually when batoning wood or something.
When you want to baton with any knife, it's better to hold the handle paralell to the wood and letting the blade rest upon the wood, so you whack it without the blade locked in place.
He knows better than to "whack" on something, especially since I told him years ago about my breaking my Buck 110 when I was a kid chopping on a piece of wood. He actually does a good job taking care of and using his knives.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#12

Post by StuntZombie »

OBJ Viking wrote:
StuntZombie wrote:OBJ Viking,

Is it one of the newer Enduras, or is it the older one piece handle style?
I went back and looked up when I bought it to put up and later give him and it is an Endura 4 that I ordered in August 2012.
Ah, gotcha. I did have a similar issue with a Delica 4 that I reassembled incorrectly. There are two tabs on the piece that holds the lock spring in place, and they fit into holes in the liners. I didn't get things lined up right, and messed up the tabs. This allowed the piece to flex when the spring was put under pressure. The lockbar would click into place, but it was very weak, and it took very little pressure to unlock the blade. Not saying that this is the same thing that happened with your knife, but if those tabs failed for whatever reason, it might explain it.

Or it could just be a faulty spring. Either way, I hope you find out soon.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#13

Post by OBJ Viking »

StuntZombie wrote:
OBJ Viking wrote:
StuntZombie wrote:OBJ Viking,

Is it one of the newer Enduras, or is it the older one piece handle style?
I went back and looked up when I bought it to put up and later give him and it is an Endura 4 that I ordered in August 2012.
Ah, gotcha. I did have a similar issue with a Delica 4 that I reassembled incorrectly. There are two tabs on the piece that holds the lock spring in place, and they fit into holes in the liners. I didn't get things lined up right, and messed up the tabs. This allowed the piece to flex when the spring was put under pressure. The lockbar would click into place, but it was very weak, and it took very little pressure to unlock the blade. Not saying that this is the same thing that happened with your knife, but if those tabs failed for whatever reason, it might explain it.

Or it could just be a faulty spring. Either way, I hope you find out soon.
I loosened the screws to try to see if there was something in there and to possibly clean it out better, but never completely disassembled it, but that was after the incident and prior to that it was never "tinkered with" by either me or him, so it being "reassembled" incorrectly shouldn't be a factor..

I did just call him (he is up at the school getting ready for a soccer tournament today) and asked if he remembered what exactly he was doing when it closed. He said he was just cutting some small branches on the hedges, holding them with his left and cutting with his right while reaching into the hedge to get to the base of the branch. He thinks the back (spine) of the blade must have hit a branch above it and closed on his hand when he put his hand into the hedge to get to the branch he was pulling on.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#14

Post by OBJ Viking »

For clarification on the above post - No I do not make him "do the hedges" around here with a pocket knife. :)

He was supposed to be gathering some greenery from the hedges mixed in with the trees by the barn to feed to the goats and pigs to supplement their diet. He probably got bored breaking the pencil sized and smaller branches by hand and decided to cut a few to get more at a time.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#15

Post by sdedalus83 »

There's a good chance some of what he was cutting worked its way into the lock. A couple of days ago I had to clear out a small piece of tape that was clogging up my native 5.
I carry a serrated Robin2 at work, a Cara Cara Rescue 2 in the glove box, and a ZDP Dragonfly or Junior everywhere else. My PM2 sits on a shelf with a small assortment of Kershaws.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#16

Post by jabba359 »

I've never had a lock fail, but then again that certainly doesn't mean it can't happen. If there was a defect, Spyderco will take care of you. Hope your son's hand was okay!
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#17

Post by yablanowitz »

I wouldn't be at all concerned about giving him another Endura. While anything mechanical can break down, actual lock failures on Spyderco lockbacks are very rare. I've carried them and used them for many years without ever having one unlock inadvertently, and I don't baby my knives. I have gotten lint packed under the lockbar where you can't really see it to the point where the lock wouldn't engage, and in the lock well of the blade, but those are merely maintenance issues and not the fault of the knife.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#18

Post by jmh58 »

With out eye-ballin exactly what happened.. There are so many variable from lock faulure to cock-pit error!! Just hope it dont happen again!! John :)
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#19

Post by Bill1170 »

Since the Endura hadn't been disassembled, my money is on crud in the notch impeding the engagement of the lock bar. It happens so easily and hides in there.
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Re: Spyderco Endura Lock Failure?

#20

Post by OBJ Viking »

Bill1170 wrote:Since the Endura hadn't been disassembled, my money is on crud in the notch impeding the engagement of the lock bar. It happens so easily and hides in there.
I loosened the screws and pulled them out as much as possible to open up the side to look in there for trash but didn't want to disassemble it all the way like I do some of my other knives (EKI liner locks or Benchmades with the Axis springs) as I do not know enough about lock-back blades to know where the parts are supposed to be in the first place. Prior to my doing that, the knife screws had never been loosened or tightened. If my lifting the scale on one side made something in the lock move or come out of place then that was not what was causing the original problem and I never completely disassembled the knife, so I am interested to know what happened to his knife.

I cleaned up my older serrated Endura 4 yesterday (it has been used for many things such as cutting the heads off of snakes, cutting up dead animals (for example I opened up a beaver that I trapped to bait in coyotes and have cut off beaver, coon, and coyote tails), opening quick-crete bags, feed sacks, cutting rope, twine, wires, and it spent nearly a year in the 4-wheeler compartment as a "farm knife". It has seen some serious "not normal" use and was gritty but the lock was engaging fine, so I soaked it in soapy water, blew it out with compressed air, dried it with my wife's hair dryer, and oiled it. It opens smoothly now with no "gritty" sound and the lock engages with a definite "click". Given the lack of other people saying they have had issues with their Endura's locks and mine holding up so well, I think I will give my son my knife to use and just wait to see what Spyderco says/does about his knife.
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