I love my Southard but:

[carl3989]

The Southard is a beauty of a knife. I like the blade shape and the dimensions, I even like the clip. Yet the flipping action leaves me wanting. I can't "light switch" and even when I preload and push towards the pivot center it may not deploy the blade all the time. More often than not I have to use a certain amount of wrist action to get it to lock. My Careys and the Magnitude in particular flip beautifully. Then I got the Advocate. Wow what a wonderful knife. It is not only a work of art, but it flips so smoothly all day long and you never have to think of how to flip it. The Advocte is the best. So I sent the Southard back to Spyderco and was told that the washers were shot and would be replaced. I recently got the Southard back and the repair folks a Spyderco did a good job because it flips much better. Yet compared to my other flippers in general and the Advocate in particular it is still subpar. What has been your experience? :confused:

[Able Dog]

It has also been my experience that the Southard isn't the best flipper.

It works perfectly well with a push-button style deployment, but not so much with lightswitch.

There are a couple factors that contribute to this I believe. For starters, it was Spyderco's first venture into flippers. Every subsequent flipper has been even better.

Secondly, the shape of the flipper tab isn't very great for lightswitch deployment.

And lastly, the bearings. The issue I've seen with them is that the tolerances are so tight that if the plastic of the bearing cage expands AT ALL, the washer stops spinning freely. I just took my apart and sanded down the outside diameter of the cage until the tolerances opened up.

[Evil D]

Definitely works best when pushing down. Also gotta be extra careful not to put any pressure on the lock bar while flipping.

[Michael Janich]

Hey, All:

When I spoke with Brad Southard a couple of years ago about his design philosophies, he explained that he prefers the "push-button" style of leverage to the "light-switch" style and designs his knives accordingly. His rationale is that it reduces the size of the flipper and makes it more pocket friendly. For reference, his Positron is designed the same way.

As Sal is so fond of saying, "All good; just different."

I hope this helps.

Stay safe,

Mike

[kataphraktos]

I got mine second-hand and at first it was terrible--would fail to flip over half the time. It was bad enough that I sent it in to Spyderco after my own attempts at tinkering with it failed to improve it in any way. Turned out that the bearing washers had basically been crushed by overtightening the pivot (presumably by the previous owner, but I guess it could have been that way in production). They replaced the bearings and it flips like lightning now, no matter what attitude the knife is in or how the tab is pushed or pulled, whether my finger is on the lockbar, etc. As good as any flipper I've used, and better than most. I guess the point being that the design CAN be an outstanding flipper but may need tuning to do so.

[bearfacedkiller]

The Southard is my only Spyderco flipper because I actually dislike flippers (and to some extent the whole knives as fidget tools habit) but I will say that my Southard only got smoother with use. I put a drop of oil on the pivot now and again and mine flips very well. Have you tried any lube? How long have you had it? Has it has time to break in? Does it flip poorly because of a weak detent? That can be a factor too.