Spyderco Forums

One thing that has genuinely surprised me over the years here, is how many people have difficulty unlocking pocket knives one handed.

Which locks can you easily unlock with one hand? Check all that apply.

I voted for all except the phantom lock. I've never tried a phantom lock, which is why I didn't select it. None of the other locks give me any difficulty at all unlocking one handed - most I can unlock easily with either hand....lockback, comp lock, cbbl etc.

I have never touched a knife with a phantom lock. Other than that, I can unlock any type of knife lock I have held one-handed and i have very small hands. I think people that have trouble unlocking one handed have a medical issue perhaps or haven't practiced enough yet. If all else fails, one can close a knife easily by using their leg to press against

Spydergirl88 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 09, 2019 7:40 pm

I have never touched a knife with a phantom lock. Other than that, I can unlock any type of knife lock I have held one-handed and i have very small hands. I think people that have trouble unlocking one handed have a medical issue perhaps or haven't practiced enough yet. If all else fails, one can close a knife easily by using their leg to press against

Yep, that's how I used to close Swiss Army Knives when I edc'd them. Pushed the spine against my thigh, with my fingers out of the way of the blade™

I can understand why someone with medical issues could have difficulty with any lock. I can't understand why someone without them would though.

All of the above.

Spyderco in particular has spoiled us with ease of lock manipulation..I.e. opening and closing with one hand. This is not true for every maker. some makers knives and locks are just not that easy to manipulate.

Who can't close a comp lock? Really?
I've never had a struggle with backlocks. Once you know how to it's second nature.
I wish i had more lock types to try....

CBBL, liner, frame, compression, lock back, slip joint, bolt action...come on folks, it's really not that difficult! Unless you have arthritis or some kind of medical problem. I agree Vivi, been a lot of talk about this lately. Maybe not enough experience, or a simple tweak to the pivot could make a world of a difference.

I haven't used the phantom or bolt action lock so I didn't select those. I also didn't select the slip joint because of the odd ball one. Most I can close one handed or just use my leg, but I have some stout enough that even closing them on my leg feels dangerous. I also have some slip joints that I need to be closed two handed and slowly so it doesn't smash in on the backspring and make blade wrap (sucks). Other than that, no problems.

If you include a thigh, I can close them all one handed. Except I have no idea what a phantom lock is! Gonna have to google it.
Okay, just watched a video. Very cool lock, looks easy to unlock one handed. I see why it has its name, too.

Voted for all of the above as well.

Vivi, for what it's worth, I'm 110% certain you would have no problem closing a phantom lock one handed.

:spyder:

The better question is which locks can you easily close blind 100 times without cutting yourself. With that metric, I prefer the thigh method for back-locks, but don't need my thigh for CBBL and compression locks, and choil'ed frame- and linerlocks.

Each of the above that I've actually tried, no problem at all. Never used a phantom, bolt action and BBL (but sure a CBBL)

Vivi, you’re gonna have to hand out a lot of medals on this one mate. I think if you can pick your nose and turn on a tap those locks shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Some certainly require more dexterity than others, but I'm able to close them all one-handed without any issues. Admittedly, I've never handled a phantom lock, but I don't imagine that I would have any problem with it.

Haha, I think this may be wrong place to find people who have difficulty closing knives. They do exist though.. I've seen people handle knives who act as if they are trying to disarm a nuclear bomb wearing wool mittens..

Tims wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:12 pm

Vivi, you’re gonna have to hand out a lot of medals on this one mate. I think if you can pick your nose and turn on a tap those locks shouldn’t be much of a problem.

You'd think. But the number of posts I've seen where people have trouble with lockbacks, cbbl etc. is pretty crazy.

Even looking at the poll it's weird that liner locks score a few points higher than framelocks. Huh? Unlocking them is the same.

Another thing that I always felt was weird are left handed comp lock knives. I've always felt comp locks were ambidextrous. Never thought twice about closing my old Para 2 left handed.

They are just not as perfectly ambidextrous as a mid back lock, but doable nonetheless.

Depends on what you mean by "one handed". I can close all of them except the ball bearing lock with one hand. However, some of them require closing them against my leg to do it safely. Traditional slipjoints and backspring liner locks (like the Victorinox Sentiinel) would fall into that category, as would most backlocks that don't have a "hole" opener. However, like hitting my thumb with a hammer, just because I can do it, doesn't mean I want to do it.

I've got a couple Ouroboros I've been playing with, and while the CL is probably my favorite lock, there have been several occasions where I instinctively reached back for a back lock when unlocking this knife. I think part of it is that the ergonomics and size really remind me of a Dragonfly, but I think this model would have been perfect for a back lock and I don't say that about many knives.

The easiest and quickest locks for me to close are the compression and CBBL. I am more cautious about slip joints with one hand closing.