I love the compression lock... and so does my non-knife-person friend.

[metaphoricalsimile]

I've sold my friend on the usefulness of carrying a pocket knife after I lent them my Manix 2 LW for a weekend camping trip (as an aside, if you haven't tried sharpening BD1N to a low angle you should, it holds up really well). They loved having a cutting tool in their pocket for a variety of tasks, but they did not love the lock mechanism. They had a hard time manipulating the lock one-handed because the handle is big and their hands are small.

So when we I was showing them other knives to get an idea of what they might like to buy, they picked up my Para 3, and immediately fell in love with it. Not only is the compression lock easy to manipulate regardless of your hand size, but my friend exclaimed "it feels so safe!" because not only could they close it one-handed, but they could do so without putting their fingers into the blade's closing path. I think we get really used to it, but for a lot of people a back lock or liner lock or frame lock is a kind of scary experience, and that's for knives that have well-designed finger stops on the blade.

So anyways, if you have any friends who might like to carry a pocket knife, don't be afraid to introduce them to the compression lock. It's a really good advancement in lock mechanisms and is one of the many reasons I'll recommend spydercos over competing knives.

[Paraguy]

My favorite lock.

[Airlsee]

Same for my ex-girlfriend. Out of my entire collection she chose the Para3 for the same reasons. I tried to "guide" her towards the Native 5 but she liked the Para3 better, so I got her a S35VN Para3 Dark Earth. She loves it and will probably have it for a very long time.

I think the compression lock is very intuitive, and once a non-knife person pushes the tab and sees the blade drop with their fingers nowhere near the blade it's an "ah-ha" moment and you can see their face light up.

[yablanowitz]

Glad you like it. That makes one of us.

[ladybug93]

well, we made it to two responses before someone felt the need to complain about a compression lock in a thread about liking compression locks. how many do you think it'll take before someone insists another lock is better? :rolleyes:

[aaronkb]

For some reason, nearly every time I hand someone a knife with a comp/axis/cbbl lock etc they manage to put their fingers in the blade path and I have to stop them. And that’s after I demonstrate how to close the knife. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!

[Airlsee]

For some reason, nearly every time I hand someone a knife with a comp/axis/cbbl lock etc they manage to put their fingers in the blade path and I have to stop them. And that’s after I demonstrate how to close the knife. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!

That might say more about the "someone" you're hanging around with, haha!

[TkoK83Spy]

It's definitely a fun, easy to use and safe lock. For some reason it's my 2nd or 3rd favorite depending on the day. But as I stand here and look at my displays...of my 23 Spyderco folders, 8 of them are comp locks.

Maybe I like this lock more than I think I do :p

[metaphoricalsimile]

It's definitely a fun, easy to use and safe lock. For some reason it's my 2nd or 3rd favorite depending on the day. But as I stand here and look at my displays...of my 23 Spyderco folders, 8 of them are comp locks.

Maybe I like this lock more than I think I do :p

Yeah, I think I personally am coming around to love spyderco backlocks because the lock release is in an extremely ergonomic place and the blades are designed not to cut you as they close, and the knife just feels very secure in the hand during the entire closing process, whereas my para 3 can feel kinda unsecure as I hold the entire knife with basically just my finger and thumb. For newbs, however, I think the compression lock is possibly the best.

[TkoK83Spy]

Yeah, I think I personally am coming around to love spyderco backlocks because the lock release is in an extremely ergonomic place and the blades are designed not to cut you as they close, and the knife just feels very secure in the hand during the entire closing process, whereas my para 3 can feel kinda unsecure as I hold the entire knife with basically just my finger and thumb. For newbs, however, I think the compression lock is possibly the best.

My personal favorite is the cbbl, but that could be because the Manix is my favorite model haha. Totally agree with you on the backlock, Spyderco does it well. Back to back Native Chiefs for me in the past few weeks.

I agree, some knives I find a bit iffy while handling with a compression lock, Lil Native being the worst that I've tried. Funny I was watching some YouTube video years ago when I was just getting into knives and a guy was flipping around his PM2 and it definitely intrigued me. I definitely won't NOT buy a knife because it has a compression lock, that's for sure.

[VooDooChild]

I have actually seen people who even carry back/liner locks fumble with the compression lock. Once they do it once though they get it.

I really like the comp lock as well. It just works and I dont have to think about it.

[Paraguy]

well, we made it to two responses before someone felt the need to complain about a compression lock in a thread about liking compression locks. how many do you think it'll take before someone insists another lock is better? :rolleyes:

Yup. Haha!

[Wartstein]

well, we made it to two responses before someone felt the need to complain about a compression lock in a thread about liking compression locks. how many do you think it'll take before someone insists another lock is better? :rolleyes:

:confused: Who did?!

/ Concerning this thread let me repeat what I´ve said about the comp.lock several times already:
It is a very cool and ingenious design
It is especially (but not only) good for people new to folders, who just want to operate and play with a knife right from the get go without a lot of practicing. :)
It has its pros and cons like every other locktype too.

Glad your friend enjoys it, OP!

[Wartstein]

I've sold my friend on the usefulness of carrying a pocket knife after I lent them my Manix 2 LW for a weekend camping trip (as an aside, if you haven't tried sharpening BD1N to a low angle you should, it holds up really well).....

As an another aside: BD1N is generally an amazing steel when it comes to sharpening: In my experience it takes an even keener edge than VG10 even easier than VG10... and edge holding is really not bad too.

/ So the Para 3 LW might be the best choice for your friend? Para 3 PLUS BD1N? :)

[Sonorum]

I just went to the Spyderco app and looked for a way to find all the comp lock knives but unfortunately there is no way to sort on locks. Maybe a thing to update on the app?

[Matus]

Compression lock is definitely one of the better ones - I am just breaking in my Caribbean and have Para 3 in S90V coming in a few days. I like how to lock is implemented on these two knives (did not fall in love with Lil Native but hey, everyone has different preferences). Now I need to add a button lock ... M4 Smock could be just the right ticket :)

[Netherend]

The compression lock is very intuitive. I have handed my pm2 and pm3 to friends who have never held the knife before and they instantly figured it out.

[skeeg11]

For some reason, nearly every time I hand someone a knife with a comp/axis/cbbl lock etc they manage to put their fingers in the blade path and I have to stop them. And that’s after I demonstrate how to close the knife. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!

That might say more about the "someone" you're hanging around with, haha!

Have you ever seen a newbie try to close a side lock? Almost as much fun as watching my pet dog deal with a dollop of peanut butter on his palate. :p :D

[Chleiti]

Have you ever seen a newbie try to close a side lock? Almost as much fun as watching my pet dog deal with a dollop of peanut butter on his palate. :p :D

Half the fun in having a Meerkat is handing it to other people and asking them to close it.

[Wartstein]

The compression lock is very intuitive. I have handed my pm2 and pm3 to friends who have never held the knife before and they instantly figured it out.

True.
I think the compression lock is the locktype that makes it the easiest to just "see" what has to be done for people totally new to folders.
But, honest question: DO your friends actually always think of keeping the fingers out of the blade path? This is also easiest be done for "newbs" with a comp.lock (closely followed by CBBL and then backlock), but in my experience regardless of the lock type some people totally new to knives don´t realize that the finger is in the path of the closing edge (blade would not matter, if it is the choil or ricasso part) though this seems pretty obvious...