Compression lock opening in pocket?

[Shmohawk]

I've seen mentioned here, and other places, that people have had compression lock knives open on them in pocket.
I regularly edc CL knives and this has never happened to me, thank God.

I'd like to keep it that way.

If a CL has opened on you in pocket, can you please provide some details?
Was the knife clipped in pocket/waistband or loose in pocket?
Tip up, tip down?
Was there an object in your pocket that caused the knife to open?
Etc..

It did happen to me once with a cross bar lock that was in waist band. Iirc, I was pulling my pants up and the thumb stud caught on me undies and opened the knife. Thank God I heard it open and stopped pulling up my pants.

[JSumm]

I have had this happen a few times. Para 3 LW and a Watu. Couldn't give any details, except I went to draw the knife from my pocket and the blade caught on my pant seem. It was partially open and when I would pull on it, it dug deeper in the seem trapping it. Had to finagle it a bit to get it closed enough to get it out of my pocket.
Tip up carry.

[z1r]

Never had a CL do this (yet). But this is why I always change the clip to a tip up so that the blade is against the seam of my pocket. It may pop open but the edge is facing away from my hand if it does. This is also the reason I tend to prefer back locks. My CO Flag PM2 has the weakest detent of any CL I own. No issues so far. In full disclosure though, it was a seconds purchase. Still, I like it.

Only Spyderco I've had open in my pocket was my wife's HB Ladybug which I keep on her car keychain. Only happened once.

[Foehammer]

Thankfully it only happened once , but it was totally my fault. I had just pulled apart the knife and cleaned it, ended up not putting loctite on the pivot screw. Stuck my hand in my pocket later on in the day and cut myself decently. The most embarrassing part is I was buying a new suit and I started to bleed all over the floor. The sales guy was good about though, thankfully. I felt like a real idiot. Maybe I am.

[cjk]

Any knife which holds the blade in with a detent ball in a hole in the blade (compression lock, liner lock, RIL (frame lock) requires the blade be moved just a tiny bit to be unlocked. The looser the pivot, the less force it takes to come open.
This is really a folding knife problem, not a Spyderco problem.

backlocks have a significant close bias. They'll snap back closed if opened less than 45ish (?) degrees.
CBBL (like Manix 2) also have a close bias, but it's more like 15 or 20 degrees. Much less close bias than a backlock.
Sliding bar locks (Axis and many friends) have similar close bias to a CBBL.
I didn't measure any of the degrees above and am just estimating.

I had a Spyderco Brouwer come open in my pocket. It was unclipped in the pocket. There was other stuff in my pocket. I'm sure something caught in the hole and pulled it open. I don't carry detent ball knives unclipped in the pocket anymore, only back locks and slip joints. If I'm carrying a compression lock or or RIL, it goes clipped in the pocket with the blade against the pocket seam.

and really, the bigger the knife, the more sense it really does make to carry it tip down (though I don't do this).

[dsvirsky]

Para 3 LW, loose in sweatpants pocket. I dropped the sweatpants courtesy of morning clumsiness, found the knife open in pocket when I picked them up. No problems ever while wearing the pants.

[James Y]

I haven’t had it happen with a compression lock (yet), but when I was young, I was carrying a switchblade in my RF pocket that had come partially open, which I only noticed because I felt a slight prickly, poking sensation while sitting at my desk in class. The tip of the stiletto-style blade had been poking the side of my manhood through my pocket. Imagine if that had been a Spyderco, especially like the Yojimbo 2; the stuff of nightmares.

I would assume that if a compression lock came open in the pocket, it would be worse if it was tip-down than if it was tip-up.

Jim

[yablanowitz]

I haven’t had it happen with a compression lock (yet), but when I was young, I was carrying a switchblade in my RF pocket that had come partially open, which I only noticed because I felt a slight prickly, poking sensation while sitting at my desk in class. The tip of the stiletto-style blade had been poking the side of my manhood through my pocket. Imagine if that had been a Spyderco, especially like the Yojimbo 2; the stuff of nightmares.

I would assume that if a compression lock came open in the pocket, it would be worse if it was tip-down than if it was tip-up.

Jim

Why would you assume that? If it is tip-down, there is at least some chance of gravity helping to close the blade, or at least inhibit it from opening further. Tip up, once the detent is overcome gravity is trying to open the blade the rest of the way. Relying on contact between the spine of the blade and the side of the pocket to hold the blade shut also means relying on the pocket clip to hold the knife exactly where you put it. In my admittedly limited experience over the last forty years, that qualifies as a fool's errand.

[James Y]

I haven’t had it happen with a compression lock (yet), but when I was young, I was carrying a switchblade in my RF pocket that had come partially open, which I only noticed because I felt a slight prickly, poking sensation while sitting at my desk in class. The tip of the stiletto-style blade had been poking the side of my manhood through my pocket. Imagine if that had been a Spyderco, especially like the Yojimbo 2; the stuff of nightmares.

I would assume that if a compression lock came open in the pocket, it would be worse if it was tip-down than if it was tip-up.

Jim

Why would you assume that? If it is tip-down, there is at least some chance of gravity helping to close the blade, or at least inhibit it from opening further. Tip up, once the detent is overcome gravity is trying to open the blade the rest of the way. Relying on contact between the spine of the blade and the side of the pocket to hold the blade shut also means relying on the pocket clip to hold the knife exactly where you put it. In my admittedly limited experience over the last forty years, that qualifies as a fool's errand.

It could also be jostled open if clipped tip-down, if the jostling is with enough force to overcome the little detent. Of course, if it opens tip-up it could be awful. But if it jostles open tip-down, where is the tip going to be pointing at?

Jim

[ladybug93]

i carry comp lock knives a lot, even iwb and during activity. i can't speak for anyone else, but the only time this has sort of happened to me was with the yojimbo 2. i say sort of because what really happened was that a fold of the fabric on my pants worked itself into the gap between the scales. when i tried to pull the knife from my pocket, the very pointy tip caught the fold and cut my pants. the knife wasn't actually open until i started pulling on it, and even then, it wasn't really open.

i realized this is just something that can happen with thicker blades when it also happened while carrying my cold steel 4max scout, which has a triad lock as opposed to a detent lock.

i imagine that this is responsible for at least a portion of the reports of blades opening and cutting holes in pants and is largely blamed on detent locks that have nothing to do with the problem.

i'm not saying it never happens... just sharing my experience.

[Sharp Guy]

I have a whole bunch of compression lock knives and none have ever opened in my pocket. However, I did have a Sliverax open when I was carrying it IWB in the back and when I sat down the pressure on the flipper tab caused the blade to open and cut the back of my blue jeans. The Sliverax had a weak detent. I've since corrected that but no longer carry it IWB

[Manixguy@1994]

I have been lucky after reading these posts , never encountered this problem with a Spyderco. I did have a “Other “ auto inadvertently open that did not have a safety open few years ago and never happened again since I sold it . MG2

[R100]

I carry small knives clipless and loose in my back pocket. I have had a number of compression locks and liner locks come open in the pocket. I think it is because I carry a handkerchief in the same pocket to stop the knife printing and to help keep it in place. Sometimes a fold of cloth must hook the tip of the blade and expose it. Without any self closing action the blade stays open and waits for your unwary hand. Para 3s have got me a couple of times but the worst cut I've had like this was from my Rhino.

I only carry compression locks clipped these days but I have had one or two inadvertent openings with narrow pockets on work pants.


This pocket will regularly catch the tip of a Para 3 and open it. Got me with an Ikuchi too. I guess there is too much loose fabric. Never happens with a Delica though. This pocket is just handy because the flap conceals the clip.

I hate the lack of self closing on compression locks but I love the solid lockup. To my surprise the Crucarta PM2 has become one of my favourite knives. I'm also a big fan of the Lil' Temperance 3. I just avoid the small CL knives now.

Dan

[vandelay]

When you guys had the knives open, could you describe where it was in your pocket and what type of pants they were? I almost always carry knives with the blade pressed into the edge of the pocket, so they'll have the most resistance to opening.

I have noticed that detent based knives tend to open very easily when you impact the top of the knife. This might be a concern if you carry tip up and don't drop your pants gently when you're using the bathroom.

[CLOK]

I have had it happen once with the yojimbo 2. I got out of the car and reached into my pocket and was greeted with the tip. It was open ever so slightly but just enough causing a very small clean cut on the finger. I am not sure if my pant material grabbed it just right when shifting out of the car or what or if I somehow just never closed it fully. Either way it was a fluke in my book. I have carried a compression lock the bulk of the year for years and that’s the only time it’s occurred.

[nerdlock]

More than half of my Spydercos are CLs and carry them in the front pocket. Never had any open on me.

Benchmades though...the weak omega spring plus thumbstuds that catch on the pocket fabric, acting like an emerson wave...have had several instances of these opening in my pocket.

Edit: also had a liner lock open on me...a GB2 of all things. The notorious weak detent might be the culprit.

[vandelay]

I haven’t had it happen with a compression lock (yet), but when I was young, I was carrying a switchblade in my RF pocket that had come partially open, which I only noticed because I felt a slight prickly, poking sensation while sitting at my desk in class. The tip of the stiletto-style blade had been poking the side of my manhood through my pocket. Imagine if that had been a Spyderco, especially like the Yojimbo 2; the stuff of nightmares.

I would assume that if a compression lock came open in the pocket, it would be worse if it was tip-down than if it was tip-up.

Jim

Why would you assume that? If it is tip-down, there is at least some chance of gravity helping to close the blade, or at least inhibit it from opening further. Tip up, once the detent is overcome gravity is trying to open the blade the rest of the way. Relying on contact between the spine of the blade and the side of the pocket to hold the blade shut also means relying on the pocket clip to hold the knife exactly where you put it. In my admittedly limited experience over the last forty years, that qualifies as a fool's errand.

It could also be jostled open if clipped tip-down, if the jostling is with enough force to overcome the little detent. Of course, if it opens tip-up it could be awful. But if it jostles open tip-down, where is the tip going to be pointing at?

Jim

If you're carrying it in the back pocket, the tip might go into your chair. If you're carrying it on the inner thigh side of your front pocket, it might poke the top of your leg when you sit down (I only carry it this way in jeans).

My worry with tip up is that you might push your hand into the blade when you try to grab it, while with a tip down, you're probably only going to touch the spine of the blade and the blade will push itself closed against the side of the pocket while you pull it out.

[yablanowitz]

It could also be jostled open if clipped tip-down, if the jostling is with enough force to overcome the little detent. Of course, if it opens tip-up it could be awful. But if it jostles open tip-down, where is the tip going to be pointing at?

Jim

Tip up or down, when a knife opens inside your pocket, the tip will be pointing at a portion of your anatomy that most would prefer not to have perforated. YMMV.

[Evil D]

Only in tip down carry, and it was a fluke accident that to this day I can't make sense of. It seemed like the knife was either not fully closed when I put it in my pocket or started opening, but it snagged fabric and poked through the front of my pants and I brushed my hand on the tip and got cut.

I've had zero problems with tip up with the spine against the outside seam of my pocket. Some say it still can open this way but my job has me sometimes crawling through hell to get things done, it can be pretty physical, I'm in and out of a truck seat dozens of times a day, I've never had a problem with it even coming close to opening and I've carried some of the weakest detent knives this way and I trust it.

[Doc Dan]

I've had a few liner locks and frame locks, clipped and unclipped come open in my pocket over the years and I have no idea how, except maybe the jarring of running or moving around a lot opened the knife. My wife has had both a liner lock and an axis lock open in her purse. She will no longer carry them. Back locks only for her. My experience with a compression lock, which has a detent like the liner lock, was that I dropped my PM2 onto the run on the floor. It opened and came tip down on the bounce and stabbed me in the top of the foot. It only fell maybe 2 feet, maybe more like 20 inches.

Once the detent is defeated on a CL, LL, or FL, the blade is free swinging. It won't close and is a cut looking for a place to happen.