Ever have a lock fail in normal use?

[mikestp]

I briefly owned a Quiet Carry Waypoint and for me the way it was comfortable to hold also made me disengage the liner lock unintentionally. Not sure if that would be considered a lock failure or an ergonomic failure, but I had to sell the knife because it was unusable for me.

[Halfneck]

Had an Emerson CQC-7 (liner-lock) fail during use back in the early 2000s.I was cutting/sawing through heavy duty corrugated cardboard. The knife became kind of wedged and when I went to jerk it back up, I felt the lock give way. I was lucky and didn't cut myself. Later that night I found I could lightly tap the spine and defeat the lock. My other 2 Emerson knives had no issues. Still have trust issues with liner-locks though & almost treat them like slipjoints when using them.

Had the back-lock on my my SE ZDP-189 Delica fail, but it turned out to just be accumulated pocket lint/crud. Cleaned it out and no problems since.

[Wallach]

In terms of open / active use, I did have an older liner lock fail on me once, yeah. Thankfully didn't wind up cutting me too bad for it. I also had one that wouldn't lock out consistently if you slow rolled it open and I had to send back just for safety reasons. I've been more cautious of liner locks ever since, even though I still use them sometimes.

That reminds me, I owned one of the FRN Buck / Strider collabs that would consistently fail. The lock was so weak I could fold the knife shut with simple hand pressure without touching the lock release. It'd fail simple spine taps too (taps...not whacks.).

Sent it in to uck and got it back in the exact same condition and told it was up to spec.

Yeah. Military 1 is the only liner lock I own unless you count my one handed trekker. Not my favorite lock by a long shot.

Yea, I've had a few different button locks that would do that. Like you wouldn't even have to whack the spine at all, but if you just bumped it from the back it would give up immediately. Those button locks are the only ones I just won't buy anymore unless they're on an automatic, I don't trust them at all.

[navin johnson]

Yes

That is why my serious use folders have a ricasso or choil

[ChrisinHove]

Only in pocket, when I learned that the flipper tab concept is deeply flawed for a pocket knife.

[Doc Dan]

I have had a couple of liner locks fail when using hard, but not abusing, working at the ranch. The lock failed on one and actually the stop pin also broke and the blade folded upwards. I can't remember but seems like it was a Gerber. How that could happen I have no idea, but it simply did. The other one closed and almost cut my hand badly. I don't trust liner locks, or frame locks at all. I've seen a lot of liner locks and frame locks where the lock bars failed and bent and slid over. I did have an ultra cheap lock back break on me. The lock bar actually snapped, but it was a cheap Chinese gas station knife and I knew it was not a very good knife. And it also belonged to somebody else. It wasn't actually the lock at the tang, but the lock bar that broke. I have seen cheap lock backs that broke at that cut out where the bar engages the tang. Friends don't let friends buy such knives.

[Palestrina]

A good friend of mine had a liner lock fail on him while cutting straps. It may have been his own fault, hard to tell since I wasn't there, but he ended up in the hospital to get a few stitches.

We checked his knife afterwards, it wasn't old or abused, a middle class knife, I still know the exact model. Funny enough this has kept me from buying anything by this brand and avoiding liner locks like the plague.

[p_atrick]

I briefly had a Swayback. It never closed on me in use, but I could use my hands and close the knife without touching the lock bar. I haven't had many frame locks from Spyderco, but that is the only one that had any issues regarding lockup.

[Rezimus]

I had a USA Gerber liner lock fail on me luckily wasn't cut. Its actually what prompted me to go and get a Spyderco Tenacious back in 2011 maybe?

[ykspydiefan]

More failures than I would have guessed.

I have learned that one reason I have not experienced a failure may be because I do not stab or pierce often. Even when opening hide, if my blades is newly sharpened, I preferer to slice through vs poke in.

I have a friend who failed to keep his thumb out of the cutout on the Tenacious. He said it felt natural to put his thumb there and like the feel of the jimping. Not really him or the knife being a failure as much as a bad match. He handled and used the Pacific and liked it.

[JFR1]

Just FYI, you can also get a buildup of crud under the lock bar that can have the same effect as crud in the lockwell. Much harder to see and reach to clean out. I've had that happen, along with lint in the lockwell. I also have a Dodo that would close with a little thumb pressure on the spine. I carried it that way for a year before discovering it after reading a thread here where someone else complained about it. I grew up with slipjoints and learned long time ago to treat every folder like a non-locker.

That makes sense! Appreciate the tip!

[Jim Malone]

I once got a cut from my P´kal because i shoved keys in my pocket. The keys pushed against the emerson opener and opened the blade cutting me twice while trying to retrieve the keys and then remove the half opened blade.
This was operator error. Do not put anything inside the pocket when wearing the p´kal in that pocket. The emerson on the blade points towards your middle line instead of againt the seam of your pocket.

[StuntZombie]

I had a Spyderco Siren fail on me. Luckily I was using it in such a way that wouldn't have cut me.

[u.w.]

Now that I think about it a little more..

I had the lock fail on me, on a SOG Flash II I'd picked up at the NEX/PX
either in Bahrain or Qatar. We flew in to the (and were working security involving a potential
upcoming POTUS visit), Ben Gurion International Airport, just outside Tel Aviv.
I don't remember what I was cutting, but sure enough - that lock failed and the blade folded right up.
Very luckily, I was not cut. That knife went right into the trash, and the Endura 3 that I had along also, came into
rotation. I still have that Endura
Fun times :-)

u.w.

[gk4ever2]

Never.

Whenever I'm doing something that might challenge a lock I switch to a fixed blade. Several at home, and one in the truck. Have a small Enuff on my belt sometimes.

It's been pretty much the same for me, with no lock failures, and I use a fixed blade for anything approaching heavy use. I do like liner locks, but I keep them adjusted reasonably tight. With a fixed blade, I prefer extra tough steels like 3V and INFI. As a kid, I might have had a slipjoint close on me when I was doing something stupid, but I don't remember any really bad cuts.

[standy99]

20 years as a butcher, I have had some fixed blade fails… (they are for another thread)

40 years using pocket knives never had a lock fail…

[Red Leader]

I have had a couple of liner locks fail when using hard, but not abusing, working at the ranch. The lock failed on one and actually the stop pin also broke and the blade folded upwards. I can't remember but seems like it was a Gerber. How that could happen I have no idea, but it simply did. The other one closed and almost cut my hand badly. I don't trust liner locks, or frame locks at all. I've seen a lot of liner locks and frame locks where the lock bars failed and bent and slid over. I did have an ultra cheap lock back break on me. The lock bar actually snapped, but it was a cheap Chinese gas station knife and I knew it was not a very good knife. And it also belonged to somebody else. It wasn't actually the lock at the tang, but the lock bar that broke. I have seen cheap lock backs that broke at that cut out where the bar engages the tang. Friends don't let friends buy such knives.

Doc,


Wow some bad experiences for sure! Your issue with the backlock highlights how the triad lock with its stop pin really enhances the backlock design, since no longer is the blade locking not h putting so much tension on the locking bar notch as much as it is now pushing it all against the stop pin. When taking apart a triad lock knife, I was surprised to see that the locking bar hinge pivot was extremely loose, almost like ‘free-floating’ in the pin - I think that is by design as it allows for the right amount of tolerance for the front of the locking bar, the blade’s locking notch, and the stop pin to all settle in together. Really quite a brilliant take on a knife lock.

[S-3 ranch]

Yes I broke the spine of a delica cleaning wild hog !
Got the intestines out and needed to open the rib cage and got the knife up against the breast bone and gave it a hard jerk and it folded up , tried it again and same thing, sent it back to spyderco and they replaced it, I still have that clip it model and still carry it on occasion

[Doc Dan]

I have had a couple of liner locks fail when using hard, but not abusing, working at the ranch. The lock failed on one and actually the stop pin also broke and the blade folded upwards. I can't remember but seems like it was a Gerber. How that could happen I have no idea, but it simply did. The other one closed and almost cut my hand badly. I don't trust liner locks, or frame locks at all. I've seen a lot of liner locks and frame locks where the lock bars failed and bent and slid over. I did have an ultra cheap lock back break on me. The lock bar actually snapped, but it was a cheap Chinese gas station knife and I knew it was not a very good knife. And it also belonged to somebody else. It wasn't actually the lock at the tang, but the lock bar that broke. I have seen cheap lock backs that broke at that cut out where the bar engages the tang. Friends don't let friends buy such knives.

Doc,


Wow some bad experiences for sure! Your issue with the backlock highlights how the triad lock with its stop pin really enhances the backlock design, since no longer is the blade locking not h putting so much tension on the locking bar notch as much as it is now pushing it all against the stop pin. When taking apart a triad lock knife, I was surprised to see that the locking bar hinge pivot was extremely loose, almost like ‘free-floating’ in the pin - I think that is by design as it allows for the right amount of tolerance for the front of the locking bar, the blade’s locking notch, and the stop pin to all settle in together. Really quite a brilliant take on a knife lock.

Any quality lock back will be super strong, stronger than other types of locks. Golden made Spyderco back locks are extremely strong and very smooth. But, yes, Demko did a great job designing the Triad Lock.

[Mr Blonde]

About 25 years ago, I had a Military's lock 'fail' in normal use. I was cutting up tough cardboard packaging and while torqueing and cutting the knife, being left-handed, I inadvertently disengaged the lock. No serious cuts, just a learning experience about a right-handed linerlock with a generous exposed locking tab vs. left-handed use.

Otherwise, I've never has a lock fail on me.