Spyderco Forums

I just love the engineering of a good lock...it's not about necessity or worry that it may fail. When the topic comes up about a folder being built as strong as a fixed blade, i say "why not?". It doesn't matter to me that it may never be equal..it's just fun to look into the engineering of it. At the end of the day i'm not doing anything with my folder that even necessitates a lock that strong, but why not? Lock strength is like horsepower or money...plenty is just fine but too much is just right.

Tdog wrote:On the Para 2 I simply face the knife down, use my index finger to press/pinch the compression lock an it virually closes itself (gravity). I'm having a hard time trying to figure our how you get your fingers in the way :confused: This is my favorite lock design. It's supposed to be on the YO2. Wish they'd use it on more models. I love this lock.

That's nearly exactly what I do, but I don't use gravity to drop the blade, so there's a point in time when there are fingers in the way. The same is true of a lot of other locks, BTW, but as much as I love the compression lock, IMO LH closing is not optimal.

Evil D wrote:I bet a lot more strength could be had just by increasing the thickness of that liner.

I doubt it's necessary at all. Consider the size and function of the locking tab. It is compressed between the tang and the stop pin. I think we can all be assured that the liner is sized for more than adequate lock strength. :cool:

Evil D wrote:Lock strength is like horsepower or money...plenty is just fine but too much is just right.

I hear ya and was joking about the over-engineering.

The problem is that horsepower is far easier to attain without losing creature comforts than lock strength. With lock strength you are depending on quality/exotic components and tight manufacturing but also sheer mass. This ads not only expense but weight, width, and usually some clumsiness. You're chasing the unicorn of performance that you can't even defeat on a production scale for less money.

Meanwhile, the 500 whp twin turbo Audi bumbles along getting 28mpg and cracks of 11's in the quarter at 125 mph while playing Mozart. Oh how 4-wheel burnouts make me smile. :D

Knives like the TUFF will be awesome. I personally like the 2.5 oz slicers and 3.8 oz "MBC" locks.

Hey, my Mustang goes 11s, but it only gets about 15mpg on the highway if i'm babying it :D

This one has sparked a lot of discussion, good. I see it was well brought out, that a good liner lock should not be anything to shy away from.
The liner lock is the lock i'm most comfortable with, though all Spydercos locks are good.

Spyderco doesn't have any knives on the market that aren't fully safe (and then some) for their intended uses. The compression lock is one of the most ingenious, strongest, most simple locks ever offered. I'm looking forward to Sal's 'stop lock' when Spyderco has time and the rest of the resources to bring a redesigned Military (heresy! ) to the market.

jackknifeh wrote:Lots of things are made designed for right handed people because there are more of us. That's got to be a pain for you lefties.

Just curious but has anyone heard that left handed people are slow mentally? My wife is a leftie and when she met my grandmother she (grandmother) made a comment about hoping our new baby wouldn't be left handed. I asked why and she said they weren't as smart as right handed people. She said it like it was common knowledge. I've never heard that except out of her that one day and was wondering if anyone else had heard it?

It does make sense though because sometimes my wife is stupid enough to think I'm stupid. Have you ever heard anything that stupid? :D

Jack

There was once bad mojo attached to lefties, perhaps her opinion is a holdover from that.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sinister

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinistral_and_dextral

I find with the compression lock and unlocking it with the left hand, I hold onto the pocket clip with my four fingers and push the lock with my thumb to release it. If I didn't have the pocket clip on the knife I think it would be much more difficult to release. But as a leftie I'm use to my Para 2's that I don't feel Spyderco needs to make a left handed version. I'm use to releasing the lock so it's not an issue for me.

As far as strength goes, the knife would have to completely disintegrate before the lock fails. I'm not in the least worried about this lock.

jackknifeh wrote:Lots of things are made designed for right handed people because there are more of us. That's got to be a pain for you lefties.

Just curious but has anyone heard that left handed people are slow mentally? My wife is a leftie and when she met my grandmother she (grandmother) made a comment about hoping our new baby wouldn't be left handed. I asked why and she said they weren't as smart as right handed people. She said it like it was common knowledge. I've never heard that except out of her that one day and was wondering if anyone else had heard it?

It does make sense though because sometimes my wife is stupid enough to think I'm stupid. Have you ever heard anything that stupid? :D

Jack

That's funny Jack. My wife thinks I'm stupid but I think she's just stupid right back :D
My mother in-law, who's from the old country, has a grandson who is lefthanded. When he was young she would try to make him eat with his right hand. I think she thought it was bad karma or something. Was pretty funny to watch.

Compression locks are very friendly locks IMHO but the main problem with them esspecially with those made in Japan is that they are very hard to disengage(unlock) and for me being right handed my index finger is always hurting......I think that Spyderco should try to find a solution at this problem....

angusW wrote:That's funny Jack. My wife thinks I'm stupid but I think she's just stupid right back :D
My mother in-law, who's from the old country, has a grandson who is lefthanded. When he was young she would try to make him eat with his right hand. I think she thought it was bad karma or something. Was pretty funny to watch.

Forcing a left handed child to use his right hand may very well be where an attitude that lefties are slow would come from. Forcing a right handed child to use his left would be the same thing but since lefties are the minority it would happen far less often. Also, maybe lefties are smart enough to let the child do some things their way. :) It would be funny though. Who hasn't given a small child something sticky and watch them try to drop it? :D

My concern about a lock failing is the knife closing when I don't want it to. I've never thought about a lock failing when cutting something and the blade opening past the stop pin. And I don't ever remember putting enough force on the spine of a knife blade to break the lock. That only happens in knife testing videos. I've never seen a comp. lock but it seems to be closer in design than say the BBL. When I look at my Sage 1 beside the GB the liner lock on the GB looks (and feels) about 10 times stronger because the liners are a lot thicker. Does that mean the lock on the Sage 1 (or any Walker liner lock) is weak? Of course not. I have two feelings about locks. Twice as much strength is ten times better. I also feel, how strong does the lock need to be? I think any lock Spyderco uses is plenty strong enough. The difference in using different ones is where personal preference comes into play. I prefer liner locks over back locks because I like the hand movement required to release a liner lock more than the movement to release a back lock. But, I'll never not buy a knife because it has a back lock. I love the Sage 1 and the Chaparral and love both. I'll carry one or the other based on size and inteded use, not the type of lock. I think if I were left handed I'd be more picky. If the lock is awkward to release using only my left hand I doubt if I'd buy it unless every other feature was really great IMO. Of course if I were left handed I wouldn't be able to process such a complex comparison, being less intellergint than rite handed peeple. :D


Jack

Leatherneck wrote:This picture has been worth a million words. Failure of the lock would mean really bad things were inevitable!

Thanks Leatherneck for the picture, I haven't seen this before, it surely explains very well.

I trust my fingers to a Compression Lock without an reservation. A liner lock?

I got pictures and scars.

Compression Locks can wear in time, like anything. They can develop some blade play with heavy use. I have only heard of this happening from one or two people. Most don't experience it.

However that being said, all locks can wear, and only a few types shrug off wear with few effects.

I love the Compression Lock, have for years. There are only three lock types I never worry about. The Axis Lock, the Tri-Ad Lock, and the Compression Lock.

Even with blade play, the compression lock will be safe, even though annoying to use. That picture shows most of why - the lockup is provided by the steel tab "compressed" between the tang and the stop pin. What the picture doesn't show you is that in some (maybe all?) Spyderco CL knives, such as the Para2, the stop pin is recessed into the liners, not just held in place by screws, so the mechanical strength is VERY high.

Did you know that bald people are more intellegent, and the others are left handed and have hair?

gijoe945 wrote:Did you know that bald people are more intellegent, and the others are left handed and have hair?

Well i'm bald and right handed, what's that make me?

Professor Xavier was bald, he was pretty smart :D

JNewell wrote:Even with blade play, the compression lock will be safe, even though annoying to use.

I can actually confirm this. Since i screwed up my first Para 2, it has a TON of blade play..i would guess more blade play than you will EVER get from using the knife, and i still feel totally safe using it. The blade literally jiggles, that's how much play there is, but you can still spine whack it (within reason, not with a sledge hammer) and the blade stays locked.

Evil D wrote:I can actually confirm this. Since i screwed up my first Para 2, it has a TON of blade play..i would guess more blade play than you will EVER get from using the knife, and i still feel totally safe using it. The blade literally jiggles, that's how much play there is, but you can still spine whack it (within reason, not with a sledge hammer) and the blade stays locked.

What did you do to screw it up David?

Leatherneck wrote:This picture has been worth a million words. Failure of the lock would mean really bad things were inevitable!

Was just going to post this pic that I took but I see someone already did.

bchan wrote:Thanks Leatherneck for the picture, I haven't seen this before, it surely explains very well.

Just thought I should add that I took this picture and that is my Paramilitary 1 that I've had for many years. I took this pic on 10/19/2006. :)

liner for me. it can be adjusted as far as smoothness, can easily be opened and closed with either hand, easier to clean out from pocket lint. my .02