Boye Dents - Just Doesn't Fit

[Capt. Carl]

Boye dents on some models are beginning to make me really dislike them. It makes closure a bit harder and detracts from the aesthetics of the knife BIG TIME. Some of these knives I just don't see the point of a boye dent.

Examples:

DragonFly - Very small knife I would LOVE one without a boye dent! It would look VERY nice and would be easier to close. This would be absolutely great to have a dent free dragonfly.

Lava - Not a very big dent but still, the design doesn't need one at all IMO and would again look great and function great without one. The knife is a little bit hard to close already.

Caly series. The dent free calypso series look FANTASTIC without this feature (Deacon lets see your Caly 3!). A dent free caly jr. (my main EDC) would be so so nice. The lines on my UKPK flow so well!

Native - Also detracts from the sleek look a bit. Design would be safe without one when used in hard conditions. Would be even easier to close.

Who's with me here? On some models...It's just not right.

[Spydersharp]

Captain: I fully agree with you.
I don´t care for the Boye dent.
I´ve been using folding knives with back locks all my life, and do not need the said dent.
I find detracting in its looks, and specially in the operation of knife.
Best regards, Abel.

[carrot]

Personally, I don't care much either way whether a model has a Boye dent or not. I think it looks fine on the Caly3, and on the Endura (which is pretty ugly!) it's fine as well. My Manix, which lacks the Boye dent... also looks great.

[Piet.S]

Agree, I got a dentless Police and it looks a lot beter.
Feels just as safe, never mis it.

[John G.]

I personally think the Boye Dent is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. In decades of use; I've never had a problem with any knife without one - even during military training exercise on dummies, etc.

I can make the lock partially release on a forward/mid lock knife without one - if I TRY. But I need to use a very unrealistic grip just to "prove" the problem "exists".

However, I kind of like it anyway. The dent helps my thumb find the lock release sort of like an indexing divot. However, I think the lock needs to be designed with the Boye dent in mind so that the distance it needs to be depressed is adjusted to account for the height of the dent.

[Spydersharp]

I agree with John G. again. It´s not only the cosmetic look of the dent what boders me, but mainly, the shorter "walk" (or displacement) the lock release offers to the thumb to unlock the blade.
Abel

[Hammurabi]

I like it. Much like the lock on any locking pocket knife, it serves no purpose the great majority of time but is incredibly useful every once in a while. As long as my knives don't look too ornamental, I don't care how they look.

[Stenny]

The only position I am able to "accidentally" unlock a backlock is in a pakal grip; and even knives with dents are unlocked if I go white-knuckle.
But I like that I can close my knives easier without looking, because it serves as an indexing point - just like John G. said.

[WOTANSON1]

The dent is a safety feature and for that I'm grateful to the great Spyderco factory. Yes I know the chances of needing it are small but the benefits out way the ever so slightly more pressure needed to engage the lock. I sympathize with people like the Deacon, being arthritic and all. I don't get the aesthetic issue, we are talking about Spyderco knives aren't we? :D
Cheers,
Rob

[ozspyder]

I tend to agree that the Boye Dent serves no real purpose on a problem that may or may not exist. I feel that if you intend to misuse the blade that much with a gorilla grip than somehow depresses the backlock to release the blade then it is something wrong either in your grip or in the actual manufacturing/design of that particular knife or lock.

In the smaller blades definitely I do not think we need it.... really, how much of a gorilla grip would you be exerting on a gentlemans folder (Kiwi/ Kopa etc..) that a Boye Dent is required. On a larger utility knife that you might be using to chop/ scrape, thrust/ pry :eek: (and for MBC and SD use that is a different story) then it is a moot point whether the knife is any safer with or without a Boye Dent.

It does, as mentioned previously, provide an indexing point which could be useful. But that is really IMHO the extent of its usefulness.

[Bodieism]

I'm kind of surprised to see that quite a few of the post so far have said they don't care for the dent... not that it bothers me lol. I like models to come without it and in my own experience have found the dentless models to be just as safe, if not safer. I think it could be argued just as easily that the dent might actually increase the chances of accidental lock release. I find it funny that out of all the lockback knives I've owned and handled my Manix is the absolute hardest knife try and unlock by squeezing the handle and its dent free. I would like to see pretty much all lockbacks come without the dent but the Kopa is one that really stands out to me as being totally pointless.

[yablanowitz]

I would have to agree that the Boye dent is a solution to a problem that (for me, anyway) doesn't exist. I would have to say the same thing about locks on folding knives if I was being honest. If it can't be done safely with a slipjoint, it shouldn't be done with a folding knife. That is why there are fixed blade knives.

To me, a lock on a folder is like a seatbelt in a car. If the unforeseen happens, it may save you some pain. Mostly it just chafes. The Boye dent is like having a cotter pin through the seatbelt release button. It might keep the buckle from accidentally releasing, but mostly it's just more hassle.

[Sleeping Robot]

I kind of like the dent. I don't see it as a big necessity - I've never had my locks disengage during typical use (which, I admit, is pretty light-duty). But I don't see them as destroying the aesthetics of the knife either - even on a Kopa.

[christopher]

I am a MAJOR fan of the Boye dent. It allows me to index on the lock release without having to take my eyes off what else I'm doing. Under certain circumstances or in the total darkness, this is a significant safety factor.

I vote to keep it and even expand its application.

Chris :) :) :)

[The Deacon]

Carl, I totally agree with you, no surprise there I'm sure. Would add that I find it rather perplexing that a "gentleman's folder" like the Kopa gets equipped with this safety feature, while Spyderco's two most serious "hard use" front locks, the Manix and Chinook, do not. Certainly lends credence the the notion that it's less than necessary.

[Axlis]

For knives that you may use with gloves on, such as the Rescue series, the boyle dent is a godsend!

I use a PE Atlantic salt with work gloves every day, and it seems to help "feel" for where the lock is. On work knives, I say keep the dent.

Gentleman folders however, really seem to hurt visually from the dent, I can appreciate how it breaks the line of flowing design.

[Axlis]

... I find it rather perplexing that a "gentleman's folder" like the Kopa gets equipped with this safety feature, while Spyderco's two most serious "hard use" front locks, the Manix and Chinook, do not. Certainly lends credence the the notion that it's less than necessary.

You know what Paul, I never thought about that!

Makes no sense to me, now I'm ruined for the rest of the day...

[The General]

I simply find it makes unlocking a knife frustraitingly difficult. If I had the option, I would not have it.

[catamount]

I really appreciate the indexing aspect of the dent, and miss it on the few :spyder: s I have without it.

As far as aesthetics and flowing lines, IMO, they are already compromised by the scale cutouts necessary for the lock, and the dent doesn't make things any worse.

[jaislandboy]

like others have said, the Boye dent is most useful to me as an indexing "divot" to quickly unlock the knife.... :rolleyes: