Spyderco Forums

I received a new Baby Jess Horn on Friday. Love at first sight. I've tried really hard to like Spydercos in the past. I like a lot about them but in general there's always been one aspect that prevented any of the ones I've purchased from ever becoming the regular pocket prom queen. Usually the issues involve one or a combination of lacking a deep carry clip, pocket obstruction factor (they're "tall" when closed compared to most others), or violation of the gentleman/office friendly styling (totally subjective I admit, the broad leaf shaped blade just seems to draw more attention and diverges more severely from the widely accepted as harmless shape of a SAK spear point blade).

And then I decided to give the new baby horn a chance as it appeared narrower than typical Spyderco models, the blade was narrower, it has gents knife aesthetics, and although it has no deep clip I can remedy that easily enough on my own.

I love the size & look of it. I can't stop pulling it out to admire it and if my wife hears the click of the lock one more time it won't be pretty. I want it to be with me in my pocket as my edc. But... Holy **** is it a bear to open & close! I thought the Chaparral was kind of stiff and sharp at the edges. But this knife has it beat by mile. I bloodied my thumb pretty good trying to open it yesterday, it wasn't the blade edge that got me. It takes concentration to open it one handed, flicking would be absolutely impossible. And I honestly second guess myself whether I want to open it because depressing the back lock for closing is torture to my thumb. Anyone else with this knife have a similar experience? What saddens me is that there's no way for me to do anything about it unless I'm willing to drill out the pins. And I don't see a way Spyderco could do anything without resorting to the same. I really love most about this knife but these things are nearly deal breakers and I don't know if they will in fact become deal breakers as I use it day to day.

I have oiled and cleaned what is accessible and tried adjusting the pivot but no improvement. Actually, the pivot has to be loosened in order to open it to the point that there's side to side and front to back blade play when opened. Can anyone tell me if this is typical for this model?

Have you tried adjusting the pivot screw for the lock?

Had the same issues. When pressing the backlock to close it, actually had to overcome a "click" or catch. Only Spyderco I've ever had that I truly disliked and felt was of poor quality. Sent it back for a refund.

mattman wrote:Have you tried adjusting the pivot screw for the lock?

Yes, it didn't really help. I can loosen it to where there's an absurd amount of side ways and front/back slop but it's still just an unpleasant experience to open & close. If this is how they all/mostly are I'll be pretty disappointed. I may try to order another from a different dealer to compare to.

My Baby Horn works just fine. Granted, it's definitely not the knife I'd choose if I wanted to sit watching TV while repeatedly opening and closing it. Small handle, midlock with strong backspring, small Spyderhole with Moki's typically crisp finish on the perimeter. I could see that combo causing excessive thumb wear after half an hour or so of knifesturbating. However, for normal "remove from pocket, open once, cut stuff, close once, return to pocket" use, my 72 year old somewhat arthritic hand has no problem operating it.

How familiar are you with the old style classic lockback / mid lock/ back lock? The Chaparral is not the same BTW. To an extent you are describing a new, un broken in knife. I have no idea of your frame of reference though.

Joe

The Mastiff wrote:How familiar are you with the old style classic lockback / mid lock/ back lock? The Chaparral is not the same BTW. To an extent you are describing a new, un broken in knife. I have no idea of your frame of reference though.

Joe

Opening and closing the Baby Horn was NOTHING like any other new Spyderco lockback I've owned. It was simply bad and unpleasant. So much so that it was a great day the morning I sent it back.

Hi DoctorAutomatic.

Welcome to our forum. Sorry for your disappointment.

Please send it to us and call it to my attention. I'd like to see the problem myself.

sal

Sal Glesser
Spyderco
820 Spyderco Way
Golden, Colorad 80403

bouhunter wrote:Had the same issues. When pressing the backlock to close it, actually had to overcome a "click" or catch. Only Spyderco I've ever had that I truly disliked and felt was of poor quality. Sent it back for a refund.

my experience as well

DoctorAutomatic wrote:

mattman wrote:Have you tried adjusting the pivot screw for the lock?

Yes, it didn't really help. I can loosen it to where there's an absurd amount of side ways and front/back slop but it's still just an unpleasant experience to open & close. If this is how they all/mostly are I'll be pretty disappointed. I may try to order another from a different dealer to compare to.

I'm not talking about the "main" pivot screw, but the one that the lockbar "rocks" on... This is often a cause of just this symptom.

If that doesn't check out, please take sal up on his offer to personally inspect it.... Might take a bit for him to get to it, but, will for sure be resolved, and will improve things in the long run for us all.

mattman wrote:

DoctorAutomatic wrote:

mattman wrote:Have you tried adjusting the pivot screw for the lock?

Yes, it didn't really help. I can loosen it to where there's an absurd amount of side ways and front/back slop but it's still just an unpleasant experience to open & close. If this is how they all/mostly are I'll be pretty disappointed. I may try to order another from a different dealer to compare to.

I'm not talking about the "main" pivot screw, but the one that the lockbar "rocks" on... This is often a cause of just this symptom.

If that doesn't check out, please take sal up on his offer to personally inspect it.... Might take a bit for him to get to it, but, will for sure be resolved, and will improve things in the long run for us all.

I will take Sal up on his offer. The pivot is the only adjustable area, everything else is pinned.

Ahh. I don't own that particular model, didn't realize it was pinned (should have looked it up). My advice still stands for other models with screw construction, but this doesn't solve your problem.

Please report back, when you get a resolution!

Mine is perfect in every way, nothing like what you are describing, take Sal up on the offer and send it in to him. I will make sure this is said though, don't expect a back lock to flip like some other like a compression lock or liner lock. Some will flick but I've never had a back lock that flipped like others, because of the construction of the knife.

Welcome DoctorAutomatic,

Sorry to hear you got a sub-par specimen, but please do take Sal up on the offer and send it in. I have no doubt he'll make sure you get taken care of, and sending in quality control examples for inspection is always a good idea in that it will hopefully help make future knives more consistent.

Just got one of these a couple of weeks ago and have carried it steady since. I was looking forward to it coming out and it is everything I hoped it would be. Which is a rare thing :)

noddy wrote:Just got one of these a couple of weeks ago and have carried it steady since. I was looking forward to it coming out and it is everything I hoped it would be. Which is a rare thing :)

Great to hear, I have one on the way! Are you experiencing any of the issues or stiffness that the OP had? Is yours very smooth and easy to open and close?

I was looking at this model but I wish it came with the saber grind and swedge. Looks better that way.

steelcity16 wrote:Are you experiencing any of the issues or stiffness that the OP had? Is yours very smooth and easy to open and close?

No problems at all, though I do perhaps understand the OP's question. The Baby Horn is a compact affair and initially asked a bit of my thumb. But, once I gave it a good sluicing out with hot water and detergent it was lovely. Sometimes you get some bits of crap in the pivot or the grease jellies up a bit and slows things down. I couldn't be happier with the thing. Which is much to my relief, I have to say, as it was something I had been watching for a while, checking in on progress etc. I was very much in a 'looking forward to getting it' kind of mood. Also, apart from a Para3, there isn't much in the knife world really gets me nowadays, and this one feels a bit like the last one for a while (:lol: likely story)

swigert wrote:Mine is perfect in every way

I had a baby horn, and it was perfect in every way! (Mad Max reference :cool: )

I should have mine by Thursday when I get to work. Looking forward to handling another Jess Horn and comparing it. I do know my Worker G-10 sprint had similar lockbar strength tendencies compared to what the OP was describing so I anticipate this could be a possible problem with the baby Horn as well. I think the physics of the pivot to thumbhole geometry may also have something to do with opening difficulty.