Spyderco Forums

So, after somewhat talking myself into just accepting the consistent issues concerning lock stick, lateral blade play and off-centering, I noticed my new 15V M2 has (delevoped/had in the first place) quite a bit of detent lash, more than any other Spyderco I own.

I'm getting a tiny bit frustrated here, this a €300 (= $350) knife for me and I really want to like it, but, boy, does it make it hard...


Do I expect too much?

What is detent lash, first I heard of that term.

Normally, detent lash is considered blade movement in the closed position just prior to detent release. I have only experienced this on out of spec frame lock flippers. All my compression locks have been solid performers.

I have some on all my millies from both gens, but it's worse on the liner lock versions.

my 15v has a little less than my magnacut, but the centering is really bad. rubs against the scales and nearly cuts into them at times. adjusted it a bunch with no luck.

one of thse days ill get around to sending it in, but I have to take the brown scales off my s30v dlc millie 2 and put them back on my 15v first.

My Manix 2 is perfect.

I’ve had 5 examples of the linerlock Military (Cruwear, Rex 45, 2x S110V, 4V), and only my Rex 45 exhibits this phenomenon.

SSD_777 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 28, 2025 6:06 pm

My Manix 2 is perfect.

Yep. Since the ball (lock) is also the detent, and much larger than a detent ball, it is easier to nail that one simply through the design rather than through manufacturing tolerances.

To the OP -

I know of a Spydiechef and a PM2 Salt that had noticeable detent lash when I tried them. Our own Spydiechef has a skosh of it, but the detent is strong so I'm not really worried about it. My LT3 has a bit of it when I observe it, but it also has quite a bit of tolerance play between the blade and the pivot, so there is some movement there when pulling on the blade in the closed position. I love a good detent, and fortunately all of our 15V Para 3s are good on that front.

If you have a bit of pivot lash (that looseness you feel moving the blade vertically when it is halfway open), that can also influence detent lash to a degree.

I've often wondered if a slightly oversized detent ball (and hole) might help, especially if the ball is already sticking out enough that shallowness isn't the problem.