Spyderco Forums

Looking for some input from some of you with arthritis and or hand injuries. Now I've got a pretty bad hand injury but not on my dominant hand, and what I'm looking for is not for me. I'm thinking about getting my dad a knife for father's day but he has hand injury combined with arthritis on his dominant, (right) hand. I know most every Spydie is easy enough to open, however closing can be difficult for some. He'd likely use both hand to close. I want it to lock. He's old school so I'm thinking backlock? I just don't know if he'd have a hard time with some of them. I'm thinking a liner lock like on the Tenacious would be O.K. but not sure if he'd like it. Actually I'm thinking the tenacious might be ideal but what is the opinion of them from some older users, particularly anyone with arthritis or limited movement. I know I could just give him any old knife and use it myself if he ends up not liking or using it but I'd like to increase the odds of him liking it. Thanks in advance for any input.

I would think a backlock would be about the easiest to manipulate with damaged or arthritic hand. Thankfully both of mine still work pretty well so thats just speculation.

A lot of it depends on how his hand is disabled:

PM2 would be the easist to close, IMO, as long as his index or middle finger works well.

Hardest on the thumb would be a liner lock (especially Gayle Bradley folder) or any back lock.

How about a slipit like a UKPK or Urban? He could use his nondominant hand to close it. Some slipits have a "harder" detent than others- a Spy-DK would be harder, for instance.

Stepping into heresy, a Griptilian would be pretty easy if his thumb and index finger work well. A Sage3's lock is similar to the Grip but the lock knobs aren't as easy to manipulate as the Grip's.

I'm going to jump in here. I have some arthritis and I shortened my middle finger and ring finger a bit in a cement mixer. All on my dominant hand. The first Spyderco I ever bought is the Meerkat and I still find it to my liking for use, carry, ease of closing and opening. The one I have is the black aus-6 with saber grind. That knife has broken in so well with smooth action, that it's a joy to carry. I can open easily by spydie hole, or just use the lock release in reverse and the blade falls open. You didn't put any limits on knife recommendations so I thought I throw this out to you.

I have a number of family members with varying forms of arthritis. The first thing to understand is that the amount and way that this disease effects say someones hands varies massively from one person to the next. It is entirely possible that one person could find a linear lock on one knife easier to operate and another person could struggle with that and be able to use a back lock.

I would strongly suggest just letting them try out whatever knives you have and see which ones they open the easiest. Also consider adjusting it to make it easier to open.

I would say take him to the knife counter with you some day on the pretense that you are shopping for a new blade (for yourself) and have him handle the ones that you think he may like or ask him his opinion of some of them. Don't know if this helps, but that's what I would do.

I've a form of RA in my hands, among other places as well, and the Native 5 G10 works well given its kind of wide/deep handle and it's thickness. All of that aids in gripping the knife has there is more to hang onto. The lockback is easy enough to disengage for closing with one or two hands.

If a lighter weight is desired, the new Native 5 lightweight. And as mentioned above, a Minigrip may be the answer. Opening and closing is super easy on those with their lock system. No heavy detent.

I for one would not care for the liner lock. And if he's an old school guy, the back lock is the way to go for locking knives.

Cliff Stamp wrote:I have a number of family members with varying forms of arthritis. The first thing to understand is that the amount and way that this disease effects say someones hands varies massively from one person to the next. It is entirely possible that one person could find a linear lock on one knife easier to operate and another person could struggle with that and be able to use a back lock.

I would strongly suggest just letting them try out whatever knives you have and see which ones they open the easiest. Also consider adjusting it to make it easier to open.

^ Yes, this.

delphidoc wrote:A lot of it depends on how his hand is disabled:

PM2 would be the easist to close, IMO, as long as his index or middle finger works well.

Hardest on the thumb would be a liner lock (especially Gayle Bradley folder) or any back lock.

How about a slipit like a UKPK or Urban? He could use his nondominant hand to close it. Some slipits have a "harder" detent than others- a Spy-DK would be harder, for instance.

Stepping into heresy, a Griptilian would be pretty easy if his thumb and index finger work well. A Sage3's lock is similar to the Grip but the lock knobs aren't as easy to manipulate as the Grip's.

His index is the worst. And definitely want a locking knife. I have a Gayle Bradley and I agree I don't think He'd be able to/want to bother with it. I think a backlock would be ok as he'll like close it two handed but probably not a strong spring. A Griptillian would need more use of the index than I think he's got. Suggestions of other brands welcome although I think I'd prefer to get him a Spyderco.

danospydermano wrote:I would say take him to the knife counter with you some day on the pretense that you are shopping for a new blade (for yourself) and have him handle the ones that you think he may like or ask him his opinion of some of them. Don't know if this helps, but that's what I would do.

This of course would be great if we had a store that carried Spyderco or even a decent selection of other brands. Unfortunately this is not the case : (

Thanks for the input so far guys. I guess I need to find something with a "chunky" handle for grip, and a backlock without too much tension. Probably 3"ish blade. I think perhaps the Native suggestion might be the way to go, but my 110v has a pretty strong spring. Are the other models the same?

One other thought I had was to wait for the new Byrds, (likely a belated father's day gift) and get him one of them as I don't want to spend too much on something he might not end up really using. I hear good things about the Byrds but don't own one myself. I likely will pick myself up one when they come out, (I saw Sal had posted that they had come in...)

I think trying them out is the best advice, but I think my Sage 3 is the easiest to open and close.

Still, you might want to check him out on a few knives, if you can. I think the compression lock would be the easiest, over all. Of all of my back locks my Caly3 is the easiest and smoothest. The next in line would be my Endura, followed closely by a well broken in Delica. I can't say about the Native, as I have never owned one.

Regarding a smaller knife with a Compression Lock, the Salsa was nifty and there are still some floating around. You can still find the Lil Temp (I like the leaf blade), also. Of course, the PM2 is a great knife.

Doc Dan wrote:Still, you might want to check him out on a few knives, if you can. I think the compression lock would be the easiest, over all. Of all of my back locks my Caly3 is the easiest and smoothest. The next in line would be my Endura, followed closely by a well broken in Delica. I can't say about the Native, as I have never owned one.

Regarding a smaller knife with a Compression Lock, the Salsa was nifty and there are still some floating around. You can still find the Lil Temp (I like the leaf blade), also. Of course, the PM2 is a great knife.

Compression lock is probably out since he has issues with the index finger. As far as backpacks, I would agree with you that the caly 3 is probably one of the easiest to operate as far as spring tension goes. My salt knives all have quite smooth and easy locks too.

I'm arthritic and the joints at the base of my thumbs give me some exquisite pain. The Dragonfly2 is really easy to manipulate. If you need a bigger knife, the Double Bevel is easily opened & closed with one hand. Virtually no force is required to open either of these knives.

Really, I have more trouble getting knives clipped and unclipped from my pocket than getting them open and closed. The wire clips are best in that respect, I find.

I would personally suggest the Centofante 3. It is lightweight, opens very effortlessly with either hand, and the back lock is simple to disengage. Not to mention it is very reasonably priced at around $60 or less on most sites. Just my .02.

You know, this is an issue many of us may face (God forbid!) as we age. We might need to give this some thought. Perhaps we should develop some sort of experiment to see which is truly easiest to open with hands that do not function properly?

Another issue to think about beside opening/closing ease is the comfort of holding the knife while using it. I'm 56 and am getting a little mild arthritis in a few of my finger joints. I say mild because my wife has severe RA and has already had both hips replaced, with an ankle fusion or replacement to take place some time later this year. My work involves heavy use of my hands- I'm a general surgeon. At the end of a long day of surgery my hands and wrists can get pretty sore. Unfortunately the instruments we use generally have quite narrow handles. That's fine for short procedures as far as dexterity is concerned. Having to grip narrow-handled instruments for several hours can sure lead to hand fatigue. I've come to appreciate bulkier handles on instruments and knives so that my hands don't have to grip the handles so tightly. It's nice for a knife with a narrow handle to disappear into my pocket, but it's even nicer for my hand to not have to squeeze a narrow handle like a vice to keep it secure in my hand during prolonged or hard use.

I am 72. I have arthritis in my right (dominant) hand. My index finger is the worse of the five. I carry, like and can easily open and close one-handed a Perseverance. It and the Tenacious are easy to open and close, the Ambutious more difficult to open because of the shorter blade.

My Delica 4 is more difficult than the Tenacious or Persistence.