Why Don't You Like Framelocks?

[Tucson Tom]

My only incident was with a ZT 0350. This is a spring assisted flipper, so it is begging to cause trouble. I stuck my hand in my right pocket and was thinking, "ow, what the heck is hurting me". :eek: It was tip up, and (here is the key factor) over to the left side of my right pocket. Now if you carry a tip up knife sort of parked against the right edge of your right pocket (all due apologies to you lefties), then the likelihood of this sort of thing drops significantly. And if your knife isn't spring assisted with a marginal detent, you are better off yet again.

It is a liner lock, which sorts of gives the excuse to wedge this story in here, but to be perfectly honest that really has little or nothing to do with it.

But this could never happen with a Spyderco knife, just one of those evil ZT jobs. Don't ask me what got me to buy a spring assisted flipper, it was sort of an impulse buy at a local shop, but that is another topic altogether.

Nonetheless, there is a lesson in all of this, namely if you carry a tip up knife, park it in your pocket so the blade is against the side of the pocket. If you carry IWB, via con Dios.

[vivi]

I think with RFP being the most common carry position, people who carry there sometimes forget a lot of us don't. Side "cell phone" pockets, IWB, cargo pockets, rear pocket where the spine is against the open part of the pocket, etc.

I like to keep my phone RFP, and scraping my hand against a knife to retrieve it doesn't feel too great. Unless the pants / shorts I'm wearing offer limited pockets, my folders always go somewhere else.

[vivi]

Did the shake test also,

CRK LG Inkosi…. Didn't budge

S110V Military.... Didn't budge

Avocate…. Didn't budge

K2.... Didn't budge

OLD very well used S30V Military.... Took like 6 hard flicks before it let go.

How hard are you guys shaking the knife? :)

https://streamable.com/ju58q

And that's with a knife I feel comfortable carrying!

[Ankerson]

Did the shake test also,

CRK LG Inkosi…. Didn't budge

S110V Military.... Didn't budge

Avocate…. Didn't budge

K2.... Didn't budge

OLD very well used S30V Military.... Took like 6 hard flicks before it let go.

How hard are you guys shaking the knife? :)

https://streamable.com/ju58q

And that's with a knife I feel comfortable carrying!

Harder than that, with a wrist flick to top of it.

[cwp]

I can get, for example, my Southard to open up, but it requires a really hard wrist snap. Hard enough that I'm still feeling it in my arm five minutes later. It definitely doesn't just pop open from being shaken. The PM2s are about the same -- they'll come open but it's not easy. The Positron comes open much more easily, although ISTR one of the many criticisms of that model was the weak detent.

Then again, I've spend almost 20 years carrying liner-lock folding knives that barely have detents -- mid-'90s Benchmades, for example -- and haven't managed to cut myself on one while it was in my pocket. So, while I absolutely believe the horror stories you guys have of getting bitten by liner/frame locks, it's so at odds with my own experience that I can only conclude there's some difference in how (or perhaps what) we carry that makes it less dangerous.

(For the record: right front pocket; I am right-handed; usually but not exclusively tip down; often but not always with the blade facing away from the seam; my wallet lives in the same pocket, but nothing else.)

[anycal]

^^ I can just copy and paste this entire post, minus the the tip down part .

I like my framelocks just fine,

[knivesandbooks]

Did the shake test also,

CRK LG Inkosi…. Didn't budge

S110V Military.... Didn't budge

Avocate…. Didn't budge

K2.... Didn't budge

OLD very well used S30V Military.... Took like 6 hard flicks before it let go.

How hard are you guys shaking the knife? :)

https://streamable.com/ju58q

And that's with a knife I feel comfortable carrying!

I can drop open all of my manix models.
My military takes a strong whip down to get it to open.
My Slysz Bowie and Spydiechef won't budge.
I managed to get the Advocate open once but I can't get it again.
My Sebenza won't open.
Old PM2 will open. Newer one won't.

[DrawBackwards]

I like them just fine. I'm more concerned with ergonomics than lock choice.

This ^

I do like that the compression and CBBL locks keep your fingers out of the blade path while closing. But my gateway Spydie was a Domino, and I still like the sound it makes while opening.

[Danvp]

The Ti/CF s90v Military is one of my favourites. The “TWACK” when opening is a solid sound partly made by the framelock. Closing is a bit difficult due to the pressure on the handle.
Anyway, framelocks are not my first choice however can have a good application.

[Crux]

It all comes down to whether you like yellow grits more than white grits, you don't like grits or what's a grit?

[ugaarguy]

It all comes down to whether you like yellow grits more than white grits, you don't like grits or what's a grit?

What if you like polenta? :D

[TomAiello]

I like frame locks for their simplicity and esthetics.

I generally don't carry them, but I do own a couple and I'm perfectly happy carrying them occasionally.

I prefer an ambidextrous lock, and I also feel like my hands have to be in the path of the blade to unlock a frame or liner lock, so those are two of my less-favorite locks.

[Water Bug]

I like frame locks just fine. Chris Reeve had a great idea when he introduced the Reeve Integral Lock... and, Sal had a brilliant idea when he incorporated the Reeve Integral Lock into the Spyderco Titanium Military.

[rklee]

I don't understand how a spyderco knife would open in one's pocket. I wholeheartedly believe Vivi and Doc Dan when they say it happens. I just can't wrap my head around how. Weak detent from factory? I once had a M4 military, which was a factory 2nd. The only flaw I found in it was that the detent was EXTRA strong. As in, it almost wasn't flickable. But once you put enough strength to it and it finally let go, it would launch open incredibly fast. This just leads me to believe that there is a certain amount of variation in detent strength (that is probably checked for by QC) that is occasionally noticeable from knife to knife. What else could cause the knife to open in the pocket?

Let me reiterate that I do not doubt the validity of Vivi's or Doc Dan's claims AT ALL, I am just genuinely curious.

Here's a nutnfancy video where a Tenacious opened up by itself and cut his hand. It was not in his pocket though, but his pack.
https://youtu.be/hLvRNpi-vxw

[vivi]

I don't understand how a spyderco knife would open in one's pocket. I wholeheartedly believe Vivi and Doc Dan when they say it happens. I just can't wrap my head around how. Weak detent from factory? I once had a M4 military, which was a factory 2nd. The only flaw I found in it was that the detent was EXTRA strong. As in, it almost wasn't flickable. But once you put enough strength to it and it finally let go, it would launch open incredibly fast. This just leads me to believe that there is a certain amount of variation in detent strength (that is probably checked for by QC) that is occasionally noticeable from knife to knife. What else could cause the knife to open in the pocket?

Let me reiterate that I do not doubt the validity of Vivi's or Doc Dan's claims AT ALL, I am just genuinely curious.

Here's a nutnfancy video where a Tenacious opened up by itself and cut his hand. It was not in his pocket though, but his pack.
https://youtu.be/hLvRNpi-vxw

Precisely what I mean when I say it is a safety hazard. It isn't merely a preference. Others might get by without something like this happening, and I hope that they do, but me, Nutnfancy and others have not been so lucky.

This is part of why I'm a big fan of Spyderco and Cold Steel folders these days. Two of the only companies that consistently release top shelf folders using a lock-back design.

[DBCOOPER]

I'd say, and is recommended by manufacturers, leave the blade towards the seem of a pocket, or my recommendation is leave it in a secure place where if your grabbing it your weary of it possibly being opened, as it is a real possibility, my tenacious did the same thing to me, but it also didn't have the strongest detent strength, tbh any amount of wearyness can prevent any unwanted blade openings. Also when my tenacious cut me, it was when I didn't even use the pocket clip and it ran free in my flp

[cwp]

Precisely what I mean when I say it is a safety hazard.

I think the safety hazard is carrying any knife -- at least any knife that doesn't lock closed -- loose in one's pack. Let me reiterate: my wife had a lockback open up in her purse. Others might get by without something like this happening, and I hope they do, but ...

Of course I'm being sarcastic. A knife opening up in your purse doesn't make lockbacks a safety hazard; it makes purse carry a safety hazard.

[MichaelScott]

Knives will cut you. As is evident from this discussion, even with a locking folder there is the chance that you might get cut. Locks are not fool proof, and, like with firearms, the ultimate safety is your brain. My knives include the One-Eyed Jack and Great Eastern Cutlery slip joints. I am conscious of what they are when I use and carry them.

The One-Eyed Jack could open in my pocket or the liner lock could fail if I don’t use it correctly. The Great Eastern Cutlery slip joints ride in a leather pocket slip and I am aware of what they are when I use them.

For locking folders, I think the Spyderco back lock is the overall safest lock, but locks can introduce a false sense of safety which should be appreciated whenever carrying or using a knife.

[TomAiello]

Has anyone had a knife open in their pocket when it was the only thing carried in that pocket?

[vivi]

Has anyone had a knife open in their pocket when it was the only thing carried in that pocket?

All the times I mentioned.