August 19th, 2024
9minute read
Its very likely that 50 years ago your grandfather carried a pocketknife.
Consumers who want a folding pocketknife are spoiled for choices, and the options can seem overwhelming.
The venerable Swiss Army Knife is another slipjoint design.
There are a variety of blade locks available for folding knives. It is important to have a quality lock in your EDC knife so the blade doesn’t fold when you are using it.
On nearly every slipjoint, the only thing keeping the blade open is spring tension.
Once a job is finished, the blade can be pushed closed by putting pressure on the spine.
It is held in place by basic friction and prevents the blade from shutting.
A modernized slipjoint knife, the Real Steel Solis is svelte, handy and well-suited to light duty.
There are, however, some limitations.
Quality liner locks abound in the market, and are eminently suited to 98% of cutting tasks.
Still, the fact remains: other lock types are stronger.
The Kershaw Dividend, one of the author’s favorite liner-locking designs.
This isnt to say that frame locks cant bend or fail its just harder to get it to happen.
As such, one-handed opening may be easy, but one-handedclosingcould be another matter.
The lock itself engages with the knife blade not unlike the couplers youd find on railway carriages.
With this Kershaw liner lock, the metal strip springs forward to lock the blade open and prevent rotation.
As a result, youll find back locks on a number of hard-use folding knives.
There is a drawback, however.
Additionally, dont be surprised if a new back lock knife arrives to youextremelystiff right out of the box.
The Schrade Melee uses a stout frame lock designed for hard use.
Since then, the knife community has settled on crossbar lock to describe the generic form of Benchmades design.
In tandem with the stop pin, it prevents the knife from rotating forward or backward.
Crossbar locks are also arguably one of the most fidgety of knife types.
The Code 4 knife from Cold Steel uses a back lock that prioritizes strength above all else.
The fidget factor of a manual button lock knife, like crossbar designs, is out of this world.
In a sub-3 knife, I think the designs are excellent.
Where Im less bullish on them is when theyre pressed into defensive roles or for hard use.
The popularBenchmade Bugoutknife integrates the company’s Axis lock. The design is generically known as the crossbar lock.
Often, the buttons that open and kill the knife are fairly prominent and easy to access.
However, this also means these mechanisms can be more easily bumped or knocked against something accidentally.
95% of all knives on the market, however, should fall easily into one of these categories.
Benchmade’s Axis lock, commonly known as a crossbar lock, uses a stop and cross pin that trap the blade in the open position.
Kizer’s Original button locking knife. Knives of this type have become wildly popular as of late.
This close up photo shows the button or “plunge lock.” The groove of a locking piece settles into the base of the blade to lock the blade open.
