Someone who has had a lock bar mess up please come forward and tell us what exactly the knife was used for and how it was used so those who have never broken a lock bar can try to grasp what exactly is going on, because quite frankly from the other side of the fence it's hard to believe so many are "faulty" from "normal use." Especially such worn Ti.
I can give you my story. Bought a used small Insingo off the forum and told myself I wouldn't buy another because even at used cost it was about twice as expensive as any knife I'd purchased before it. About six months later, the Wilson Combat Small came out, and it only took a few days before I couldn't convince myself I didn't
need it and ordered it on 10/17. It came a long week later as I was sleeping, but I jumped out of bed to answer the door and open it up like it was Christmas day.
It was very hard to open. I couldn't do it one handed. I had felt that once before, when I pinched a washer putting together my older one, but I was tired, so instead of messing with it, I went back to bed and left it for later. When I got back to it, it went back together with no change. It was my first brand new Seb, so I thought perhaps it was just the detent and needed to break in. I did play with it a bit, but keep in mind it takes 5-10 seconds to open+close it just once because of how tough it was, and it hurt my hands to do repeatedly, so I probably would do it <=20 times before having to stop.
As this went on, I'd clean it maybe once a day and noticed the lock bar start to dent. This went on about three weeks before I posted pictures on the forum (
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/790605-Is-it-normal-for-a-lockbar-to-dent-like-this) to ask if it was normal and find out why it happens, since my other Sebenza wasn't like that (and still isn't despite being my most used--only this one out of five CRKs I own had it occur with the rest flawless). The detent was still very difficult (still is to this day), but by then it had become smoother after it.
As for how the knife was used, at that point it had cut one cardboard box and only paper otherwise, no abuse, no hard use, barely any use at all.
I would not believe that any of these lock bars could dent like they do without abuse if I hadn't gone through it, so I do not blame anyone who doesn't believe it could. Titanium may be softer than the steel of the blade, but that doesn't make it soft. It isn't foam or plastic; it's metal. Moreover, I have no idea what could have caused it. That is part of why I posted the thread and why I contacted CRK, but neither came up with a possible answer. With only two possible causes given (according to CR, 20k+ openings and abusive flicking), it is irrational to believe it to be some unknown cause based on what some people you don't know post on the Internet, though that's not to say it's irrational to believe there is possibly another cause beyond the two. The only argument I have is do you believe I'd buy a knife when it first came out, my most expensive knife at the time, only to see how it would do in a battle to the death with a hammer, seeing which would give in first? Or if it's something innate in how I treat knives, how come my other CRKs aren't like that, even the one older than it (I posted pictures of it in post 41 of the thread linked before)? I cannot say it wasn't my fault because I do not know the cause, but I can say it wasn't from 20k openings or abusive openings.
I want to add when I spoke to Mr. Reeve he was pleasant enough on the phone with me. He made it clear he believed it was my fault--he was a bit accusatory--but he did not insult or berate me or raise his voice. I was impressed at the time to get a reply to my email right away and then even spoke with the namesake of the company. How often does that happen?
