Gerber E-Z out ATS-34 fails spine whack test

When you use a knife,does it often get struck by things on the spine of the blade? Mine do not...

Spinewhacks are bullshit. Now, dont get me wrong,I do not want my blade to close while I am using it,but a knife is a knife. It is made to cut. It is not made to be hammered on,or have its spine slammed against a desk or table top.

If you cannot close it with your bare hands, then that is all you should need. No need to abuse the thing.

By the way,its a great little knife for 36 bucks. I think you will enjoy it.
 
Hey Chris, I just found my E-Z-Out a few days ago (sure did miss it for the 2 weeks it was lost). I have had mine since July 2000 and it has served me well. Even though it didn't pass the Spine Whack test, the knife has never closed on me. I love this knife and won't traid it.:)
 
It may be difficult to show Gerber was resposibly negligent due to lock failure.

#1
If you wack the back of the spine and it collapses/unlocks and cuts you, you used the knife in a way other than a normal person would believe the knife was designed for. Could be considered abuse on the users part.

#2
If the liner fails you would have to prove the user did not somehow disengage the lock unintentionally while gutting an animal, in this case. Blood, slippery, etc could cause one to disengage it inadvertantly.

In stab tests so far on linerlocks they [ linerlocks] hold remarkably well during stabbing tests.

Could have been user error.

I carry liners all the time with no fear of them disengaging the lock if whacked on the spine. I won't do it intentionally and in a possible knife fight my hand will be protecting the back of the knife as I hold it from an impact that hard.

Brownie
 
MAURICE :

When you use a knife,does it often get struck by things on the spine of the blade?
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Binding or wedging on the side can have the same effect. Many tactical and survivial folders are also designed to take dedicated loads to the spine. Spyderco for example has a minimal standard they use for combat class folders, and some survivial folders are promoted as being able to be used for baton work, which is a lot heavier than any spine whacks. Of course not all knives have to be able to do this, I use a lot of folders which can not. They just get used for lighter work and I take care not to twist them, try to reverse direction in a cut, or do any sort of dynamic cutting.

-Cliff
 
SkagSig40:
Got it, thanks.
Thats what happens when you assume I guess hey?

I am carrying a Tarani folding Karambit lately with a mid lock back on the spine. On this one it needs to be depressed completely before it will release.

It's protected from everything by my hand when held and would be difficult at best to whack it so it released.

Brownie
 
I had my EZ Out Jr. close on me about 2 weeks ago. It was not a fun thing. In fairness to the knife, what I was doing may have been considered "misuse." Anyway, it closed up on me and I got a nice deep gash in my finger -- 5 stitches worth. It had been my EDC for some time, and had closed up several other times before that, although never so dangerously.

IMO, the problem with the knife is that the slightest contact from hand or palm pressure on the lock release can be enough for it to slip.

Not to bust on the EZ-Out, but despite it's potential for closing, I think there are plenty of other reasons not to like it... No liners, no washers. Look at your EZ-Out's pivot point. If it is anything like mine, you will see wear and circular scratches in both sides of the plastic handle. Also, the pocket clip on mine got sprung and failed to be effective pretty early on. I've beat on my Benchmade's pocket clip way harder than I ever did the Gerber, and the clip is still going strong.

It is a nice knife for EDC due to the weight, and quality of the blade. But I don't think it is a tough knife for heavy use. I still toss it in my pocket when I am wearing a suit, but that't only becuase I haven't bought another small knife to replace it.
 
Today at work I found a Spyderco knock off that cost new probably $2.00. I opened it and tried to get it to fold doing the spine whack test to see how strong the lock was and the darn piece of junk held strong!!!! It is too bad that a company like Gerber can not make there lock backs strong and trust worthy when a cheep made in China spyderco knock off can!:rolleyes: :mad:
 
Although I like a lot of specifics about the knife, I have to admit it's not one I trust.
 
I wouldn't use my EZ-out for self defense, as a matter of fact I don't get into fights anymore come to think of it. For the general cutting chores I ask of it, it's performed admirably for over 2 years now and was less than $20 on sale. $10 a year of daily use and mild abuse is a pretty good deal in my book.

NS6
 
Just bought an Sog Air to replace the Gerber EZ Out. The Sog is much more solid and the lock holds strong even with hard spine whacks! At about the same price it is a much better and more solid kife! Try one!:)
 
i have a chinese cheapy lockback that holds strong when spinewhacked. Amazing.

i use it for hard dirty work that might destroy the edge of my balisongs.
 
I have two of the ATS-34 models and one in 440a, no problems whatsoever.

However my Starmate and M16-02Z fail this test miserably...
 
I had two of them, one ATS-34 and one original 420. Both failed on me at one time or another without a lot of abuse IMHO. I got rid of both of them. Why take a chance on a poorer design when there are better knives out there that are safer and at the same approximate cost.
As my young daughter would say, "Duh"
 
SkagSig40 said:
That is to bad, I hope you are ok!!! I have stabbed it into some wood hard to try and get the lock to fail but it holds. Only when you hit the spine even lightly does it fail. I'm not sure I trust it fully and will use gloves if I have to use it hard or just use a different knife!:eek:

I wonder if Gerber could be liable if someone was cut bad because thier lock failed? If I was Gerber I would deffenitaly re do the lock to be much better like a Cold Steel lock!

Although overall I think the lockback is the weakest type of lock out there just by design. But then you have lock backs like Cold Steels that are very strong. What do you think?
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I know that this is an older post but I was directed here while searching a knife in my collection the "GERBER USA ATS-34 E-Z-OUT First Production Run" (brand new in original box/unused/never sharpened) and after reading the part about it failing spine-whack tests I immediately grabbed mine out of the box and I smacked it onto a 1in thick cutting board HARD and was unable to make the lock fail at all after over a dozen whacks leaving indentations in the cutting board each time so maybe you got a lemon or it had been well used/worn causing a loosened pivot which can be tightened using a 1/4in socket or wrench... If by chance you still have the knife give it a try tightening the pivot bolt and see if it still fails...
 
SkagSig40 said:
I never bought on of these because the tips were so thin and I saw so many that were broken off. The other week I found one that looked like the blade had been ground to be stronger and for harder use so I bought it. I really like this knife and the tip is pretty strong now and I wonder if Gerber redesigned it this way or if I got a "defect".:D The one thing that bothers me is it failed the spine whack test miserably. I hardly hit it and it folds but if I put gloves on and try to make it fold like I was breaking a stick with 2 hands it holds strong even as hard as I can! I wonder why the lock acts this way and do you think this is acceptable? I think it might be because the blade tang and lock bar are slightly rounded and this causes the lock to slip when you whack it. Other then this it should make a great "beater" work knife, it is also very smooth for a lock back knife.

Edit to add it only cost $36.00 and you get ATS-34! Good deal!;)
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I know that this is an older post but I was directed here while searching a knife in my collection the "GERBER USA ATS-34 E-Z-OUT First Production Run" (brand new in original box/unused/never sharpened) and after reading the part about it failing spine-whack tests I immediately grabbed mine out of the box and I smacked it onto a 1in thick cutting board HARD and was unable to make the lock fail at all after over a dozen whacks leaving indentations in the cutting board each time so maybe you got a lemon or it had been well used/worn causing a loosened pivot which can be tightened using a 1/4in socket or wrench... If by chance you still have the knife give it a try tightening the pivot bolt and see if it still fails...
 
I usually use the edge on a knife not the spine, so I haver had a knife fail on me.

Oh, and in before the lock.
 
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