best sliding lock

[carter13]

ok so every company has a type of lock that slides forward in the handle to lock the knife. examples are

cold steel pocket bushman

benchmade axis lock

the locks on sog flash one and two

sog arc lock

kershaw hawk lock on the ram

and on gerbers bolt action knives

now my question is witch one of these locks do you prefer for hard use or edc purposes and why. just witch lock would you prefer?


or spyderco ball bering lock. thanks harkamus i forgot about that one

 

[harkamus]

Haven't tried it yet, but the Spyderco ball bearing lock seems to be the best. No omega springs to break like in the Axis locks.

 

[ExMachina]

Haven't tried it yet, but the Spyderco ball bearing lock seems to be the best. No omega springs to break like in the Axis locks.

the Spyderco's ball bearing lock coil spring is unbreakable?

anyway, i am only familiar with the Axis lock and it's a fine lock.

 

[harkamus]

the Spyderco's ball bearing lock coil spring is unbreakable?

anyway, i am only familiar with the Axis lock and it's a fine lock.

Well, I mean, comparing an omega spring to a coil spring, I'd hazard a guess that a coil spring would last longer.

 

[ExMachina]

Well, I mean, comparing an omega spring to a coil spring, I'd hazard a guess that a coil spring would last longer.

sure, but how overengineered is that then? in my experience it is simply a myth that omega springs break with any frequency (if ever). when you think about it, in an Axis lock, the omega spring is not asked to do that much work or to travel through much of a range of motion. all it does is hold the Axis bar in place.

i suppose Benchmade might have numbers on omega spring failures, but i've yet to have one break on me (and i have six Axis knives, one of which I EDC-ed for 8 years straight!)

oh, and i'm not slammin you or the Spyderco lock. i think the ball lock is a neat design (though i've heard that it's pretty awkward to close.)

 

[harkamus]

No offense taken.

It's just that I've read more posts on these boards regarding Axis lock failures - however, rare - due to broken omega springs, than ball bearing lock failures. Actually, I've not seen any posts on here regarding ball bearing lock failures. Then again, Spyderco doesn't really have as extensive a line up as Benchmade does with their sliding locks.

 

[J.Mattson]

I’d take the axis lock. I’m not to worried about the springs. I’ve owned a number of them and gave each a huge amount of opening and closing (sitting in front of then tv) and the only one that broke on me did after a few dozen openings due to a factory defect.

 

[Tony8179]

Big fan of the Axis lock and the Hawk lock.

 

[ashtxsniper]

Axis lock and Ball lock are the best IMHO.

 

[J.Mattson]

I’ve never used the ball lock. I wonder is it as smooth as the axis lock?

 

[ColonelX]

in my experiance the AXIS lock is infinately smoother than the ball lock, except on the P'Kal because its tha caged ball lock, i find the ball bearing dificult to grip and pull conpared to the AXIS bar

 

[carrot]

The Ball lock is without a doubt in my mind one of the best LOCKING mechanisms in a knife. However, it is a little hard to unlock for the unpracticed. It doesn't come close to the smoothness and flickability of the AXIS, or the sheer BEEFY feeling of the CS PB's plunge lock but it seems to me that it is one of the most fail-proof locking mechanisms around.

 

[Artfully Martial]

Having owned all of them, I think the hawk-lock on the RAM is the best. The placement of the lock should be improved, and will be soon, but the lock, in principle, offers a superior action and I predict will be more resistant to debris lodging in it. The axis and BBL etc are so strong that really, strength anywhere near that area is gravy. The determining factors in lock superiority in this class of locks are ease of use, features, ease of cleaning, reliability etc. I think you are trading in a lot of ease of cleaning for the resistance to debris in the RAM, in fairness, but....that's the tradeoff I prefer.

But they're all great.

Oh, and don't forget the Ambush/Rolling lock types. Really fun locks. I might pick up a cheap mini ambush just for fun.

 

[bitter1]

I do know a guy who used to own a BM 710D2 and he said that the Omega springs broke on his and he takes very good care of his knives so the springs have broken and can break but it may just be some weak or bad springs on the axis lock bar.

 

[orthogonal1]

I usually carry a Benchmade Axis, but my favorite "sliding lock" is the Dalton version. I'd like to see a manual version made.

Most of these "sliding lock" knives have issues with debries, though. Some of them can be rather touchy. My Dodo really does not like fine sand adhered to oil in the mechanism, for instance.

 

[cutter17]

I have 2 out of the three knives that have the Hawk Lock, the ZT0500 and ZT0650. This is an amazingingly simple lock. There is a steel plate, I imagine it is hardened steel, that is found under the left G-10 slab on both models. There are two springs, coil type, that slide the plate forward when opened. The blade tang has three 1/8" rods on the blade tang that are set at 90 degrees from the tang, means they stick straight up! When the ZT0500 opens the steel plate slides forward and catches two of these rods in a groove that the plate has. When closed the re is a single rod that the blade slides up to that keeps the blade closed, acts as a detent. The ZT0650 has a single rod for both opening and closing. Tolerances are nice and well done as there is no vertical play in either of the two knives. This really seem like it is a strong lock.:thumbup:



Btw, there is a urethane gasket found over the sliding switch and around the pivot to protect both from dirt and debris, It is not a gimmicky add on as I've seen video of Gavin Hawk burying the knife in sand, not once but several times, digging it up and the knife operating with no hinderance.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I'm a big fan of the axis and ball bearing locks as well. I've been EDCing a BM 530 for 4 years now with no problems.

 

[redsoxnation32]

axis lock all the way. it is the smothest lock i have used.