Broken omega springs

I have many BM that have never broken a spring. But I have had one knife broke a spring twice in a year. In general I think its a great design and bad luck.
 
I don't know if my theory is correct but I have been working off of the assumption that it is a combination of bad luck (a spring with a weak spot or a knife with a burr rubbing up against the spring), climate (wetter climates causing micro corrosion on the small springs), and size of the knife. That last point is based on my experience. I own a lot of axis style locking knives. Off the top of my head I have a mini grip, 2 fullsize grips, a bugout, a fullsize presidio, a super freek, a mini rsk hogue, a mini loco, a fullsize custom shop crooked river, and a SOG Terminus XR.

Of those knives I have broken omega springs in two of them. One spring on the Bugout and both springs on the mini grip twice.
 
That's an impressive collection of "Butterflies".
I've got 7 minis; and will now keep a close eye on them...
Mini-Barrage
Mini-Bugout
Mini-Crooked River
Mini-Freek
Mini-Griptilian
Mini-Presidio 2
Valet
It looks as if they're available in 2 different sizes...
I think mine all take size 2
 
Last edited:
The Wolff springs Hogue uses are supposed to be a better alternative than the ones BM uses. The ones off Etsy are most likely bought on AliExpress and resold.
Don't think so. They are 304 tempered stainless spring steel. They are stiffer and more durable then Benchmades. Never broke one. I have broken a couple Benchmades.
 
Don't think so. They are 304 tempered stainless spring steel. They are stiffer and more durable then Benchmades. Never broke one. I have broken a couple Benchmades.

Considering that store is full of stuff that appears to have been purchased from AliExpress, I have a hard time believing that the springs aren't. That doesn't mean they're not more durable than whatever Benchmade uses.
 
How about the ones from Ebay? Does anybody have experience with them?
 
I lost an Omega spring cleaning & oiling a Benchmade........found a guy on eBay that makes them. Explained his process.vReally good quality and cheap. Bought a bunch to make the order price worth it.......
Now I have back up
 
I bought some Flytanium titanium crossfade handles for my Benchmade bugout. As you can guess, I broke both of my springs the day after I made my Doug Ritter RSK® MK1-G2.
Now I have a theory. The Bugout became very smooth with the new handles so I fidget with it a lot.
If you deploy it 10 times in a minute (very easy), that is 600 times in an hour, and 2000 times while bench watching a day Netflix.
So now I think it is not just a case of bad springs, but a case of wear and tear.
When I install the new springs on my Bugout, I will put some grease on the springs and restart the experiment.
 
In mass produced knives there will always be a few that have issues. Some companies have more issues with this than others. I believe Hogue does not manufacture the springs in house but use ones manufactured by Wolff who traditionally is a good company.

With adhd and severe anxiety, I flip/flip etc my knives far more than most people. While its been many years since I owned a Benchmade, I did break an omega spring in about 3 months of ownership. However, I also managed to wear out a Kershaw torsion bar in less than 6 months.

Hogue is a fantastic company and you should have no issues with the warranty, whether you want them to do the work or just send you the spring.

Personally, I don't like the Axis/ABLE lock for this very reason, the springs seem so thin. 7 and a half years of flicking my Manix 2 the CBBL is just fine.
I love my Doug Ritter RSK® MK1-G2 and think it is the best value for the money. At the moment I do think It is a case of wear and tear, I flip my knives a lot of times. Yesterday I broke the second spring of my Bugout, I did not even notice I already broke the first one. I just thought it was this smooth because I broke it in.
 
My springs that I made from 304 SS spring wire are still working great!

OTF Spring-3a.jpg
 
I’ve owned numerous BM’s over several years, and I’ve never broken an omega spring. Not denying it happens, because it apparently does. That said, I’ve noticed over the last couple of years it seems the reports are more widespread among Bugouts, smaller models like the 940, and “mini” models. Aside from a 940 or two, which I had no issues with, I’ve personally never owned a Bugout or a “mini” model of anything. I wonder if it has anything to do with the smaller diameter of the curl of the springs in those models, and/or possibly the propensity of owners of such models to fidget with them more because they’re small. Strictly an observation, nothing data-driven, scientific, or even judgy applied.
 
Just contact the manufacturer of your kinfe. In my experience with Hogue and Benchmade, they will send you the parts free of charge.
I have had the opposite experience with Benchmade. I really do like a lot of their knives but they have had a policy now for quite a while where they will not mail any "internal parts" but rather require the entire knife to be sent in via their LifeSharp service. If you have an issue with a pocket clip no issue, but for something they deem an "internal part" which is what they classify the omega springs you are out of luck.
 
How do you know if one spring is broken WITHOUT taking apart the knife? Rattling noise, loss of blade retention force, or a tilted lockbar?
 
BM axis locks have been my main knives for over 20 years...lots of fidgeting. Current 710 I've had since 2002 on original springs. I have only broken one spring, it was on an older 710.

I regularly clean and lube my carry knifes, usually remoil without disassembly. Use 1 side of the axis bar to unlock, usually open with thumbstuds or inertia (results in less reward movement than manual bar movement).

Knife is perfectly functional with one broken spring, but you do notice the 50% reduction in sprung force and slightly uneven loading.

My theory is material variation, corrosion, or maybe possible rubbing in the scales that causes the spring to not bend naturally are the likely causes of failure. Because when everything is right their life seems to be infinite.
 
BM axis locks have been my main knives for over 20 years...lots of fidgeting. Current 710 I've had since 2002 on original springs. I have only broken one spring, it was on an older 710.

I regularly clean and lube my carry knifes, usually remoil without disassembly. Use 1 side of the axis bar to unlock, usually open with thumbstuds or inertia (results in less reward movement than manual bar movement).

Knife is perfectly functional with one broken spring, but you do notice the 50% reduction in sprung force and slightly uneven loading.

My theory is material variation, corrosion, or maybe possible rubbing in the scales that causes the spring to not bend naturally are the likely causes of failure. Because when everything is right their life seems to be infinite.
I heard about and seen guys coat their Omega spring with oil or grease to protect against corrosion.
Your thoughts........should I coat mine?
 
I’ve owned numerous BM’s over several years, and I’ve never broken an omega spring. Not denying it happens, because it apparently does. That said, I’ve noticed over the last couple of years it seems the reports are more widespread among Bugouts, smaller models like the 940, and “mini” models. Aside from a 940 or two, which I had no issues with, I’ve personally never owned a Bugout or a “mini” model of anything. I wonder if it has anything to do with the smaller diameter of the curl of the springs in those models, and/or possibly the propensity of owners of such models to fidget with them more because they’re small. Strictly an observation, nothing data-driven, scientific, or even judgy applied.
Interesting. I have owned a few Benchmade’s over the years and only one has had spring problems.
A 531 model. Fits right in with your theory of problems with smaller knives.
 
How do you know if one spring is broken WITHOUT taking apart the knife? Rattling noise, loss of blade retention force, or a tilted lockbar?
All three in some senses. You can absolutely hear the broken spring rattling around loose, but there is a significant feeling of sluggishness to the lockbar both in lock up and then again when you go to disengage it. Think like when your brake fluid is real low in your car. The brake pedal still "works" but its starting to feel pretty mushy and iffy.
 
Back
Top