Compression Lock Patent Expires this Month

sgt1372 said:
Yes, there's a small part of the blade on the Tropen that's exposed in the compression lock slot but it is NOT as serious a risk as you make out.

Personally, I've never gotten cut closing/holding/manipulating my Tropen (which I have carried daily on occasion) and I've also not had any such problem w/the Ikuchi that is also criticized for a similar reason.

It's all "much ado about nothing" IMO.

Frankly, there's always a risk of getting cut w/any knife regardless of how it is designed and, if you get cut by one, I would attribute that to USER ERROR, not to any design failure provided that the knife will not cut you if held/used in a "normal" matter.

So, if you are getting cut holding/using a Tropen (or the Ikuchi), I'd question how you are holding/using it.
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This is a decent viewing of the issue. No its not going to kill you, any cut you get would be minor but this is a design flaw. You could very easily run the back of your hand on that exposed blade area while you are reaching for your chapstick or headphones in the same pocket. Now you will get a bunch of people coming out of the woodwork telling you not to carry anything else in the knife pocket but lets be realistic. You can reach past hundreds of other knife designs without having an exposed blade. This is something that other knives dont have and it is not a feature. This is a bug.
 
I've never been cut by my Tropen and I carry it regularly. The flipper tab hits your finger when closing before the edge of the blade will. You can easily file down that part of the blade if it was a concern.
 
The Compression lock requires a bit more hand strength/toughness and dexterity to use with finesse than something like an axis or liner lock. It's also more of a challenge to fit into the knife design. I doubt we will see that many other companies attempting them. I could be wrong, though.
 
I'll stick with the time proven safe, strong, reliable slipjoint, friction folder, and if I "need" a locking blade, the backlock, thankee very much. :D
Y'all can have the fancy and complicated blade locks. I don't want em'. So remember, if something with a compression lock, axis lock, or whatever, that you have your eye on, sells out before you finish the check-out, it weren't me that bought the last one. :D
 
SteelPanther said:
why does everyone whine about the shaman bumping their finger? doesn't bother me. if it was a flaw then it wouldn't of been produced with the choil. sure all the whiners know more about knife design than sal does. pocket clip....serrations....now everybody gets comp locks...courtesy of spyderco. but oh the humanity if a knife bumps your poor delicate finger
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It doesn't bother me. I got the technique of moving my finger out of the way when closing when I got my Amalgam. It's a non-issue, and the bump is there as a guard. It's by design. But people grind them off, it's their preference. I find the design just fine, and the Shaman is probably my favorite knife of all.
 
That is great news. I look forward to new knife designs using Spyderco's compression lock. Companies can offer the public new shapes, handle material combinations, and maybe even lower prices. We should do a contest to see who can name which company will be first to do it.
 
I hope this is the case and other manufacturers integrate the compression lock into their knives. I'm a fan of it.
 
Comp lock is great for playing with and if I felt it was not adequate I would reach for a fixed blade. Slightly OT, most videos show lock breaks as if the blade were under closing stress. I have zero concern of this, I want to see how it handles a push cut with all my weight bearing down on it.

With apologies to Spyderco for their loss, I look forward to seeing what others do with it. I’m thinking of ZT. They need a boost in variety though I admire their build quality. I also find their knives the easiest to breakdown and maintain of the Big 3 (Spyderco, ZT, BM, for me at least).
 
DocJD said:
Yes , with those vital qualifiers ...maybe . ;)

But, as a class, are still more troublesome and worrisome to me than some others .
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if ya had a bad run i get your position on them. I have only had quality made ones done right and I've used without problems. ones i have and had that weren't, i used like a slip joints so never had an issue either.
 
I like the compression lock a lot, but I'm on the side of it continuing to be more of a Spyderco thing even when the patent expires.
Just a guess, but I'm betting other companies wouldn't have the same success as Spyderco using the design like
they have/ do with Benchmade's axis lock.
 
afishhunter said:
I'll stick with the time proven safe, strong, reliable slipjoint, friction folder, and if I "need" a locking blade, the backlock, thankee very much. :D
Y'all can have the fancy and complicated blade locks. I don't want em'. So remember, if something with a compression lock, axis lock, or whatever, that you have your eye on, sells out before you finish the check-out, it weren't me that bought the last one. :D
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I wouldn't call a liner or frame lock a fancy or complicated lock. They've been out for a long while now, and for a user, are more superior to a back lock, in terms of one hand use [in my humble opinion].
I have two back lock knives currently, and while I love those two knives, I dislike the backlock.
 
unklfranco said:
That is great news. I look forward to new knife designs using Spyderco's compression lock. Companies can offer the public new shapes, handle material combinations, and maybe even lower prices. We should do a contest to see who can name which company will be first to do it.
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I actually think there is a good chance that it is Civivi or someone that uses liner locks a lot in their blades. It would into their core knife design process whereas someone like Benchmade who is using a lot of partial liners would need to come up with new design specifically for the Compression lock. Some of the handle geometry would probably need to get played with but something like a Civivi Praxis re-released with S35VN and a compression lock for under 150$ would be pretty damn compelling. Would be like the base model Shaman in size and blade shape but would have better steel.
 
c7m2p3 said:
I actually think there is a good chance that it is Civivi or someone that uses liner locks a lot in their blades. It would into their core knife design process whereas someone like Benchmade who is using a lot of partial liners would need to come up with new design specifically for the Compression lock. Some of the handle geometry would probably need to get played with but something like a Civivi Praxis re-released with S35VN and a compression lock for under 150$ would be pretty damn compelling. Would be like the base model Shaman in size and blade shape but would have better steel.
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Maybe I'm overlooking something, but an inverted liner lock, which is more or less what the compression lock is, doesn't seem like it'd be that difficult to pull off. Not sure why so many people think it'll be hard for other makers to adopt. A comp lock Praxis would be badass.
 
FWIW, there is one variant of the compression lock I do like, the Smock button-ified version. It makes it less fiddly, avoids exposed edge issues, and does away with hot spots in use from the top side cut outs and weirdness.

Everywhere else I hate it, though. Luckily Spyderco makes knives with a million different lock types so this is easy to work around. Hell, the Sage alone came in like four or five different lock versions, didn't it?
 
DocJD said:
:rolleyes: Which is all you'll have left after you other hand is closed on . :eek::poop:

Never happen with a Tri-ad back lock . ;)
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Bullshit, lol. I've been cut more times closing a backlock one handed, by far, than a liner or frame lock.

To each his own!
 
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