Do you trust your locking folder so much that you often grip it with your fingers in harms way?

Do you without fail, keep your fingers out from under the blade of a locking folder?

  • always

    Votes: 17 14.9%

  • sometimes

    Votes: 11 9.6%

  • rarely or never

    Votes: 18 15.8%

  • never even think about it

    Votes: 68 59.6%
  • Total voters
    114
I never even think about it. From a risk management perspective, there is no folder I own (and I do own some very large ones) that is capable of cutting off my fingers if the blade closes on them by the force exerted by my own hand/arm. The worst that would happen is some very gnarly lacerations requiring stitches. Couple that with the exceptionally low likelihood of any of my folders ever closing on my fingers and the risk is so low that it is not even worth a thought for me.

That said, when it comes to any of my tools that actually are capable of removing a finger, the analysis is quite different.
 
I think people worry to much.
I understand the rationale, this hasn’t been a problem for me.
Seems funny to me how much caution about possibly being cut.

A firearm I understand the safety concerns. A knife cut seems pretty small on the grand scheme.
 
I have chopped with folder's a couple of times. That could wizz the blade in to my hand if the lock failed.
 
I dont worry about it because I am (usually) not a moron. Lol

Ive never had a non locking knife fold on me. Ive had multiple linerlocks fail though! I think Im safer with a slipjoint honestly, and I just hold them like normal. Holding it with just your fingertips seems less safe since you have less control on the blade.

The times Ive cut myself were always me doing something stupid. Case in point, the other day I got my first clamp on thumbstud for a Buck 110 and I tried to flick the knife open. I knew I shouldnt have tried, but I did it anyway. I cut the outer layer of skin off of my thumb but didnt cut deep enough to bleed.
Usually I hurt myself by cutting towards myself though.
 
I treat every folder like it's a slipjoint so locks for me go >ease of use>long term durability>safety.
 
To recap, this thread was started because of two posts on the spine whacking thread. A portion of what i posted read, "I went about 18 years with a slip joint before locks became popular. We were careful to keep our fingers out of the way of a potential blade closing suddenly. Now, we put our fingers under the blade and trust the lock. I'd hate to have one of these scary sharp blades close on my fingers today". Then another member posted in response to this, "
Grizzly3 said:
Now, we put our fingers under the blade and trust the lock.
Click to expand...

"You shouldn't trust the lock. A lock is a safety feature. It's like a seat belt. Seat belts can fail. Likewise, any lock can fail. Just as you still drive cautiously, obeying the rules and trying to avoid getting into an accident where the seat belt would come into play, so should you follow proper knife usage guidelines and try not to use the knife in a way in which the lock would come into play.

I say it all the time: locking folders can give people a false sense of security and lead them to form bad habits which make accidents more likely to occur."

So, while his advice is good, I just became curious to see just how many here would say that with locking folders, we do wrap our hands around the handle, using the finger grooves built in for this very thing, with very little thought to one closing on us. Of course that implies using common sense with our knives, but it is how many folks actually use these locking folders today.

So far it looks like 46 votes for "rarely or never" and "never think about it" at 77%

and 14 votes for "always or sometimes keep your fingers out from under the blade" at 14%

Interesting, that's all this was about. And of course, another thread for many to have fun with.
 
The only time I think about it is if the blade gets stuck in something and I have to apply reverse pressure to unstick it. Even if that happens, though, I'm generally rocking the blade to get it unstuck, so there isn't a lot of pressure on the locking mechanism.
 
I treat all folding knives like slipjoints, and I've never had a blade close unexpectedly, because I cut with the edge, not the spine. I also don't understand what you mean by not having your fingers in the way. When I hold a folding knife by the handle, some part of my hand is "in the way" of where the blade closes, but I make sure I'm out of the way when I close it.
 
Buck 110 and stockman/jumbo stockman for decades. Don’t stab or chop with them, fixed blade for that. Hold them in the most effective position for cutting task. Close them not on my fingers.

Parker
 
Keep your fingers out of the way in case the blade were to close unexpectedly. For 18 years I used my 3 bladed Old Timer medium stockman in a garage working on cars. I can't even recall all the ways that old knife was used and how many things it cut, scraped or loosened. It was a real working knife and I learned to be careful with it since more than one time I'd get it in some sort of maneuver where there was a possibility of it closing. It was much more than a box and letter opener and I generally kept my fingers out of the way unless I was simply cutting down with it and obviously knew it would not close on me.
 
Grizzly3 said:
Keep your fingers out of the way in case the blade were to close unexpectedly. For 18 years I used my 3 bladed Old Timer medium stockman in a garage working on cars. I can't even recall all the ways that old knife was used and how many things it cut, scraped or loosened. It was a real working knife and I learned to be careful with it since more than one time I'd get it in some sort of maneuver where there was a possibility of it closing. It was much more than a box and letter opener and I generally kept my fingers out of the way unless I was simply cutting down with it and obviously knew it would not close on me.
Click to expand...
What do you carry now?
 
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