Durability Of Ball Bearing Lock?

V

vorpalblade

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Jan 13, 2014
Messages
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I've had a Manix 2 as my edc, for about a year. Very happy with it. But I'm wondering about the long term durability of the ball bearing lock.

Has anyone here ever had a failure?

I'm thinking of getting a couple of Manix 2 XL's, for a long trip, off the grid.
 
Should be pretty reliable as far as folding knives go. The ball itself is self-adjusting and generally has room to go deeper in the tang if the slot wears and the coil spring is a more reliable shape than say an omega spring. The only issue I’ve heard (and not sure if this is the case with the manix) is the cage that holds the ball breaking.
 
There have been cases of the cage failing. However, for me, the knife in the below video is still going on strong 7 years later. Have broken the tip, reground the blade since then but the lock continues.

Where "off the grid" are you going to be? Desert, sea, jungle? That could influence the knife to take, but a good fixed blade is always a better long term option.

 
Thanks Burke and Marthinus - We are going to Ecuador and will be equipped with fixed blades including machetes.
 
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vorpalblade said:
Thanks Burke and Marthinus - We are going to Ecuador and will be equipped with fixed blade including machetes.
Click to expand...

Sounds exiting! When I was doing exploration work a Machete and Victorinox Huntsman was my go to. Machete does the majority of work and the Huntsman was more for personal grooming to keep moral up. Those tweezers were handy and the scissors. At the end. You will most likely learn to make due with what you have so take what you feel you want.
 
Burke said:
The ball itself is self-adjusting and generally has room to go deeper in the tang if the slot wears and the coil spring is a more reliable shape than say an omega spring.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing the ball bearing lock is probably more durable than the axis.
 
marthinus said:
Sounds exiting! When I was doing exploration work a Machete and Victorinox Huntsman was my go to. Machete does the majority of work and the Huntsman was more for personal grooming to keep moral up. Those tweezers were handy and the scissors. At the end. You will most likely learn to make due with what you have so take what you feel you want.
Click to expand...

Good point about the versatility of the Victorinox. I prefer one of the Leatherman multi-tools with a scissors, despite the added weight.
 
I have 8 manix2's and one XL. Would I take one in the Bush? Yeah I would. They aren't more or less prone to failure than most good locks.

But as a fine use tool only. Machete/Axe and a fixed blade camp knife are a must for primitive/off grid camping.
 
Where "off the grid" are you going to usa today protonmail be? Desert, sea, jungle? That could influence the knife to take, but a good fixed blade is always a better long term option.
 
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I've only heard of the old white cages failing, not of the newer black ones. In any case, you can put in a Ti cage and ceramic ball these days. Easy upgrade. Probably the most durable lock that Spyderco uses otherwise. Only downside is that it can catch dirt.
 
They’re pretty tough locks—ball bearings are exceptionally hard to break and I wouldn’t expect you to ever wear one out.

If you wanted to upgrade it, the titanium cage would be a nice ‘just to be careful’ kind of upgrade. The ceramic ball probably wouldn’t be necessary unless stain resistance was a huge concern. I’d personally rather the steel ball as it should be more impact resistant.

This is a video from BladeHQ where they tested different Spydercos for lock strength. The ball bearing lock is around 6 minutes 49 seconds.
 
M. Johnwell said:
They’re pretty tough locks—ball bearings are exceptionally hard to break and I wouldn’t expect you to ever wear one out.

If you wanted to upgrade it, the titanium cage would be a nice ‘just to be careful’ kind of upgrade. The ceramic ball probably wouldn’t be necessary unless stain resistance was a huge concern. I’d personally rather the steel ball as it should be more impact resistant.

This is a video from BladeHQ where they tested different Spydercos for lock strength. The ball bearing lock is around 6 minutes 49 seconds.
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Thanks for the great video, M. Johnwell. It was extremely helpful. It looks like the ball bearing lock, even without a titanium cage, is third strongest, next to the bolt lock and lockback. I'm guessing pure strength probably isn't an absolute indicator of reliability or longevity. Still, the vid was very interesting.


ferider said:
I've only heard of the old white cages failing, not of the newer black ones. In any case, you can put in a Ti cage and ceramic ball these days. Easy upgrade. Probably the most durable lock that Spyderco uses otherwise. Only downside is that it can catch dirt.
Click to expand...

Thanks ferider. I'm ordering titanium cages from Flytanium. Didn't know they existed, up to now.
 
I'd like to see that test with the knife reversed in the holder. He breaking the locks from the pressure on the top of the blade instead of the bottom of the blade which is how we hold it when cutting stuff.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
I'd like to see that test with the knife reversed in the holder. He breaking the locks from the pressure on the top of the blade instead of the bottom of the blade which is how we hold it when cutting stuff.
Click to expand...

It’d be unlikely that you’d be able to break a folder while pushing the cutting edge against a surface. Even a slip joint would survive that. The lock tests, as shown, don’t really provide much useful information, as putting that much force on a blade is actually pretty hard to do, and putting that much force on the locking mechanism is not advisable.

Most modern knives would be similar in strength with the pressure on the edge test, as the blades almost always use a stop pin to prevent motion in that direction. It’s almost as if the designers want us to use the sharp edge...
 
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