Gen 6 XM-18: Flip or Flop?

I've had 3 Hinderers on the Triway Pivot system and about 10 prior generation ones on washers. The current generation is definitely the best that Hinderer has put out yet as far as flipping action goes. In my opinion, contrary to some of the others above, they are on par with higher end ball bearing flippers like Shiros.

I haven't tried or felt the need to swap the bearings out for the washer options, so I can't speak to how they run on those. But on the bearings they are right up there with Shiro, Koenig, Southards, etc. At least in all three that I own.
 
I got a DLT exclusive the XM-18 3.5" M390 No Choil Spanto love it running on bearings it is a great flipper. I also have a gen 6 3 inch regular spanto and love the action on it too. So 2/2 are great as far as what I have gotten.
 
halden.doerge said:
I've had 3 Hinderers on the Triway Pivot system and about 10 prior generation ones on washers. The current generation is definitely the best that Hinderer has put out yet as far as flipping action goes. In my opinion, contrary to some of the others above, they are on par with higher end ball bearing flippers like Shiros.

I haven't tried or felt the need to swap the bearings out for the washer options, so I can't speak to how they run on those. But on the bearings they are right up there with Shiro, Koenig, Southards, etc. At least in all three that I own.
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I agree 100%. The Tri-Way and current generation of Hinderer XM-18/24s can't be seen as anything other than a huge success and the best generation yet.
 
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Tri-way with bearings is awesome. Very good, smooth, fast flippers.
A lot (not all) of the Gen6/Tri-ways I have, have come bone dry and have flipped great.
I’ve lubed/relubed the pivots on all of mine and they became even more buttery smooth.

I think in my personal collection, my ZT 0562s and 0452s are the pinnacle of fast, “on-rails” smooth flipping.
About half of my try-way Hinderers are on par with them, and that is impressive.
 
I don't think that lock bar insert was really necessary.
it just complicated the mechanism.
The lock bar had no problem like lock-stick prior to Gen-5 and 6.
 
Big improvements in all areas as far as I'm concerned.

If you're a Hinderer fan, this is the time to explore the company.

Prior to Gen6, I'd totally signed off of Hinderers. Too many knives with terrible action and detent. This generation has put them back on the map for me.
 
I have 4 Gen 6s now and all came out of the box smooth and are by far the best Hinderers I own as far as detent and actions.

I find no blade play or lock rock or lock stick ... all have been taken apart and ran on washers they were all smooth and fre open on washers also. I did add a bit of lube and they are as smooth as any ZT I've ever owned if not better.

I think Rick got something with the detent spot on in this Gen 6 ... I can't imagine having 4 that are all so good if he didn't. The detent is firm but that IMHO is how it should (and has to be) to get the flipping action you want.

I would say if you have been interested in Hinderers ... this would be the one to try ... and the DLT Swedged Spearpoint is a great design.
 
Gen's 5 & 6 have taken them in a direction I personally don't care for in a RHK. I'll keep my Gen4.
 
I've got a Gen 6 XM-18 3.0 Slicer w/the bearings installed and it flips fine to me.

As good or better than the 20+ ZT and 10+ Spyderco flippers that I also own including a ZT0562 and Spyderco Advocate which I think are the best flippers of the bunch.
 
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I've now had 3 of the Gen 6s, and all had lousy detents and lock bars that flexed (almost like the lockbar stabilizer doesn't work; you can feel the blade clicking up and down slightly if you check for vertical play). The ones I've owned would flip mostly reliably but softly with bearings, and laughably badly with bronze washers, just as before with the Gen 4s. Two of them have also had loose closed position stop pins that rattle when the knife is open, which apparently Hinderer just "fixes" by using red loctite to cement them in place.

I honestly can't see any evidence whatsoever that the detent has changed at all, despite what everyone keeps saying to the contrary. I'm not sure why this is so difficult to get right, considering that I've had a cheap kizer that reliably flipped on bronze washers but could still be opened with thumb studs quite well, too. I'd say the Hinderers are consistently the worst flippers I've ever owned, bar none.

I kept buying them because I like most of the other things about them, and the Skinny Slicer 3.5" is overall a pretty good knife, but I sure am disappointed in how poorly they flip. I'm not sure I'd call the Gen 6 a flop, but it sure hasn't been a flip for me.
 
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I wonder if Rick regrets ever including the flipper as a feature on his knives? If it was to originally serve as a finger guard only, perhaps he could have modified the XM design slightly to facilitate this and kept the opening method strictly via thumb-stud.

Given the Hinderer reputation as a hard-use knife, it's been fascinating to see a company cater to the fidget-factor obsession with no real improvement in actual usage (not saying any are needed per say). But cheers to Rick as a smart businessman, since it has obviously proven successful. Odd to never see any mention of using the knives though...
 
My Hinderers are the best work knives I’ve ever owned. So much so I’ve sold all my folders except for my Large Sebenza and Keen. I use them hard everyday. This is all my opinion though, everyone is different in what they want or need out of a work knife. Miles will vary..
 
I used to prefer non flipper Hindrers and even had tabs removed because it fit my hand better ... but the Gen 6s I have made me try different grips and find grips that were comfortable and functional because the do flip so well ...

and I thought it would be a shame to remove a tab that worked so well ... and I am not a big flipper guy ... but I guess I've been lucky all 4 Gen 6s I've bought have been great ... the fire out like a flipper should ... they lockup great ... detent is dialed in and never have had a failure to lock on a flip ... and they are as smooth as any knives I own.

Just my 2 cents worth.
 
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I've got a 3.5" XM-18 skinny and it fires out as well as my best ZT0562.
It's also thinner (width) and lighter than the 562 if you're looking for that.
 
sgt1372 said:
I've got a Gen 6 XM-18 3.0 Slicer w/the bearings installed and it flips fine to me.

As good or better than the 20+ ZT and 10+ Spyderco flippers that I also own including a ZT0562 and Spyderco Advocate which I think are the best flippers of the bunch.
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My XM-24 on bearings puts any ZT I've ever owned or touched to shame.

Someone please post a video of their Tri-way with a weak detent or poor action because I'm going to need to see it to believe it.

I just walked outside and made this real quick. I don't see how an action can get any better than this:


When I took it apart to put the brass parts in I simply put it back together. There isn't a super secret lube job here or anything. I have KPL light and heavy now I plan on applying the next time I get into the knife which will be when I can get my hands on a titanium scale. Not that the action can really be improved IMO.
 
^^ That's pretty much how most of my tri-ways are. My 24 does that exactly.
The little 3.0s have less blade weight so they don't slam shut like my 24, but they certainly fall shut.
 
And I was flipping it vertically.....to show the detent is plenty strong that even with all that blade weight in the vertical position it easily flies open.

I've actually seen a few reviews where people think the detent is actually a bit on the TOO strong side. I could see someone with small/weak/sensitive hands or fingers thinking that.
 
I've never owned a Hinderer with a detent too strong. Or a ZT for that matter.
Have a few ZTs I wish had slightly stronger detents...
 
falar said:
My XM-24 on bearings puts any ZT I've ever owned or touched to shame.

Someone please post a video of their Tri-way with a weak detent or poor action because I'm going to need to see it to believe it.

I just walked outside and made this real quick. I don't see how an action can get any better than this:


When I took it apart to put the brass parts in I simply put it back together. There isn't a super secret lube job here or anything. I have KPL light and heavy now I plan on applying the next time I get into the knife which will be when I can get my hands on a titanium scale. Not that the action can really be improved IMO.
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All my gen 6s are like that. I couldn’t be happier with them. They really have these knives dialed in now.
 
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