Large Inkosi Lock Failure

[Maretus]

I recently got a large inkosi and last night while playing around with it, experienced a somewhat dangerous lock failure.

With the knife open, and the lock fully engaged, pushing down on the spine of the knife towards the tip with a small amount of pressure causes the lock to disengage and the knife to close.

Here is a poor quality video showing what is happening:

I experienced this while looking at forum threads about “lock rock”. It seems my inkosi doesn’t have lock rock. Instead, the blade just closes when you put even a small amount of pressure downwards on the blade. I’m not talking about a lot of pressure. A little bit and boom, lock disengages.

Sucks. I really like the knife otherwise but not satisfied with this at $450.

 

[Dcdavis]

Did you buy it new from a dealer? That’s not normal. You could contact the dealer and send it back for a replacement or refund. You can contact CRK and they will take care of it for you. You could try disassembling and cleaning it and see if that fixes it. Once you do that it takes your option of returning to dealer away. The large Inkosi is my favorite CRK. Good luck

 

[jjg6319]

I never would have expected that.

 

[Maretus]

I bought it from DLT trading and I have disassembled and cleaned it, but it’s still happening.

I’m waiting on a response from DLT. I’d prefer an expedited replacement from them and they can deal with sending this to CRK for service.

Definitely a bit disappointed. Oh well!

 

[BD_01]

It might be the video, but the lockbar engagement looks a bit shallow for an Inkosi (to my eye, anyway). That doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but I once put one of my CRK’s back together wonky and it messed up the engagement.

Good luck getting it sorted. I know know from experience how disappointing it is to have a new knife with issues. DLT and CRK have about the best CS reputations in the business.

 

[Silverstonev8]

Can you add a pic of the track that the ball has made on the tang to show how deep the lock ball engages?

 

[Easyrider]

Like everyone has said, that is not right. I see that you contacted the authorized dealer, good. CRK needs to see what went wrong so they can see that it does not happen.

 

[vwb563]

Lock bar tension seems a bit weak in my humble opinion. Definitely needs servicing. I have a large Inkosi I just tested it the same way you did in the video. I applied all the hand pressure I could muster and it never budged one bit.

 

[blanex1]

I own the same knife and it douse not do that, but my 21 has a much stronger lock-up and its my general carry.

 

[Evany]

My large Inkosi is very solid. Something's off with yours for sure.

 

[Maretus]

Can you add a pic of the track that the ball has made on the tang to show how deep the lock ball engages?

I will add a photo of the groove on the blade in a bit. I’m a bit hesitant to disassemble without hearing back from DLT.

The groove that the ball has made on the blade is faint but it’s there, if that helps. You can see it but not really feel it.

I’ll add a photo of it after I hear back from DLT.

 

[Maretus]

Can you add a pic of the track that the ball has made on the tang to show how deep the lock ball engages?

Having trouble uploading the images here from my mobile but here’s links to 2 pictures of the part of the tang where the ball makes contact.

https://ibb.co/Vv5bWjc
https://ibb.co/JFJLf7J

It doesn’t seem to engage very far. It definitely seems like I’m able to overcome what little contact is being made between the ball and the tang of the blade.

 

[hhmoore]

I’m a bit hesitant to disassemble without hearing back from DLT.

But you already disassembled it - what's different now?

 

[XL883N]

Personally I wouldn't waste another minute on this. DLT will probably response tomorrow if not call them and get a replacement.

 

[Silverstonev8]

Having trouble uploading the images here from my mobile but here’s links to 2 pictures of the part of the tang where the ball makes contact.

https://ibb.co/Vv5bWjc
https://ibb.co/JFJLf7J

It doesn’t seem to engage very far. It definitely seems like I’m able to overcome what little contact is being made between the ball and the tang of the blade.

Hard to tell from those pictures. Here is a pic of normal lock up. The left one is new and the right one was used a little.

 

[Maretus]

Hard to tell from those pictures. Here is a pic of normal lock up. The left one is new and the right one was used a little. View attachment 1484823

My tang looks absolutely nothing at all like that. The pictures don’t do it justice, but on my tang, you can just barely see where the ball is making contact. Mine definitely doesn’t have that deep of a mark - not even close.

 

[nyefmaker]

This is just another example of why I do not trust the ceramic ball lockup. I had the same thing happen to me on 2 umnumzaans with the one closing on my hand causing a deep gash. I have Never had this happen with a sebenza 21 and older.

With watching the video, the lockup which would be fine for an older sebenza lockup looks like it doesn’t engage the blade tang fully. With the ball lockup it should be a deeper lockup. Even though the lockup looks deeper, the ceramic ball is only around 50% lockup. Yours look maybe 25%, hence is why it’s slipping off the blade tang and closing.

CRK does have one of the best warranties in the business and will take care of it for you. Just frustrating is all.

 

[dan35]

CRK should fix this to your satisfaction. You can trust them to make this right. This is like an advertisement to get a Sebenza 21 while you can.

 

[vwb563]

I bought it from DLT trading and I have disassembled and cleaned it, but it’s still happening.

I will add a photo of the groove on the blade in a bit. I’m a bit hesitant to disassemble without hearing back from DLT.

Something is off here. Did or did you not disassemble it? You’re contradicting yourself.

 

[Maretus]

Something is off here. Did or did you not disassemble it? You’re contradicting yourself.

Lol, calm down Sherlock.

I disassembled and reassembled before contacting DLT. Upon hearing from someone that disassembly was discouraged before a return, I have opted not to do so again.

Hope that clears it up.