Lockback one handed closing technique .

harronek

harronek

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Nov 29, 2013
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I have only used linerlock and Framelock knives exclusively for quite a while .
The ability to close a knife one handed is as important to me as it is to open it one handed , and the liner and frame lock make closing easy .
Because of this I've always been limited to the knives I buy , and have bypassed many nice knives because they are Lockbacks .
I've decided to by a Spyderco Delica to see if I can come to grips with the Lockback system .
How do all you Lockback guys close your knives and are there any techniques that work well one handed .


Ken
 
Push the lock button making sure your fingers are clear of the blade. Push the back of the blade up against your leg and close it up.
 
Yep. Same basic technique applies to closing AO framelocks and linerlocks one-handed. Push the lockbar aside sufficiently to disengage the blade, then use the spine against the leg technique to close the knife.
 
It really comes down to where the lockbar is located.

If it is on the end like on the Buck 110, then I don't recommend closing it one-handed, because it isn't very safe.

(At least I have never been been able to find a way to feel safe closing it one-handed.)

On brands that have it in the front or middle of the handle, it can be done safely and quite quickly once you get used to it.
 
Make very sure that you pay close attention when doing the leg technique. Many years ago, and the LAST time I did it I wasn't being very careful, as I lowered the knife to close it against my leg the tip of the blade caught lightly on a fold in the side of my pants without me knowing it. This changed the position of the blade from where I thought it was. Then I went to hit the back of the blade against my leg without looking and the tip of the blade went into my pants. Fortunately that time I felt the blade snag and stopped before driving it into my leg. Needles to say, I don't use that method anymore.

When you're occupied with whatever chores you are doing, or simply not paying close enough attention, hitting a knife against your leg might result in a trip to the ER. Or in my case, a hole in your pants.

Another thing, lockbacks don't generally have stop-pins to stop the edge of the blade from hitting the inside of the knife when closing. Often, the lock and backspring on a lockback act to stop the blade when closing. But as a result, if you let the blade close under the force of the backspring, the edge might hit the backspring when it flexes under the force of the blade hitting it.

I discovered the aforementioned occurrence as a kid. I had a lockback with plenty of clearance between the edge and the backspring when the knife was closed. But the edge kept showing signs of impact. After a bit of investigation I realized that the force of letting the knife slam closed was flexing the backspring slightly outward, and thereby enabling the edge to hit the spring.
 
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Here is my method, no use of leg or kicking the blade down:

[video=youtube;KUg44_koCSA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUg44_koCSA[/video]
 
i change my grip until i can use index finger to depress lock then press spine to close.sometimes grip is reversed depending on knife.
 
chiral.grolim said:
Here is my method, no use of leg or kicking the blade down:

[video=youtube;KUg44_koCSA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUg44_koCSA[/video]
Click to expand...

Can you tell me how the cut on the bird finger happened :)

Thanks for the replies everyone , I guess I'm just going to get the knife and see what works best , those two vids are probably winning the race , because they don't involve closing the blade against something , they are truly one handed techniques ,

Ken
 
The blade on my Native 5 will fall about 1/2 way closed just by holding it horizontally and pressing the lock bar. Great lockback execution on this model.
 
Bludgeon said:
Noticed the blood on your finger from that technique. :D
Click to expand...

harronek said:
Can you tell me how the cut on the bird finger happened :)
Click to expand...

:D Like i said in the video, "I'm not left-handed". That Gerber's wicked serrations caught me being careless with my poor left-hand dexterity and moving too quick, and what's really sad is that the tang has a half-stop to specifically prevent that from happening :p It's never happened in my right hand, i assure you :) But yeah, takes some practice... still it's more reliable than shaking the blade down or using your leg.
 
nick21 said:
It's really easy with the Delica once you've broken it in. Here's a demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDWe6RtzVyY
Click to expand...

This. It always bugs me a little when people tell me they don't like midlocks/frontlocks (ie, backlocks that are positioned towards the middle or front of the handle) because they can't be closed one-handed (especially when referring to Spydercos which are generally designed for one-handed opening and one-handed closing).

This is from the Spyderco Edge-u-cation site (which matches the demonstration nick21 posted): https://www.spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=7 :
"To close a folding knife that includes a front lock, simply turn the open knife in your hand so that your fingers are on the open side of the handle and your thumb rests on the lock release. Making sure that your index finger is located as high as possible on the handle, release the lock by pressing with your thumb, a gentle flick of the wrist may be necessary. The kick (the unsharpened portion at the base of the blade) will fall onto your index finger protecting your hand from the cutting edge."
 
GundaManiac said:
This. It always bugs me a little when people tell me they don't like midlocks/frontlocks (ie, backlocks that are positioned towards the middle or front of the handle) because they can't be closed one-handed (especially when referring to Spydercos which are generally designed for one-handed opening and one-handed closing).

This is from the Spyderco Edge-u-cation site (which matches the demonstration nick21 posted): https://www.spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=7 :
"To close a folding knife that includes a front lock, simply turn the open knife in your hand so that your fingers are on the open side of the handle and your thumb rests on the lock release. Making sure that your index finger is located as high as possible on the handle, release the lock by pressing with your thumb, a gentle flick of the wrist may be necessary. The kick (the unsharpened portion at the base of the blade) will fall onto your index finger protecting your hand from the cutting edge."
Click to expand...

Which is exactly how I close my endura. :)
 
harronek said:
I have only used linerlock and Framelock knives exclusively for quite a while .
The ability to close a knife one handed is as important to me as it is to open it one handed , and the liner and frame lock make closing easy .
Because of this I've always been limited to the knives I buy , and have bypassed many nice knives because they are Lockbacks .
I've decided to by a Spyderco Delica to see if I can come to grips with the Lockback system .
How do all you Lockback guys close your knives and are there any techniques that work well one handed .


Ken
Click to expand...

I have a delica 4, if you move your index finger all the way up as it should be, you can swing the blade down on your finger, the cutting edge will not touch you, then continue.
 
BladesAre said:
I have a delica 4, if you move your index finger all the way up as it should be, you can swing the blade down on your finger, the cutting edge will not touch you, then continue.
Click to expand...
:thumbup:

I do it C.G's way but ALWAYS slide my index finger up to the choil and have never been bit since.
 
BladesAre said:
I have a delica 4, if you move your index finger all the way up as it should be, you can swing the blade down on your finger, the cutting edge will not touch you, then continue.
Click to expand...

This is how I have closed all of the Spyderco lockbacks I've had. Index finger at the front of the handle, thumb on the lock release, and then a gentle flick closed will rest the choil or ricasso onto your index. The tension of the lockback holds the blade in place so that you can then change hand position and close it fully.
 
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