How Much Time Does Your Liner Lock Have Left?

All locking mechanisms on folding knives have a life line of sorts; one day, technically, they will stop functioning correctly. Let's briefly discuss how to determine how much life is left in your liner/frame lock knives.

[JoseGonzalez-yxvm]

That is why we need a collection of 100 knives or more, so there is more rotation and less wear, thanks for the video.

[LonestarTaoboy]

Larger collection, variety of locking mechanisms, inclusion of fixed blades and daily rotation. This tactic works, and works for me. This is the way.

[ludwigkopp]

Those are very useful insights. 👌 one more good reason not to get too crazy with heavy flicking open and going easy on straining the lock, micro-bending it involuntarily. Another good thing is to keep the mechanism free from dust, sand, dirt with a tiny bit of lubricant 🤷‍♂️

[mtnman]

I have a USA gerber Applegate fairbairn folder in 154cm at the time in the early 2000s was a very good knife, it has been at 100% lockup for 12 years now, this was a military issue knife, I imagine the tight tolerances it has has allowed it to be at 100% with no lock rock

[Poni]

Nah bro, titanium frame locks wear out faster because titanium, though stronger, is softer than steel. Most titanium framelocks are often paired up with super hard premium steels and will noticeably wear out faster, the more you play with it. Liners in linerlocks, on the other hand are stainless steel and often paired with budget steel. Because there ain’t too much of a difference in hardness between materials, they’d wear slower and will often get to a “settling point” where it will plateau in the same position for decades. You will be hard pressed to find a liner lock that you fidget with way to much to the point that the knife runs out of life. Theoretically, it’s possible, but in practice, not so much so. For titanium framelocks though, that problem is so prevalent, manufacturer had made it a practice to put steel inserts on the contact points on newer production knives. Titanium framelocks just by themselves don’t have a “settling point”.

[NoirHound]

What about the liner snapping from wrist flicks?

[snakerman]

I bought a Smith&Wesson 24/7 and the liner went all the way to the right in like 2 weeks… sometimes it even goes past the blade…
I wasn’t expecting much from a 30 dollar knife but 2 weeks is a bit much… can the lock be bent? Also im afraid to open the knife up because it has assisted opening and i’m afraid i’ll never be able to put it back together again

[ericstarr]

I have a Civivi Dogma with very early lockup. It makes me a bit nervous.

[enriqueoliva]

These knives has no lifetime warranty and manufacturers discontinue model like its going out of style, no parts are available when discontinued.