Types of folding knives
Slip joint (non locking) folding knives are a very old design but appear to be coming back into vogue (in certain European countries) due to increased media hype surrounding the so called "knife crime"- which BTW is mainly orchestrated by hands attached to afflicted minds whereby those persons are certainly not using 100 buck plus hunting knives for their primeval doings but mainly home made devices and hardware tools of the carpenter! The authorities are of the opinion that a small slip joint knife is somehow less dangerous in such hands than a similar or even bigger sized locking knife. Funny that, as I distinctly remember being attacked by such a person during high school years who was a mere half metre or so from me, playing with a small slip joint knife and then lunging at me with intent to do bodily harm. Of course I remember it, especially how the Pang Gai Noon grip upon his thrusting arm resulted in all cessation of any idea of sticking it to me in the guts. Slip joints cut and stab just as well as any knife, period.
I digress and one can write volumes on the existence of knife crime and who are the key perpetrators of such violence.
The slip joint, while a favourite amongst many, is not the best choice for the outdoor enthusiast except for the traveller where a Swiss Army type knife would be a lot handier than any of the knives discussed below.
Lock back knives have been used by just about everyone who says: "Ive been using knives for ages"! In fact I would argue that anyone over the age of 45-50 in 2020 will fit into this category. So that means all of you "young'ns" had better listen up.
Stockmen, farmers, hunters, campers, soldiers, hikers etc. etc. have been using lock back knives for donkey's years!
Along comes the Liner lock, a weaker locking mechanism (there are exceptions of course, however, these are modified locking systems and still by definition are a "Liner lock") compared to a lock back. Whoa! Who says so? I do! (if we have to go down this ridiculous "strong Vs weal route"). The stop pin for example of the liner lock undergoes a bending and shear force when large forces are placed upon the blade because the blade is acting as lever upon the fulcrum (being the pivot) in attempting to move the immovable, ie the stop pin.
In order not to shear the stop pin, it must be thick enough and constructed with quality engineering in mind. The contact surface of the liner against the back of what could be considered the "knife tang" is small (Pressure = Force divided by Area) compared with that of the actual tang width. That is not ideal and for the liner to correctly "lock up" both liner surface and tang surface must be perfectly aligned and machined/ground in such a way s to form two "wedges" if you like. However, pressure against this wedge will only cause possible movement away from the lock position, hence the advent of the LAWKS system and variations of this (also see below).
Also when a force is applied to the liner lock (there are some exceptions (eg the treated tangs and end of the liner in some FKMD knives, which greatly improve the friction between the two mating surfaces) and the liner locks within the HF1 and HF2 series folders of Extrema Ratio, where a "safety locking pin" can be inserted into both frame and knife tang to bolster the blade and turn it into a "semi" (my words) fixed blade knife. Here the main forces are only acting upon the main pivot and the "safety locking pin". Other manufacturers such as J and V (Spanish company) utilise a safety locking pin on some liner lock folding models and so does the Italian company Wanderer (although the locking pin is used on a Roller lock mechanism and not a liner lock). I'm sure I have left many out here of this brief discussion. But I digress.
What about the LOCK BACK FOLDER????
Not so with the lock back folder where the tang of the blade usually matches in width the large slab of steel which undergoes compressive forces, (not bending forces as in a lock back design). Note, equivalent sized lock back knives are usually heavier than liner lock counterparts (but we are talking nothing really in weigh differences, differences which only matter to the weight junkies out there).
When it comes to reliability and longevity the Lock back design is king at present (ok liner locks and frame locks just haven't been around for that long yet, so maybe the jury is still out?)
When properly designed, the lock back knife is a very strong and safe design. It is virtually impossible for the blade to become accidentally released when subject to strong forces, unlike many modern designed liner and frame lock knives where the emphasis appears to be on the ease of opening. This latter aspect carries a disadvantage requiring the knife when folded to be carried either confined within a trouser pocket using the clip provided or within a small pouch (sometimes supplied), especially flipper folders of any description. A ball indent on both frame and the liner of liner lock and frame lock knives, can if properly engineered will help to restrain the blade from accidental release when subjected to mild forces (far under the forces required to release a traditional back locking folder, however these knives should IMHO NEVER be carried loose in a bag or rucksack for safety.
Reduction of pivot friction can also be achieved by substituting either plastic or bronze phosphor washers with thrust bearings at the expense of overall manufacturing costs and also increasing the frequency of maintenance over time due to contamination and or breakdown of the thrust/ball/roller bearing cassettes.
The lock back design folder has a much greater surface area of blade tang in contact with the actual structural part of the knife frame, whereas in a liner lock, frame lock, roller lock; all of these designs the only point of contact with the knife frame is via the friction reducing washers or bearings, which in most cases never cover the entire frame area.
A con with the lock back design is that they generally require more attention to lubrication and cleaning around the pivot because there are no washers or bearings and for the knife blade to exit and close smoothly the interface (sub millimetre) MUST be well lubricated and kept clean of foreign debris, especially extremely fine silt/dust, animal guts and oils, all of which if left to dry can impede the operation of the blade.
Because there is basically no "space" between blade and structural liners there is of course little chance for debris to become lodged within however, this does not, as mentioned, preclude liquids entering and congealing within the mechanism (although one would have to be very sloppy in knife maintenance.
The force from the heavy spring in the lock back knife helps to retain the blade in a closed form even if the blade was to become partially open, most good* designs will in fact return the blade to its closed position. Many "modern designs" of locking knives, once the blade exits the frame, it can move effortlessly and this is IMHO a big mistake with knife design for knives intended for outdoor usage.
* It must be a good design and not incorporate some woosy spring system!
What about Frame Locking knives?
Frame lock, another weaker design than the lock back for the same reasons stated above. It's funny how people are fixated upon "weaknesses" in fixed bladed knives but have totally been brainwashed to ignore any weaknesses in the frame lock. Of course though for general usage the frame lock is more than good enough to be safe. To mention CS's triad lock, a reinvention of the "lock back wheel" is neither a frame lock nor a liner lock nor a roller lock and hence it really achieves (supposedly) great strength in the locking mechanism. I say supposedly as I do not own one and CS would never dream in a thousand years of sending me one for review (that's a long story). The achieved strength is of little consequence as the probability of exerting the forces to close a knife as they demonstrate are highly unlikely but that's CS. Now don't get me wrong CS makes some great products, if not kings of showmanship!
Auto assisted liner locks in another article
Roller type lock Already discussed in previous articles here on this blog.
Now to use as an example of a classic design in locking knives, I present the following:
Nieto Knives RANGER XXL R011 G10 Lock back Survival Folder fully made in Spain featuring Böhler's N695 (their version of 440C) stainless steel with a HRC of XX? LOL, they don't say what the HRC is, which is quite strange. In fact the HRC is not mentioned on any of their social media sites, nor on any written material provided with the knife or their official web site. My guess is that they are covering themselves to be able to modify this ant any time in the future. When the Nieto Ranger XXL first came out in 2019, only red liners were offered, not the "toxic green" ones like in the one I just bought.
The Nieto engraving is now featuring an improved font that gives an air of modern design and the old Nieto font was exactly that, it just looked "OLD"!
On first examination of this folder I found ALL components to be perfectly aligned and functioning as expected. The knife itself came very well oiled in a plastic bag in their typical silver colored cardboard boxes. The only literature included was a publicity brochure, which BTW did feature also a picture of said knife.
I have many Nieto folders and why not, they are all constructed perfectly as far as I'm concerned. In fact a fine attention to detail is an absolute must for creating a folder which will be firstly, safe to use and secondly last for the following generations (IMHO). Their folders to date deliver such philosophy to a reality.
The only disagreement with the website data was certainly no one metre of paracord was included, more like 50cm! Ok that's more than enough and for me it adds ZERO value to the knife. I want to see a great product and a matching great scabbard. In the latter case the heavy Denier Nylon scabbard was well constructed and no lose stitching, frayed ends of webbing or clumsy stitching was noted.
General Characteristics:
Sabre ground
Semi tanto tip
Lock back folder
The steel of choice here is Böhler's N695, which is basically 440C.
No binding with the Nieto Ranger XXL in vegetables such as potatoes (Ok strictly speaking-tubers LOL).
All in all I think Nieto RANGER XXL is one of Nieto's best largish folders to date. It is well presented and the design looks cool as well as functional, opens smoothly with no adjustments needed, straight out of the box, plus it cuts like no tomorrow (ok I've only cut up dirty birch bark and after that cooked pig so far so good!).
Stick around for the full field review, coming to a YouTube theatre near you soon! LOL
BCT
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