I got this knife as a gift several years ago, I don't really use it a whole lot but I do like to take it camping and such. However, on a camping trip a year or so ago, it got stuck open.
There is some little wire loop looking thing that seems to pop out of wherever it's supposed to be and blocks the thumb unlocker from working. I can take a tiny screwdriver or Allen wrench and poke around in there and pop the thing back into place, and then it works and closes just fine. And it'll be fine for a few times, opens and closes correctly, but after a handful of times that piece inevitably pops back out again and locks it open.
I've tried to use a tiny torx bit to remove the sides to see if I can figure out what's going on, but the screws just spin. The big screw at the hinge unscrews as expected but all the little ones all act like they're stripped.
What else can I do? Is there some trick to removing the sides? Any help would be appreciated.
Here's what it looks like opened correctly with the little piece still wherever it's supposed to be:
And when the piece pops out and gets stuck:
Somewhat useful red circle if you couldn't see the problem:
So I looked through that list and have narrowed down to a few choices. I do like the combo blade a lot for camping and outdoors use.
I guess my biggest question for all these is, being in the same price range as the S&W, are they "inexpensive" or are they "cheap"? Could any of these be considered anything close to "BIFL" based on an expectation of light/medium duty outdoor use a handful of times per year?
I don't think you can go wrong with either of the Kershaws. Even among their budget models, Kershaw seems to make a solid knife. I own oodles of knives from them from old to new-ish, cheap to expensive.
Ditto with the Ontario Rat. For what it's worth, I also have a knockoff (sort of, it's complicated) of the Rat which I go on about at some length here.
Personally I would give the Gerber a miss, although that's probably my own bias speaking. Geber is not the entity it once was (some screwball standouts notwithstanding) and it seems these days the majority of their output is low grade Chinese trash. I do like some low grade Chinese trash now and again, but I prefer mine to be cheap enough not to care and at minimum to be honest about itself. The Highbrow in particular seems to run afoul of Gerber Disease, which is a well known disorder to knife aficionados which apparently results in Gerber being pathologically unwilling to admit what kind of steel their low-end knives are actually made out of. It's hard to take that as a good sign.
Your S&W knife is actually made by whatever faceless Chinese OEM that Taylor Brands, LLC uses to churn out the sum total of their department store and auto parts store bound models. You're paying a lot for the licensing of the name there, and not an awful lot is left over for the actual knife part of the knife, based on what I've seen from all of those that I've handled. Your S&W may have retailed for $55 or whatever, but in real terms its actually worth about $15 and possesses roughly the same quality as a modern no-name Chinese knife at that price point. That's fine and all, but if I'm going to own that sort of thing I'd much rather pay $15 for it than $55...
Thanks much, to you and @cetan@piefed.world both! I think I've pretty much decided to go with the Kershaw Iridium, even though it's a bit more than I was really wanting to spend. Seems like the right move.
Kinda figured as much about the S&W. I guess I'm glad I didn't spend my own money on it. At this point, unfortunately, whenever I see something like this, branded with a known company logo but outside that company's wheelhouse, I just assume it's probably made out of chinesium and should be considered more like promotional swag than an actual company-made product.
As is often the case! Let us not forget the fate that befell Polaroid in that regard. Or Kodak, for that matter...
I've seen the Iridium highly recommended. Someone here has one, it might be @cetan@piefeed.world himself; I forget. Believe it or not, I still haven't gotten around to buying one despite my predilection for A) Axis lockers, and B) Kershaws. Go figure.
Post it when you get it!
One thing to note about the Iridium: it is not an assisted open knife. However, as mentioned, the crossbar lock is very fidget friendly and you can very easily get a hang of pulling back on the lock and flicking the knife blade open to deploy the blade and having it lock in place at the end of your hand movement. Same to close it. You can also open and close it a variety of ways with the thumbstuds. A bit of practice and you'll get the hang of it.
I agree with @dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world. The Iridium and the Ontario Rat would be my choices. I have the Ontario Rat 2 (a 3" version instead of the 3.5" that is the Rat 1) and it's rock solid. A great choice.
I don't have an Iridium but I do have other Kershaw knives with their crossbar lock (their marketing name being the Duralock) and they're also excellent.
You cannot go wrong with either of those.
And yes, the crossbar lock design has a lot of different marketing names: AXIS lock (Benchmade), Duralock (Kershaw), Pivot Lock (Gerber), Able Lock (Hogue), Clutch Lock (Kizer), Glyde Lock (QSP) etc. But many companies just use the term crossbar lock.