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Locks for lefties

Sld1959

Sld1959

Ronin
Another thread got me thinking, what locks are easy and safe for lefties to use. We have discussed in various threads how liner and frame locks have designs which can under certain circumstances fail in the hand of a lefty. So , what are good locks for lefties, I prefer ambidextrous and honestly I cannot think of a lefty only folder.

Some I can think of off the top of the head are:

1. back action lock, an oldie but a goodie. Used in many many old style folders like the Buck 110. Sypderco added a lot to this category with thier large thumb hole opener with thier back lock.

2. Cold Steel Triad an ancestor of the old tried and true back action lock.

3. Blackie Collins Bolt Action this one is a bit of a cheat as it was designed with no thumb stud and the lock slide on the right hand use side in the old Gerber models. BUT I used this lock every day for probably 20 years and I can attest to its ease of use left handed. The last versions did have dual side thumbstuds which added more ambi use ease.

4. Spyderco ball bearing lock. This is a kissing cousin of the Bolt Action lock and works very well.

5. Benchmade Axis, another superb kissing cousin of the Blackie Collins Bolt Action.

6. Various automatic opening and closing designs by various companies, my favorite being Microtech.

Here are three of my current heavy use blades which have rotated in EDC use in my left pocket top is a Myerco Blackie Collins Bolt Action, second is the superb Microtech UTX 85, and last is a Benchmade Buggout.

20241028_112448.jpg


I am sure i am missing others but these come to mind immediately
 
Sld1959 said:
Another thread got me thinking, what locks are easy and safe for lefties to use. We have discussed in various threads how liner and frame locks have designs which can under certain circumstances fail in the hand of a lefty. So , what are good locks for lefties, I prefer ambidextrous and honestly I cannot think of a lefty only folder.

Some I can think of off the top of the head are:

1. back action lock, an oldie but a goodie. Used in many many old style folders like the Buck 110. Sypderco added a lot to this category with thier large thumb hole opener with thier back lock.

2. Cold Steel Triad an ancestor of the old tried and true back action lock.

3. Blackie Collins Bolt Action this one is a bit of a cheat as it was designed with no thumb stud and the lock slide on the right hand use side in the old Gerber models. BUT I used this lock every day for probably 20 years and I can attest to its ease of use left handed. The last versions did have dual side thumbstuds which added more ambi use ease.

4. Spyderco ball bearing lock. This is a kissing cousin of the Bolt Action lock and works very well.

5. Benchmade Axis, another superb kissing cousin of the Blackie Collins Bolt Action.

6. Various automatic opening and closing designs by various companies, my favorite being Microtech.

Here are three of my current heavy use blades which have rotated in EDC use in my left pocket top is a Myerco Blackie Collins Bolt Action, second is the superb Microtech UTX 85, and last is a Benchmade Buggout.

View attachment 69100

I am sure i am missing others but these come to mind immediately
Click to expand...


I'm a fan of the Microtech UTX line. Other than that my preference is all Benchmade. I think I'm up to 8 or 9 Benchmades now. All of the folders have the Axis lock.
 
A bit of digging on internet knife center shows It should not be too hard to find one i see Schrade, Sog and others all have ambidextrous locking folders. The vast majority are in the Bolt Action and Axis lock family. There are many size, blade style and even price levels out there to fit any taste and budget.

No reason to go without a safe easy to use folder lefties, or those righties who want the safety of ambidextrous use ability in case of right handed incapacitation.
 
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