I join the ranks of those who have cut themselves while using a knife (for about the fifth time). I was using a Buck crosslock deputy knife to punch a hole in a plastic jug. The knife suddenly folded & cut my rt index finger. I attempted to find out why this happened. I may have inadvertently pressed on the crosslock & released it, but I can't tell for sure. Does anyone else have any experience with crosslocks?

Crosslocks, not first hand, but are they true liner locks?

My first knife was a liner lock and I've used them ever since for my main folders. I've never had one show any signs of wanting to unlock on me.

All locks have failure modes, some moreso than others. Liner locks are known to fail for numerous reasons. The most common by far is failure to engage fully initially. This can occur for a number of reasons and unless you eyeball it before each use, you will not notice it. They can also be inadvertantly released, the lock can literally bend, slip due to contamination, wear, etc. I've had numerous Buck CrossLocks that worked just fine, but they are certainly subject to the usual common failure modes. If I were to bet, I'd say it didn't engage fully originally.

I am a fan of the Buck Crosslock. I have not had a problem with them but they do have issues. The liner can easily be inadvertently pressed unlocking the blade. The design allows the blades and scales to flex allowing the lock to happen at different places on the blade.

On the plus side the blade shape is great! You can get a great edge on them. The saw works really well and is good for scraping a ferro rod.

I gave mine to my son. I EDC a Charge Ti with a pocket clip.

I worked in a cutlery store handling many different brands of knives and all kinds of locks. After a while I realized why I was getting annoyed with liner locks: it seems to be the easiest locking mechanism to do badly. In some knives it also seems susceptible to pocket lint at the locking faces. There are some excellent ones; Al Mar SERE, Lone Wolf, and Chris Reeve knives come to mind. Yes, they are all expensive.

Most people I worked with ended up with a Benchmade in their pocket. I got the Ritter mini-RSK.

TNX for the info. I'm still a bit confused. Perhaps this is a good reason to buy a new knife for more "research". The knife in the picture looks like it has holes in the handle. Is this a new method of cutting off the end of your finger? You put it in the hole, then close the knife. Or is it maybe for cigars?

I haven't paid much attention to folding knives until recently.
Just bought a couple of CRKT M-16 folders. They have a clever little LAWKS system on them. This is a small wedge that slides in behind the liner to prevent inadvertent unlocking of the liner. This warms my engineer's heart. Maybe other brands have equally good approaches to the unlock potential problem too.

unimogbert