Lockback knives seem to have been around forever. Chances are, if you were a Boy Scout or Cub Scout, it may have been the second knife, after a slip joint, that you were most familiar with as an introduction to edged tools.
Although they may seem a bit dated compared to modern liner locks, frame locks, or other type of locking mechanisms, there’s no question about the inherent strength of a properly made lock-back.
The easiest way to describe a lock-back’s method of operation is that a locking arm sits along the rear of the handle and engages with a hook that fits into a notch on the rear of the blade. As the blade is opened, the hook snaps into the notch and locks the knife. The
