Itty Bitty Hardware Rant

Many of you who drop by here know from knives, but bear with me while I explain to those who don't a little bit about tactical folders. For the rant to make any sense, they need to know.

Ahem:


Tactical folders are pocket knives, kind of like Grampa used to carry. (Grampa's was probably a friction folder, just so you know. Took two hands and a stout thumbnail to open the blade.)


Unlike Grampa's knife, tactical folders generally have a way to open the blade faster. This can be a thumb stud or a cut-out on the blade itself; sometimes just a sharp flick of the wrist is enough, though these are frowned upon in most places. Ix-nay ooh-tay on inertia, gravity, switchblade, and butterfly knives, though "spring-assist" is mostly okay. There is generally a method for keeping the blade in place once it is opened thus, a liner, frame, or spring lock, which has to be manually released to close the knife again. 


So. Easy to open on purpose; hard to close accidentally. 


Still with me? Look at the picture if you are confused. That's four views of the same knife.


Most tactical folders come with a pocket or belt clip, a metal spring something like on a ballpoint pen, attached to one side of the handle, by which it can be carried in a pocket, but thus made more readily accessible to hand.


These clips may be such that the knife is carried pivot-post (hinge) up, or down. And on some knives, the clips are reversible, so one has a choice. My preference is for hinge down, though it seems that most commercial knives of this type come with the clip hinge-up.


Which means if I want to carry the thing the way I want, I have to reverse the pocket clip.


This is done by removing a pair, sometimes three, tiny screws that hold the clip in place, switching the clip to the other end, and re-attaching it, using a second set of threaded holes provided there. Click on the picture, look inside the little red oval.


The little screws -- not much larger than those that hold your eyeglasses together -- can come with crosspoint slots, allen heads, or the star-screw head, usually six-point. I suppose they can come with regular screwdriver slots, though I don't recall seeing any of those lately. 


Some years ago, realizing that if I wanted to fiddle with such things I needed a proper set of tools, I made sure I had a variety of Phillips, Allens, and Star-head drivers. So I'm good, right?


Wrong.


Some of the makers of these knives apparently have hired great apes to tighten the itty bitty hardware. More than once, I have -- using the proper tool, mind you, managed to strip the screw head because the little fucker was apparently tightened by King Kong, who, just to be nasty, added a dab of super-glue when he was done, and Up Yours, Tarzan!


Even working with great care, using a penetrating oil, like Liquid Wrench, and praying to assorted gods, I've still munged up the screw heads.


Which leaves one in the pissed-off position of:  Now how do I get the job done?


One can attempt to make a new slot. One can grind the screw head off and sand down the remaining body. Or drill it out. All of which ruin the screw. If one happens to have spares, that's good, but it is a pain in the butt and I'm wondering how can we get the knife companies to stop over-torquing these suckers?


Somebody who knows? Call somebody, wouldja?