Lofty--
Thanks for your insights. I will almost certainly buy a Hinderer, having had various others discussed here.
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Side thought: The Spydercos are disappointing...in that the sharpness coming out of the factory cannot be matched once the knife is dulled! I even sent one back for them to sharpen it once, and they told me as much. So--it makes sense to carry one as an unused knife for any situation where it absolutely has to cut, and not dull it doing everyday chores.
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A bit of history that doesn't mean anything at this point.
Probably about 1979-1980, I was visiting a rather talented knifemaker who made both fixed blade knives and liner-lock folders.
He commented that the liner locks were not safe to carry because they could slip open accidentally. Thinking about it, I suggested that he install one of the spring-loaded ball detents inside and put a dimple into the tang of the blade to keep it in the closed position, the spring allowing the ball to be depressed and rolled out of the detent as opening pressure on the blade pulled it out of the handle.
When I returned home, I went into the library of the technology company where I worked and got vendor information on ball detents and sent it to the maker.
Within about a month he called me and said he had made the first such knife, and did I want to buy it. I did. Nice little folder with titanium frame and bolsters, Stellite blade. He had installed the detent into one bolster, with a screw to adjust the pressure on the ball.
I don't know if he made any more like this, and shortly afterward the Michael Walker version came out with the detent ball mounted into the liner lock as came to be the standard approach. There is a good review of Walker at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Walker_(knifemaker)
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By the way, the IKBS ball bearings that I have seen are a series of 1/16-inch uncaged steel balls, and run in races milled around the pivot holes in the handles of the knives. While they are apparently heavily greased, I don't know what grease might be used by whichever maker. I also don't know what this arrangement does insofar as mechanical strength for the assembly and for the durability of the knives.
Larry