Lets look at Bear & Son Cutlery.

[Chako]

And what a lovely bump that is. 

Hard to believe I started this thread back in 2014. Time does fly.

[valvestem125]

I have one of the Bear's with the levers, never liked the levers, so never carried or used it.  It is a shelf queen.

[gerleatherberman]

I gotta bump this thread. Some excellent photos and information from Chako here! Thank you, Chako.

I promised someone I'd post some of my Bear & Sons tools. I really like these tools, as they are made in the state that I live in. They are far from refined and perfect, but they are some of the last mostly hand-made multi-tools.

Here is my modest assortment. Left to right on comments.

156 Super Bear Jaws(early), 157SM Bird Shears(later), and 156L Super Bear Jaws.



Early Bear Jaws, Second generation Bear Jaws, Bear Jaws Sportsman, and Locking Bear Jaws.



155L Bear Jaws standard toolset.


156L Super Bear Jaws and 155L Bear Jaws.


156 Super Bear Jaws, 157SM Bird Shears, and 156L Super Bear Jaws.


Bear and Sons made Craftsman 45201, Craftsman 45521, and Toolzall Maintenance Pro.


Bear and Sons made Craftsman 45521, 155L Bear Jaws, and 155EL Electricians tool.


Mini Bear Jaws, 155, 156, and 157(toolzall branded version).


Group shot:

[Syncop8r]

Thanks gerleatherBearman.    I'm interested in them because of the outside-opening tools.

[gerleatherberman]

 

I recommend the 155L. And, you can file the inside ramps of the unlocking bars to sit almost inside the handles and they still work. Why Bear doesn't do it is a mystery.

[Syncop8r]

The 156L, gotcha. 

[Syncop8r]

Is the only difference between the non-locking and the locking models just the added locking bar?
Does it take the place of a washer on the non-locking models? 

[gerleatherberman]

The locking model has a spring tab with a 90 degree bend at the tip that sits in the tool tang when the tool is deployed. The non-locking tools have just a flat spring tab like most older tools.
The locks are iffy on some tools, because of the bad QC. The older tools are a good bit better with the QC. My 156L has one tool that doesn't lock, because the tab is shallow at that side of the spring. It is the ridiculously sharp knife blade.

I'll repeat that. The only tool that doesn't lock on it is the ridiculously sharp blade.