Gotta Call It
Gotta call BS on the story.
I have a Northside Hunter. I have two, actually. While the position of the lock release is, indeed, in the middle of the handle, as long as you're using the knife as it was intended to be used, this is of no consequence. However, if you hold it with the lock release depressed and try to use it upside down, especially with force applied against the spine, you could easily have a spot of trouble with it.
As others have indicated, it's a cheap knife. Not
dangerously cheap, but cheap. I bought two of them because they were on sale for $12.
The arguments above citing wrong tool for the job are spot on. Seriously, if I'm gonna select a critical tool for hard use in a harsh environment, it's not gonna be a $12 special. If I need a knife that will do pull cuts and which I can also use for regular knife duty, then how about this one?
You can do pull cuts with it, it will serve as a regular knife, and there isn't any way you can grip the knife to cause it to close on your hand. Of course there is a down side. It costs more than $20. Mine cost me $50-ish.
Really married to the gut hook idea? There's always this one . . . and it
can't close on your hand: it's a fixed blade.
And, of course, the down side: it's more than $20. More like $60 depending on where you shop.
Just gotta have a rubber handled folder with a mid-handle lock release? Well, then, at least buy some quality, man.
And, sadly, it's still over $20. Again, we're up in the $50 range.
But the Northside as my "hard use" knife of choice in a harsh environment where it's a mission critical item? Nah. Not so much.
The arguments above citing the folly of selecting a cheap tool for a critical application are likewise spot on.
And the remarks about the force vectors on a gut hook being all wrong for imposing any closing force on the knife . . . also spot on.
Using knife for other than its intended purpose . . . spot on.
And yet, the guy thinks he will prevail in a lawsuit.
Of course, in a lawsuit, "cheap" has no relevance, "wrong tool" has no relevance. The force vectors thing and the "other than intended purpose" thing might actually hold water, though.
All in all, I'm in the "he's a goof ball" camp.