Assisted opening knives...

T

Tajbral

Joined
Mar 1, 2024
Messages
89
There's a lot of hate out there for assisted opening knives, and it seems to me that it's obvious that the knife manufacturers have gone away from the assisted opening feature that was so common about 10 years ago, and I was just curious how everyone feels about that?
 
I love assisted openers. I like that they flip open even if I slip up a bit while deploying them, like if my hands are frozen for instance. I like that they will push open past dirt and mud and debris more readily than a manual knife.

Springs make for a reliably open knife. Is it necessary? Not for most day-to-day applications. Is it nice to have in high-stress situations? In my opinion, yes.


If you are not military, fire, EMT, etc...probably nicer just to have a nice smooth manual folder.
 
I own bunches of both and prefer a non assisted opening, but assisted is not a deal breaker for me. I guess I adapt to whatever I am carrying for the most part.
I think one of the reasons for fewer assisted knives is the repeal of auto knife bans. Now that people can get a push button or OTF, it kind of reduces the coolness factor of the assisted knives.
 
I just kind of think, why? I can get manual open knives that fly open easily. If I wanted to deal with springs I'd want an actual automatic side open where I could just tap a button.

I think my thoughts are what Chevy rulez was talking about. Side open autos are everywhere now. So I wouldn't even think much about assisted knives when I can just grab the "real deal"
 
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Some of the first knives I owned had the assisted opening feature and I thought it was wonderful at the time when I was a newbie .

However, we don't know what we don't know.

At the time, I had never had an actual quality manual opening knife to compare.

So, I wasn't aware that a high quality manual folding knife is superior and does not need any springs or gizmos to help it open.

Those springs will break over time rendering the knife useless. Also, it's one more thing to get gunked up with dirt and debris and fail.

So with 20/20 hindsight,
Friends don't let friends buy assisted opening knives.
 
Brand also matters in my opinion.

Benchmade Barrage, ZT 0350, Kershaw Blur, all sublime actions. Reliable, proven, hard-firing, and long-lasting.


Some random CRKT, Cold Steel, or SOG? Probably not that confidence-inspiring.


Let's make sure we're not comparing spring assisted Hondas to manual, bearing-pivot Ferraris here. 🤓
 
There's TONS of hate for AO on this forum (although it's obviously popular in the real world). Commonly parroted reasons:
1. "A good manual is better". Why? No one really knows.
2. "You can't close it one handed". You absolutely can, it's not even difficult. Also, this complaint is never uttered against "real" autos, which are typically more "difficult" (but again, not really) to close.
3. "The spring will break!". Sure, EVENTUALLY. Except that axis locks are extremely popular, and their lock springs are far more fragile. If an assist spring breaks you have a manual knife, if a lock spring breaks you have a broken knife.
4. "It's just a poor replacement for an auto". A good AO will open just like an auto, only with a more intuitive opening motion. One could even argue that with bias towards closure, AO is safer...
5. "It will open all by itself and slice off things!". No it won't. At least, it certainly won't any more than an auto. If this mythical self opening problem is so prevalent on this forum, I really wonder what people are doing? Or how much other crap do they have in their pocket? I believe one of the reasons Kershaw used to ship all their AOs tip- down was to keep the spine of the blade secured against the pocket seam anyway, assuaging this non-problem...

Fact is, no manual, no matter how "high quality", will open as easily and reliably as a good AO. Everything should be available in speed safe! 😁
 
Reswob said:
There's TONS of hate for AO on this forum (although it's obviously popular in the real world). Commonly parroted reasons:
1. "A good manual is better". Why? No one really knows.
2. "You can't close it one handed". You absolutely can, it's not even difficult. Also, this complaint is never uttered against "real" autos, which are typically more "difficult" (but again, not really) to close.
3. "The spring will break!". Sure, EVENTUALLY. Except that axis locks are extremely popular, and their lock springs are far more fragile. If an assist spring breaks you have a manual knife, if a lock spring breaks you have a broken knife.
4. "It's just a poor replacement for an auto". A good AO will open just like an auto, only with a more intuitive opening motion. One could even argue that with bias towards closure, AO is safer...
5. "It will open all by itself and slice off things!". No it won't. At least, it certainly won't any more than an auto. If this mythical self opening problem is so prevalent on this forum, I really wonder what people are doing? Or how much other crap do they have in their pocket? I believe one of the reasons Kershaw used to ship all their AOs tip- down was to keep the spine of the blade secured against the pocket seam anyway, assuaging this non-problem...

Fact is, no manual, no matter how "high quality", will open as easily and reliably as a good AO. Everything should be available in speed safe! 😁
Click to expand...
👍👏👏👏👍
John 😁
 
Reswob said:
There's TONS of hate for AO on this forum (although it's obviously popular in the real world). Commonly parroted reasons:
1. "A good manual is better". Why? No one really knows.
Click to expand...
"Why?"
1.Smoother, more consistent action with opening and closing.
2. Crisper detent feel and retention.
3. Doesn't become sluggish when assisted spring wears.
4. Action can be tuned, maintained customized.
5. Heirloom quality, can pass down to my kids with no need for replacement torsion bar stockpile.


Reswob said:
2. "You can't close it one handed". You absolutely can, it's not even difficult. Also, this complaint is never uttered against "real" autos, which are typically more "difficult" (but again, not really) to close.
Click to expand...

Can be done.

However, not as nice as a high end manual action

Reswob said:
3. "The spring will break!". Sure, EVENTUALLY. Except that axis locks are extremely popular, and their lock springs are far more fragile. If an assist spring breaks you have a manual knife, if a lock spring breaks you have a broken knife.
Click to expand...

There is no detent for the speed safe to work effectively as a manual knife with the torsion bar removed (I tried)

That means the speed safe assisted opening knife doesn't work as a manual knife when the torsion spring bar fails.

Axis locks and Assisted opening are not mutually exclusive. They do make a assisted opening axis lock knives (Benchmade Barrage)

Speaking of which when the Barrage would come in for sharpening the action would be weak when the assisted spring was worn and there was nothing that could be done unless the assisted spring was replaced.

Kind of a double whammy on that model.





Reswob said:
4. "It's just a poor replacement for an auto". A good AO will open just like an auto, only with a more intuitive opening motion. One could even argue that with bias towards closure, AO is safer...
Click to expand...

Assisted opening is not a replacement for a quality hard firing auto. Very different feel and experience. Kershaw makes a pretty sweet double action otf auto now.


Reswob said:
5. "It will open all by itself and slice off things!". No it won't. At least, it certainly won't any more than an auto. If this mythical self opening problem is so prevalent on this forum, I really wonder what people are doing? Or how much other crap do they have in their pocket? I believe one of the reasons Kershaw used to ship all their AOs tip- down was to keep the spine of the blade secured against the pocket seam anyway, assuaging this non-problem...
Click to expand...

It relies on the speed safe torsion bar as the "detent" so if there is enough inertia it will try to force itself open even against the pocket seam.

I didn't keep anything extra in my pocket yet had the Kershaw leek I was carrying open and poke through my pocket.

Scary.

Reswob said:
Fact is, no manual, no matter how "high quality", will open as easily and reliably as a good AO. Everything should be available in speed safe! 😁
Click to expand...

Fact is, most folks reading this post will be quite surprised when they finally get their hands on a real, high quality, manual action knife and make their own judgements.
 
Hehe, I just bought a used A/O Kershaw Knockout for old times sake. A/O is my least preferred opening method for all the reasons mentioned above. It's time has passed now that many States fixed their egregious automatic knife laws.
 
They're pretty neat but other newer stuff is neater so the magpie gene takes over and you want the new stuff. When stuff stops selling it stops being made.
 
DeadboxHero said:
Fact is, most folks reading this post will be quite surprised when they finally get their hands on a real, high quality, manual action knife and make their own judgements.
Click to expand...
This is me assuming so I could be 100% wrong but I bet Reswob's statement was kind of tongue in cheek level of serious. I have high enough quality manual, AO, and auto knives and I prefer all of them! 😎
 
I had a couple in the early 2000s or whenever it was a new feature. I haven't bought any since then.
 
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