How do you use a hole to snap open a knife

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planza

Joined
May 8, 2002
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Not sure if this goes here or the tactics forums, but here is my question:

How do you use a hole on a blade to flip the knfe open (like on spyderco's)? I have a few knives wiht thumb studs, and can click those open, but I don't get the hole. Do you just flick that with your thumb, or is there something else that you do?

Thanks
 
It's easy.

Either put your thumb on the hole and open the knife, or just put the tip of your thumb in the hole and flick it open.

I've done it countless times with Spydies. ;)

Do it the same way you do it with a stud but put your thumb in the hole instead of behind the stud.
 
hahaha cool thanks. I figured it was something like that. I am about to get a spyderco, so I wanted to see if there was any kind of cool trick to it or anything...
 
You could always "Spyder-Drop" it.

Hold onto the opening hole with your index finger and your thumb, and snap it downwards to fling open the handle. ;)

Whatcha gonna get?
 
The trick is in just using your thumbnail to flick it open...it's tempting to put the pad of your thumb in there, but there's a problem with it when flicking. While normally the hole stays within your thumbs reach the entire range of opening, when you flick, you do it in a straight line. The straight line means that the hole will be outside of the range of your thumb when you flick--therefore, your thumb has to come out of the hole to do a flick. The pad of your thumb tends to drag against the blade when it runs out of range of the blade which really slows it down...using your thumb nail, for some reason, seems to avoid this problem.

This is a good beginner opening, but you'll probably outgrow it with wrist techniques.
 
Artfully Martial said:
This is a good beginner opening, but you'll probably outgrow it with wrist techniques.
Click to expand...
I've just got the thumbstud-flick and axis-flick (and the old-school pinch-drop ;) ) down. What are the wrist techniques?
 
Not touching anything and just flicking the knife open with inertia. The key is to stop suddenly. Just hold the knife firmly, flick it, and stop quickly and the blade will fly out.
 
I have about a dozen various ways to do inertial openings...they're not that hard to do (for the most part), but very difficult to explain appropriately...I've been intending to make some videos to show them.

Here's the easiest to explain one though (and probably the easiest to do).

Hold the knife upside down and closed in your hand. Turn your wrist so that the thumb is away from you. Now turn your wrist in the only direction it'll go really quickly. Like someone already said, the key is in STOPPING. It must be a sudden stop. It'll take a few tries to figure it out and get it consistent, but it's pretty easy.

In general, try to avoid lockbacks for opening tricks....they tend to require too much force for the trickier inertial openings, at least for beginners. Also, folders with heavier, more massive blades tend to be much easier. The ideal locks for knife tricks are the axis and compression locks.
 
I believe Robin Brown ("Brownie") posts to BFC ..... he teaches defensive knife skills to LEOs and a technique called the Brownie Pop which is very fast. Only requirement is the blade be heavy enough and lock mechanism not too stiff since you don't even touch the blade. IMO beats all other methods of deployment, check it out.
 
When you open the knife using the hole or thumbstud, make sure you flick it forward with your thumb rather than following the arc of the hole or thumbstud with your thumb.
You can also flick many knives open just by abruptly flicking your wrist. The knife will open like a switchblade. To do so, when flicking your wrist in a circular manner, make sure the pivot part of the knife remains in one spot. I know it is very difficult to imagine, but it is a pretty easy to do with a couple of hours of practice.
 
Just Remember If Your Blade Is Loose Enough To Flick Open It Is Now A Gravity Knife In 41 Of 50 States And Is Therefore Illegal....if A Leo Sees You Open It That Way........you Are Now In Possession Of A Gravity Knife And You Knowing Opened It That Way....
 
tom19176 said:
Just Remember If Your Blade Is Loose Enough To Flick Open It Is Now A Gravity Knife In 41 Of 50 States And Is Therefore Illegal....if A Leo Sees You Open It That Way........you Are Now In Possession Of A Gravity Knife And You Knowing Opened It That Way....
Click to expand...
Your right there, but there is a technique involved that allows you to open it. For example, this technique can be used with lockbacks. James Keating demonstrates it in his Spyderco Civilian video. Lockbacks are definitely too tight to ever be called gravity knives. The longer the blade, the easier it is to open using the method that I am describing. Every knife that I own I can open with this method. I am not saying all knives can be opened this way. I would say most knives with at least a 3 inch blade can be opened with a flick of the wrist irregardless of the type of lock.
I'm not bragging. I just learned the technique from a DVD made by Michael Janich.
 
Death's Head, I have always been able to open almost any knife with a flick of the wrist ( years of teenage practice) The law does not state wheter or not it is a liner lock or lock back ( in most states) and I have about ten lock backs and liner locks that I have made sure can not be opened as a gravity knife for use as my EDCs. I have a Kershaw model 2420 that can not be flicked open, but can be opened with a push forward on the thumb stud.

If a LEO sees you open a knife with a flick of the wrist, then you can not say you did not realize it could be opened that way. I did the gun and badge thing for years in NYC, and I amazed several people with how easily I could flick open their knife, and explained that this is a Class A misd. in NY, and then told them to take that knife home and put it in the closet, or peen the blade tight so it will not open that way......
 
tom19176 said:
If a LEO sees you open a knife with a flick of the wrist, then you can not say you did not realize it could be opened that way.
Click to expand...
I agree with you there. It is not the design of the knife that will make it a gravity knife in the eyes of the law. It is how you open the knife that can get you in trouble.
 
How did that move get that name ? what did they call the move 35 years ago when i was doing that opening move to my old buck?

Could it have been a Spydie Fan that named it>
I wonder, If i do the same move to my skirmish, could i call it a Bench-Drop?

I still prefer the axix button and a slight flick of the wrist.:rolleyes:
 
Sometimes if circumstances are fortunate enough, you can take out your Spydie and hook the hole over a nearby cop's gun hammer or a point on his badge. Then a rapid movement ...away.... from the cop will leave the knife open and ready to use to open a box or clean a fingernail.

:D
 
I can easily wrist flick my Dodo, and it has what, a 1 7/8" blade? The key is definitely stopping quickly. On the other hand, I can't wrist flick my Chinook II or Ocelot, which both have longer blades. (3 3/4" and 3 1/4" respectively.) I definitely think it is because both of these are lockbacks, which are held closed by the lock bar. This is why lockbacks "suck" closed on the last half inch or so of closing.
 
I usually don't do inertials on my liner/frame locks because it can jack up the lock position.
I can do inertials on all my lockbacks, except for my Al Mar Falcon. I've given it a few half-hearted tries, but I know that using the force required puts me at risk for flinging the knife out of my hand, or maybe dinging the lock at the contact with the tang-and the fit is too nice there to do that.
I like doubling down on my axis knives, pulling the lockbar back and bouncing the blade twice before releasing the lock with the knife open. It almost feels like I'm doing a basic horizontal with a bali.
I also like to use my ring or pinky finger on the stud/hole to do openings into revrese grip, sometimes adding some wrist for a slow blade.
I find a sometimes tough one to do is to hold a closed blade with the pivot on the thumb side (like getting ready to thumb it open normally), turning the hand palm down, and-for righties-snapping the wrist clockwise. I have to resist the urge to accelerate with the elbow, as it's way too slow to effect an opening. The key for me is to turn the wrist as far over as possible, so the elbow still has to move to tuck into the body (anyone who knows a bit about wing chun can maybe think of it as turing the arm from a less pronounced bong sao to a tan sao as quickly as you can)
It's much easier to shake down to start the blade, and then snap back up to complete the opening.
Or, just swing straight down from the elbow, somewhere around 120* of travel is where the blade should lock open. Works the same swinging straight up with some knives.
I practice most of my stuff with a med. voyager. The light blade with strong lockback and detent is more challenging.
 
Someone mentioned the dodo....it's one of my favorite trick knives, and is an exception to the small blade rule--although, if you examine the mass of the blade instead of the length, the dodo's blade is significantly larger than most other 2 inch blades. There's also an opening trick that can only be done with the Dodo!
 
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