Is "flicking" bad for the knife?

UW Mitch · Jan 11, 2000

Lately I've been opening my knives with the "thumb flick" method...I used to use the "wrist flick" method. It's sort of dawning on me that ramming the blade open with high velocity may not be very good for the knives. However, my mini-task with speed-safe always opens at high velocity, and I'm sure that Kershaw took it into acount when they designed and built the knife.

I have mostly liner locks, and now I've got a BM730 axis. I'm wondering if excessive flicking will cause undue wear? Or have the manufacturers already taken this into acount in their design?

Oh yeah, I was wonder what methods all of you use?

Thanks,
Mitch

[This message has been edited by UW Mitch (edited 01-11-2000).]

unocide · Jan 11, 2000

when you use anything, it gets worn out. it's not specific to knives. it's just that opening it VERY slowly is much less violent than a flick. I haven't had any of my knives get bad from opening them on a usual basis. but i had one get dangerously loose because i liked opening it so much.

i am getting a kershaw (ask mike if it's in the mail yet if you really want to know.) and i think they realise that people are getting the knives partly for the special opening mechanism. i'll have to see when i get it how long it takes to go bad.

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Knives and Cars...
Simple but EXPENSIVE.

Matt Shade · Jan 11, 2000

Unfortunately flicking has become a very bad habit for me. I spend so much time doing it that I now know how to open the blades and file of my gerber multi tool with a flick of the wrist. I do it all the time and the full weight of the tool slamming against the blade has not cause a bit of a problem.
I flick my delica open too. I pretty much do it every time I use it and about a hundred times a day when I'm bored. Its had this done for a year now with no adverse side effects. The only thing that may be related to it, although I doubt it since I have heard several others experience the same thing, is if you pull up on the back of the blade firmly(not extremely hard, but not to easy)there is slight upwards play. It is not enough to cause a problem and I never even notice it unless I am doing some heavy cutting and have my hand in just the right spot. I usually just use the traditional thumb hole flick with my thumb. Thats the easiest since it keeps my hand in the right spot for using the knife. You can also hold it by the thumb hole with your index finger and thumb. Have it so the handle is pointing up and facing away from your hand. A strong downward flick of the wrist will open it that way.
I also take the thumb hole between my thumb and index finger(hand pointing down this time) and use a flick of the wrist combined with my other 3 fingers flicking the handle away from the blade.That takes more force, and good timing with your fingers. And you still have to flip the knife around in your hand so you have it by the handle.I don't do it that way very often.
I told you I was addicted to flicking knives open

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !

ptn · Jan 11, 2000

Sal once commented on this over on the Spyderco Forum. He said something to the effect that really "whipping" open the blade can be hard on the stop pin.
After describing my thumb flicking method, he said that this is what the knife is designed to do. I took that as a "flick away" signal.
Flick
Flick
Flick
Flick

JoHnYKwSt · Jan 11, 2000

Wrist flicking wears knives out real fast and should not be done. Even if a knife is "designed" to handle the flicks, you should still avoid it if possible. Automatic knives are designed to handle the high speed openings but still wear very quickly.

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Johnny
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Stompy · Jan 11, 2000

Even though everything inevitably wears down given enough time, flicking a knife open shouldn't really hurt it.

As long as you flick it straight as to not make the blade undergo undue torque, and as long as you do not flick it open with the intent of harming the knife.

Damage occuring to the knife would also vary due to the lock (liner lock, rolling lock, axis lock, lock back, frame lock) and it's inherent wear characteristics.

It would also be a good idea to keep a knife that will be flicked open excessively, or any knife for that matter, sufficiently oiled/lubed.

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Yeah! Drop the chalupa...

Walt Welch · Jan 11, 2000

Flicking is extremely bad for any knife. I once visited a couple, and the woman was a flicker. I tried to repair her BM Leopard and Leopard Cub, but the stop pins were not only flatted, but loose in the scales. She had to return them to BM to be repaired.

I loaned her my Kit Carson Model 18 in 420V steel, and she flicked it for half an hour, demonstrating her technique. This flatted the stop pin, and I had to return the knife to Kit for repair. Kit Carson does NOT use soft stop pins.

Even Chris Reeve has warned about flickin Sebenzas, surely one of the most robust knives made.

Don't do it. Trust me on this. Walt

CK · Jan 12, 2000

Don't flick? I'll take the wear and tear for all the fun I get out of it. Of course it's helps to have more than a handful of knives in carry rotation.

Chi

[This message has been edited by CK (edited 01-12-2000).]

clintonsucks · Jan 12, 2000

You can go blind if you do it too much.

Bob Irons · Jan 12, 2000

Probably bad for the knife, but wrist flicking should help counteract Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

I may go blind, but I will still be able to operate a keyboard (squinting through my thick glasses as I type this)!

Bill McWilliams · Jan 12, 2000

I think flicking wears out knives and we all do not like loose and sloppy blades.
I would also think watching the practice would be unsetteling to the observer...that sharp blade whipping through the air and all.
Personally, I prefer the slow and methodical method of opening folders as I can enjoy the finer machining and "feel" of the action. Same applies to a fine double action revolver, which are never dry-fired.
If rapid deployment and the "kick" of the blade are desired, an automatic is the way to go. I have Benchmade, MT and other fine autos that have been cycled hundreds of times with no apparent wear. My VBM/UDT auto is cycled hundreds of times a month as a result of a tension release. It will pop a spring once a year, but otherwise maintains it's new feel.
Bill

shivey · Jan 12, 2000

Perhaps the main reason I buy premium "one-
handers" is so that I can flick the blade
prior to usage. I feel they are built for
that intended mode of usage, and I will hold
a maker liable for the knife's expected
"life". But I don't sit around and drink
beer and flick my better knives. To satisfy
that mindless urge, I flick my cheapos, then
give them away when they develop blade-
wobble.

UW Mitch · Jan 13, 2000

If the Bill McWilliams who just posted, is THE Bill McWilliams, co-inventor of the axis lock, and he says it's not a good idea to "flick," then I'll take his word for it. Now that I'm not going to flick anymore, what am I to do? My girlfriend told me that since I can't flick anymore, I may as well sell off all my knives.

I don't think so!

ptn · Jan 12, 2000

I put the tip of my thumb under the stud or in the hole and give a little flip which opens the blade. Pretty gentle, really...and not done every time I open a knife. I see no wear on the stop pins of any of my knives. I rarely ever wrist flick. Slamming the knife open that way seems somewhat abusive.....but then again what could be so different about the steel on the stop pins on an auto? Wear is inevitable but I still believe good quality knives can stand the moderate "flicking" i subject them to. I guess time will tell.

UW Mitch...Bill McHenry & Jason Williams of Rhode Island came up with the axis lock. Maybe you can keep flicking after all.

Regards,

ptn

ptn · Jan 12, 2000

I put the tip of my thumb under the stud or in the hole and give a little flip which opens the blade. Pretty gentle, really...and not done every time I open a knife. I see no wear on the stop pins of any of my knives. I rarely ever wrist flick. Slamming the knife open that way seems somewhat abusive.....but then again what could be so different about the steel on the stop pins on an auto? Wear is inevitable but I still believe good quality knives can stand the moderate "flicking" i subject them to. I guess time will tell.

UW Mitch...Bill McHenry & Jason Williams of Rhode Island came up with the axis lock. Maybe you can keep flicking after all.

Regards,

ptn

Elvislives · Jan 12, 2000

Man you guys take the fun out of everything.

Clintonsucks- Beat me to it buddy! LMAO

UW Mitch · Jan 13, 2000

I stand corrected on the inventors of the Axis Lock. Thanks ptn!

Hawkbill · Jan 13, 2000

I'm gonna go with the middle-road on this one. Moderate flicking with my carry blades has not made any appreciable difference (except on cheapies, as mentioned earlier). Like my DA revolvers (centerfire design only), a certain amount of operation as designed only serves to wear-in the parts.

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Life Member NRA & PMA, member AKTI, NKCA, ATA, and any other worthy cause I can find.

Cougar Allen · Jan 13, 2000

Before I saw the Light and foreswore folding knives I always opened them with a violent wrist flick and did it many thousands of times each with a number of knives. The contact surfaces get peened slightly with the first couple of hundred flicks and once they're making solid contact no further change occurs. The only knives I've ever worn out that way were very cheap junkers.

Being afraid to flick a knife open for fear of wearing it out is like being afraid to cut anything with it, IMHO ... if you can't flick it open and cut things with it, what good is it?

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-Cougar Allen :{)
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This post is not merely the author's opinions; it is the trrrrrruth. This post is intended to cause dissension and unrest and upset people, and ultimately drive them mad. Please do not misinterpret my intentions in posting this.

The Oso Grande · Jan 13, 2000

I have carried a BM910SBT everyday for about three years. This knife has earned the title of beater and is used for all sorts of dirty cutting jobs. It has been wrist flicked thousands of times and the only adverse side effects I have noted are a slight amount of blade wobble, which is corrected by slightly tightening the pivot pin. The Blade where it contacts the stop pin appears to be very slightly pinned. This knife has been subjected to torture tests, including being run over by several cars when I lost my tankbag off my bike on I-15 north during rush hour traffic. It's still alive and well.

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Is "flicking" bad for the knife?

Buccaneer (ret.)