Spyderco Assisted Open Knives?

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Cold Kill

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I have heard something about Spyderco knives with an open assist, but do not know the truth of that statement. Are there any, and if so, which ones can be had for the cheapest (without lacking quality). I love the styling of Spyderco knives, but detest manual openers.
 
I really hope they do have a reasonably priced AO. They could make a lot of sales by making an AO to compete with Kershaw (the biggest low-price AO company).
 
Austinaftermath said:
Spyderco does not have assist openers. I forget why but Sal had reasons for not making them.
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I think I remember reading somewhere on the forums that his main reason was that they blur the line between manual and automatic knives.
 
I know a knife is only considered automatic if you press a button to deploy the blade. An open assist doesn't count because you have to open the blade so far manually before the assist takes over and finishes the open. The assist just takes the place of flicking your wrist to deploy the blade the rest of the way.
 
Cold Kill said:
I know a knife is only considered automatic if you press a button to deploy the blade. An open assist doesn't count because you have to open the blade so far manually before the assist takes over and finishes the open. The assist just takes the place of flicking your wrist to deploy the blade the rest of the way.
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Of course. Everyone here on BladeForums reading this thread, and certainly Sal when he decided not to go into the assisted opening market, knows the differences between automatic and assisted openers. But the vast bulk of non-knife-people don't, and I think he was looking down the road at how they may be perceived by the (non-knife-nut) public and, eventually, by the legislators and other officials elected by said public.
 
Oh if only people were only allowed to make laws regarding things they had knowledge of. Pipe dream, I guess.
 
Oh, and another reason that Spyderco might have chose not to do the assisted opening thing is that they already have an incredibly simple, effective, and foolproof opening mechanism on their folders. ;)
 
I have a SOG assisted opening knife that has the assist kick in when the knife i is opened part way with the thumb stud which is the way it should be. But I just picked up a Kershaw Tremor that snaps open as soon as the flipper is pressed a little and felt much like an auto knife to me.
 
I would pay a few extra dollars for AO. Love the feature, and will forever, unless I move somewhere it's illegal.
 
Sal's advice to those who have asked for Spyderco AO knives: buy a Kershaw. He feels that the AO market is sufficiently covered by other companies without Spyderco trying to break in. Plus it doesn't work too well in conjunction with the trademark Spyderhole. I personally feel it just adds complexity and potential failure points without adding performance. He has mentioned Eric working on a design, but it didn't sound like it was actually in the pipeline yet, more like it was something he was playing with in his spare time.
 
A company guy suggesting another company? Unheard of! I didn't think about how AO does create structural weak points. That really wouldn't fit the simple and sturdy design of Spyderco knives. Guess it would be worse than I thought.
 
neuron said:
Oh, and another reason that Spyderco might have chose not to do the assisted opening thing is that they already have an incredibly simple, effective, and foolproof opening mechanism on their folders. ;)
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True, but they already make automatics.:D
But they take a VERY conservative approach to how those are distributed and to who. They refer to that part of the line as "Restricted Models". Even the Bifold, which has a blade of 1 1/4 " is considered restricted!

That conservatice approach (which was brought on by some very unpleasant experiences with law enforcement authorities) plus the AO market being well served by other brands, makes it unlikely Spyderco will do AOs.
 
neuron said:
Oh, and another reason that Spyderco might have chose not to do the assisted opening thing is that they already have an incredibly simple, effective, and foolproof opening mechanism on their folders. ;)
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Brother neuron is correct. The Spyderhole is about as fast as a manual folder gets. In Colorado, there are strict laws governing the carry, ownership, and sales of assisted, balisong, and automatics. That is part of the reason Spyderco stopped selling/making balisongs. It is a liability that while silly to you and I, provides fuel for anti weapon groups.

Yablanowitz also provides accurate information in his post above.

Cold Kill said:
A company guy suggesting another company? Unheard of! I didn't think about how AO does create structural weak points. That really wouldn't fit the simple and sturdy design of Spyderco knives. Guess it would be worse than I thought.
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Why unheard of? You are still (from what I gather) a fairly new knife nut. Once you've spent more time reading and learning things will be much clearer.
 
Spydie hole is faster and more reliable than AO... I dont see the need to downgrade in speed ;).
 
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