Wrist flick bluff?

[Mike Large]

I've heard Chris Reeve himself(on video of course) say in the past 25 years maybe 100 knives have been returned. With that being said, I know hes talking about fresh from the factory but it's gets me to wondering how true the whole 'do not wrist flick' rule truly is. It's obvious that ANY knife that is repedetly SLAMMED open will have the possibility of being damaged over time, but I feel we are being a bit over cautious here. Is there anyone who has any reports of any kind referring to the number of damaged CRKs due strictly to wrist flicking? If so, I would be willing to bet that that number is very very small. I am not at all advocating the childish and unessesary 'wrist flick' I am just simply saying that being OVERLY cautious while opening your kickass sabenza for the rest of your life is no way to live. So if anyone has any info or numbers out there please share. Until then I will not feel bad about my hard thumb flick! Thanks

 

[blanco112]

I've heard Chris Reeve himself(on video of course) say in the past 25 years maybe 100 knives have been returned.

I think he was referring to being returned for broken blades in that video.

It's obvious that ANY knife that is repedetly SLAMMED open will have the possibility of being damaged over time

I think this is all that Chris was saying and it's been blown out of proportion over the years. Basically if you treat it like a fidget toy and you cause an issue and they can see you caused it they may void the warranty. That's it.

 

[kniferbro]

If my flippers of much lesser build quality can withstand being opened repeatedly, I have no worries about my CRK withstanding being flicked open.

 

[TRfromMT]

I naively asked in a thread some months ago about which model CRK had the best flipping action. I now understand the answer is far from simple, and my question mainly illustrated what I didn't know about the brand. Since then I have a L21, and a 'zaan. I had an inkosi, and sold it. I also previously sold a 'zaan that I couldn't figure out how to open with any technique to save my life (well... my thumb, anyway). I have settled on the L21 and the 'zaan for, among a number of reasons, because they are so easy to flick open.

In fact, the way I open my 'zaan, it generally snaps open much like a flipper. The only way I can avoid it is to conscientiously pay attention to only 'half opening' it.

All this to say, I have given zero consideration to the warranty implications. I'm not slamming them open. They just snap open with authority. It's kind of how my dad taught me to run a bolt-action rifle: decisively. Put some intent into it. There is zero reason a CRK wouldn't tolerate this for a lifetime.

 

[Casinostocks]

I own a Wilson Combat Zaan (AKA Star-Tac) and a CF/Ti L21 drop point. I bought the Zaan brand new and it flicked open without any issues from the time it came out of the box. The 21 I had issues with because I had bought used but after I sent back to Boise for warranty work, it came back perfect and the diagnosis was pinched washers. It was still a bit stiff so after I loosened the pivot screw by like 1/8th of a turn, it flicks open even better than my Zaan! I have owned two other variants of the Sebenza in the past which I could not flick without some major wrist snap.

I have come to conclude that beware as to whom you buy from when second hand as sadly most owners really embellish the LNIB acronym as they seem to mess with them, disassemble and then put back together improperly causing damage due to the operator's incapabilities. Now that I have these two where I wanted them, without having to snap a wrist to open, I'm a very happy camper. If flicking open a CRK causes structural damage, I would not buy a CRK. I have not experienced any of this nonsense so far!