Assisted openers - really needed for EDC?

I had never owned one until recently, I bought a CRKT just to see what the deal is with these things. I must say it's pretty nice, certainly open it with ease with either hand, not a bad blade on the thing either. However, I see no need for it for edc. In fact I think it could well be illegal to carry an assisted opening knife in the state of the US I am currently in.

As you know laws are vague for a reason, But I do like it and think it's a fun idea. But in reality I have no use for one at all. Still I don't think we need Government telling us what is safe.

Just my opinion.
 
i have assisted and i really like them but in the end i trust my plain old axis lock benchmade but when i whip out my assisted CRKT large natural and pop it open it has that cool factor you just cant beat

bladeforums3.jpg
 
They reliably open 99.99% of the time. Who can say they haven't jacket up a deployment of a regular knife at some point.
 
Assisted openers are fun as are the gravity openers. I have moved back to slip joints for EDC and a Spydie Delica. Speed is not that important to me. But variety is the spice of life.
 
I have three NIB ZT 0350's in various flavors. I've had a custom DDR that was assisted. They all work well, but my EDC is a Sebenza. It is possible to manually "slow down" or stop the opening of the blade once you get beyond the practical limitation of the torsion bar. This is a good idea, in my book, especially if you're having dinner in Outback at the time. The Thwack associated with the normal opening of the blade is sure to draw a bit of attention and finger-pointing.
sonny
 
I don't think assisted-openers are needed at all. When I'm looking at a knife I look at all other factors of the design first (handle, blade steel, opening hole/thumb stud/flipper, etc. If a knife happens to be assisted-opening, it's the factor toward the bottom of my selection criteria; it just has to work well with the design.

For example, the assisted-opening feature of my Blur seems to fit the knife perfectly - give the angled thumb studs a very slight push, and the blade just flies open. However, I wouldn't want my Para 2 to be an assisted-opener, as it wouldn't seem to fit in with the design of the knife.
 
they aren't "needed", but that is what i carry since it works so well. If they didn't exist i would just carry a flipper. Flippers also aren't "needed" but they work really well. :) I suppose it comes down to needed vs. what you like. 99% of the knives out there aren't needed, but i am sure glad they exist :)
In all honesty most of us could get away with just a simple slip-joint SAK. What we usually carry goes way beyond what is "needed".

JD
 
Free2game said:
They reliably open 99.99% of the time. Who can say they haven't jacket up a deployment of a regular knife at some point.
Click to expand...

My experience has been different.
My Stryker and my Blur have spring assist at the beginning of the blade movement then the blade is supposed to continue opening with its inertia. If something stops the blade before it is completely open then you have to continue opening it yourself. And trying to put your thumb on the thumb stud of a partially open blade without putting your thumb on the sharp edge is difficult. My Barrage has spring action for much more of the blade movement so if it was blocked, when you remove the blockage it would be more likely to open completely.

The other aspect I notice with assisted knives is that they have a lot stronger detent keeping the blade closed. For that reason when you put your thumb on the thumb stud to open the blade, you can miss the stud or slip off of it before you put enough force into the blade to open it. You have to try a second or third time. The Blur is better than the others because it has a big thumb stud with sharp edges. You are less likely to slip off of that one, but strangely enough my Leek is the hardest to open because its thumb stud is so small.

I have a CRKT knife with their lock built into the thumb stud. It is very difficult to open because you have to do it a certain way. If you are in a hurry you are going to miss it.

My older manual Benchmades are more positive to open than my newer assisted Benchmades because they have less blade detent. My Paramilitary 2 is the most positive to open knife that I own because that big thumb hole is easy to hit and easy to apply a lot of force to.
 
JudasD said:
they aren't "needed", but that is what i carry since it works so well. If they didn't exist i would just carry a flipper. Flippers also aren't "needed" but they work really well. :) I suppose it comes down to needed vs. what you like. 99% of the knives out there aren't needed, but i am sure glad they exist :)
In all honesty most of us could get away with just a simple slip-joint SAK. What we usually carry goes way beyond what is "needed".

JD
Click to expand...

I love flippers but being my only flipper a "manual" one i can choose opening it in a controled fashion with the use of thumbstuds without scarying the sheeple. You can't do that with an "assisted" knife.
 
Last week my drunk neighbor tried to start a fight with me and I scared the shit out of him when I flipped out my Kershaw Tremor, I kicked his ass and luckily I wasn't arrested.
 
Last edited:
mantzao said:
I love flippers but being my only flipper a "manual" one i can choose opening it in a controled fashion with the use of thumbstuds without scarying the sheeple. You can't do that with an "assisted" knife.
Click to expand...

I agree. When i am near folks that i think i might scare then i just open the knife with two hands and they don't know the difference. This way i get the best of both worlds. :)

JD
 
bdmicarta said:
My experience has been different.
My Stryker and my Blur have spring assist at the beginning of the blade movement then the blade is supposed to continue opening with its inertia. If something stops the blade before it is completely open then you have to continue opening it yourself. And trying to put your thumb on the thumb stud of a partially open blade without putting your thumb on the sharp edge is difficult. My Barrage has spring action for much more of the blade movement so if it was blocked, when you remove the blockage it would be more likely to open completely.

The other aspect I notice with assisted knives is that they have a lot stronger detent keeping the blade closed. For that reason when you put your thumb on the thumb stud to open the blade, you can miss the stud or slip off of it before you put enough force into the blade to open it. You have to try a second or third time. The Blur is better than the others because it has a big thumb stud with sharp edges. You are less likely to slip off of that one, but strangely enough my Leek is the hardest to open because its thumb stud is so small.

I have a CRKT knife with their lock built into the thumb stud. It is very difficult to open because you have to do it a certain way. If you are in a hurry you are going to miss it.

My older manual Benchmades are more positive to open than my newer assisted Benchmades because they have less blade detent. My Paramilitary 2 is the most positive to open knife that I own because that big thumb hole is easy to hit and easy to apply a lot of force to.
Click to expand...

I know just what you are saying. I should have said that i prefer the Benchmade axis-assist style. These assisted knives are assisted until the blade is opened. You can block the blade at any point during the opening and then remove the block and the blade will finish opening using the assist. The inertia-style assists i do not like. These include the Benchmade torsion, CRKT, ZT, Kershaw, etc. While i do own many of the latter, it is only the former that i carry/trust.

Like you, I have found the detent strength to be stromnger on the liner lock knives. For the axis-assist knives they use a ramp and spring (from the axis lock) to hold the knife in place. I find this to be very smooth whether the knife is assisted or not.

I don't want to sound like a Benchmade shill. I just think that when it comes to assisted knives they do it right. I have a lot of other brands the i really like too, but they tend to not be assisted :)

JD
 
I prefer the better control I have with a manual one handed opener. If I can t open a knife easily with one hand manually, I don t buy or keep the knife. Opening an assisted knife in public does sometimes get unfavorable attention. That said, I have an assisted opener with a strong assist that I carry occasionally and do enjoy playing with. For me, needed, no, fun, yes occasionally.
 
I'm new to knife collecting. I can tell you that A/O appeals to me because they are fun and different. In most states it's as close (legally) as you can get to an auto. I ordered my first today, as a matter of fact. It's cheap, but that's ok. Just sticking my toe in the water.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top