Assisted Opening - Do we really hate it, or is it a stigma?

Would you buy an assisted opening knife?

  • Never! Those ā€œgas stationā€ knives are for little boys.

  • Only if it were of good quality.

  • Why not? If I like it Iā€™d buy it.

Results are only viewable after voting.
Knives&Lint said:
There's a stigma, but also legitimate reasons to dislike them. I personally dislike it when a knife has an assisted opening that doesn't make it any easier/quicker to open, but in being assisted eliminates easy one-handed closing (talking to YOU, Benchmade Barrage :rolleyes: )
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There there for the Barrage! Axis lock and assisted opening is a match made in hell.
 
I have assisted opening mechanisms on both my CRKT Ritual and Kershaw Blur. It's just something you have to be mindful of, given that extra bit of hop when you open them.
 
I have a Buck assisted opening and it feels like a switchblade........
Kershaw / Ken Onion makes a good assisted opening knife.......
A good flipper works just as well.....
I am now buying non- assisted knives. Because I didn't really find much difference.
 
I really like them for EDC as long as they are a quality built assist. Got two that have not failed me so far. Flippers are my next favorite and plan to add one soon. Like the fidgit ability with them.
 
I don't mind them but I'll take a manual opening knife every time when I have the choice (which I guess is every time). For me it's that I really like playing with my knives while I'm doing other things and opening them in different ways. I like manual thumb stud knives, and knives that have multiple opening methods the best. It just kind of takes the fun out of flicking it open when it's assisted because it's like it's the same every time. With a manual thumbstud knife I can open it slowly with my thumb, I can flick it open with my thumb nail, I can apply pressure with the pad of my thumb and release it quickly, I can open from the backside with my middle finger. I just like messing around with them like that. And also, every once in a while I want to slowly open my blade because of who's around me. You can do that with an assisted knife too but it's not as convenient. But yes, I do also think there's that stigma with knife enthusiasts that goes way back before the flipper trend 12 or 15 years ago when a thumb stud knife was the standard one handed knife. I honestly think that the Sebenza has a lot to do with it, because it's kind of frowned upon by the Chris Reeve community to flick your knives open, and I really think that's carried all the way until now (From when the Sebenza first became popular) and still is an underlaying factor.
 
I remember when I first discovered assisted action in the late 90s. I had almost exclusively been carrying SAKs, more traditional slipjoints, and lockbacks. The assisted action was like magic.

So then I mostly carried assisted actions up through at least 2015. I had come across manual actions that were okay. I knew that better ones existed but they were less common and more expensive so I never really thought about it. I had still been buying knives IRL. Making the move to buying online and actually doing a little research was the first step.

I remember the moment where I crossed the line. I had been looking at Kershaws online and decided instead to roll the dice on a similarly priced Ganzo FH11. The copying issues weren't on my radar back then but this was the first in their line of original designs in Chinese D2 under the Firebird name. The detent was crisp. The action was sweet. The lock-up was solid. It was better than any of my assisted knives. I remember taking it apart and marveling at how much simpler it was, how much easier it was to maintain, and how there was less to go wrong.

From there, I started exploring other budget manuals. When Civivi came onto the scene in 2018, it signaled the end for assisted action for me. The last one I bought was a premium version of the Dividend. It remains the only assisted knife in my EDC rotation. Whenever I use it, I notice the little bit of slop before engaging the assist and the awkward motion of overcoming tension to close it. Look, assisted actions served a purpose back when great manual action was rare or expensive. That just isn't true anymore.
 
I'm not interested in them and have sold most of the ones that I've owned. Almost all of the ones that I've owned were thumb stud models, flippers might be different.
I've learned that a good thumb opening manual device is faster for me. Thumb openers can be hard to open if the thumb studs are small and hard to hit, or if they are smooth and don't give good traction. Some of mine require you to carefully position your thumb and even then you might miss it, this all takes time. The one exception to this was my Kershaw Blur which has a big sharp thumbstud that is hard to miss. I've found that the large blade hole in some Spyderco knives is the fastest and most positive to open so for my use I prefer these to any assisted opener. However if I find a knife that I like I'm willing to buy it even if it has assisted opening.
 
Chronovore said:
I remember when I first discovered assisted action in the late 90s. I had almost exclusively been carrying SAKs, more traditional slipjoints, and lockbacks. The assisted action was like magic.

So then I mostly carried assisted actions up through at least 2015. I had come across manual actions that were okay. I knew that better ones existed but they were less common and more expensive so I never really thought about it. I had still been buying knives IRL. Making the move to buying online and actually doing a little research was the first step.

I remember the moment where I crossed the line. I had been looking at Kershaws online and decided instead to roll the dice on a similarly priced Ganzo FH11. The copying issues weren't on my radar back then but this was the first in their line of original designs in Chinese D2 under the Firebird name. The detent was crisp. The action was sweet. The lock-up was solid. It was better than any of my assisted knives. I remember taking it apart and marveling at how much simpler it was, how much easier it was to maintain, and how there was less to go wrong.

From there, I started exploring other budget manuals. When Civivi came onto the scene in 2018, it signaled the end for assisted action for me. The last one I bought was a premium version of the Dividend. It remains the only assisted knife in my EDC rotation. Whenever I use it, I notice the little bit of slop before engaging the assist and the awkward motion of overcoming tension to close it. Look, assisted actions served a purpose back when great manual action was rare or expensive. That just isn't true anymore.
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Why does this sound like an advertisement for Ganzos?
 
I enjoy assisted opening knives.

I own and use many Kershaw flavors and have had no issue.

One nice thing, is that when I'm doing a lot of cutting, I can pop it back open again quickly, get the cut made, then re-pocket again. Sometimes the convenience is tangible.
 
When assisted opening first became available I bought a few. I quickly realized it had no advantage over a non-assisted one-hand opener. I haven't bought another since. For me, it's not a feature, it's a needless complication. It's like putting a kick-stand on a skateboard.
 
Some people seem to love it, but me personally, I dislike it. I had one, a cheaper Kershaw way back when it was one of the first I had ever seen, (Scallion or chive maybe?) it even came with a lock to keep it closed. I loved it and around a year in, it stopped working. I tried to repair it but something was broken. (I forget what, it was a long time ago.) That was the first knive that ever stopped working on me other than me breaking it doing something stupid. Some years later I tried another, opened in my pocket and bit me a couple times. I discovered Spyderco and never looked back. Heck most days I'm carrying a Modern Traditional that has a nail nick. Never found any flipper more useful or any faster than a Spyderco.

I like the KISS priciple, and see assisted opening as unnecessary complexity, and it screws up the pocket friendliness I expect in a knife. Try this test: drop any flipper in your pocket with change and dig out a few coins while leaving the knife in the pocket. Easy with something like a case canoe, almost any flipper currently made, not so much. Never had any slipjoint open and bite me either.

Grizz
 
Nope. Seems cheap and completely unnecessary, that is unless you can't make a knife well enough to flick out. There are exceptions though, the leek being one. The assist fits that knife well to me because of how slim and delicate it is. I still wish manufacturers would include a closing detent on assisted knives so they could be deassisted. I had a blur and ZT301 with closing detents that were immeasurably better as deassisted knives. My opinion of course.
 
One of (if not) my favorite knives of all time is the Benchmade 496 Vector. It's an assisted flipper, which is far better than the manual axis flipper that Benchmade made a few years ago. It uses the same assist mechanism as Benchmade's autos, which I find much smoother than most other torsion bar based assist mechanisms. It also holds the blade open with spring tension when the lock is released, so there is no chance of the spring failing to open the knife. I don't find it any harder to close than any other manual or auto knives, and I can do it with one hand without looking.

The Vector is my favorite because it is far more than just an "assisted" knife. It has a very comfortable fully machined and contoured handle, a nice thin slicey blade, almost disappears in the pocket, and looks amazing. It provides the speed and snap of an automatic opener while being legal in more places, and provides the tactile feel of a flipper with the solid lockup of the axis lock. I definitely think there is a stigma against assisted knives, and people would be better off looking at the whole knife, rather than just the opening action.

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Silent H said:
One of (if not) my favorite knives of all time is the Benchmade 496 Vector. It's an assisted flipper, which is far better than the manual axis flipper that Benchmade made a few years ago. It uses the same assist mechanism as Benchmade's autos, which I find much smoother than most other torsion bar based assist mechanisms. It also holds the blade open with spring tension when the lock is released, so there is no chance of the spring failing to open the knife. I don't find it any harder to close than any other manual or auto knives, and I can do it with one hand without looking.

The Vector is my favorite because it is far more than just an "assisted" knife. It has a very comfortable fully machined and contoured handle, a nice thin slicey blade, almost disappears in the pocket, and looks amazing. It provides the speed and snap of an automatic opener while being legal in more places, and provides the tactile feel of a flipper with the solid lockup of the axis lock. I definitely think there is a stigma against assisted knives, and people would be better off looking at the whole knife, rather than just the opening action.

nvCAX7p.jpg
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I agree...I have the 495, spear point model. One of my favorites!

7tSsLQ2.jpg

(Not my photo)
 
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