Assisted-opening knives

A

allenC

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Jun 18, 2000
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How about a list and opinions of "assisted openers" like the Ken Onion/Kershaw speed-safe knives.
Who else makes them and what do you think of them?

Allen.
 
SOG and Timberline that I can think of off the top of my head. I have not handled either so I have no opinion on them.
 
I've tried the Ken Onion Kershaws,(speed safe is a great idea love mine, but I would suggest getting one with a safety), wasn't crazy about the Timberline, or the Meyerco, never tried the SOG
 
I have a Whirlwind and my wife has a Boa. Great value, good workmanship, they take a fantastic edge and I hope to own many more Kershaws.

A friend of mine has a Chive. The first time I opened it, the blade speed took me by surprise.
 
I haven't seen the new SOG assisted opening folder yet, but I have several from Kershaw as well as 2 Timberline Discoveries and 2 from Meyerco: Rascal and Stingray. Of all I would say the best in quality is Kershaw. I own a Random Task, Avalanche, Whirlwind, Chive and Scallion and all are of great quality.

Of Meyerco, I can only say that the mechanism is unique and fun to operate, but do not put faith in the small button lock. Also, on the Stingray, the blade slams shut against the Zytel spacer causing the edge to fold over. On the Rascal, the blade wobbles all over the place, so if you like knives with tight lockups and little to no bladeplay, the Rascal is not for you.

On the Timberline Discovery, again, the mechanism is unique, but like the Meyerco Stingray, the blade shuts against the aluminium spacer causing the edge to fold over. Both of my samples have developed dull spots on the edge because of this, and one of them has developed some vertical bladeplay no matter how I adjust the tension.

So far, I have not experienced any problems with the Kershaw. The torsion bar is simple, effective and their linerlocks are reliable.
 
Tried the Kershaw's speedsafe... very slick
I haven't tried the timberline versions, but I have clerks told me that they're not as slick as the demo model that they had in the store.
Of course, Kit Carson designed knives that has the flipper can be open pretty much like an assisted blade without an assist mechnism, which may be a good thing if you don't want to deal with broken mechnisms.
 
Bogusewski makes a flipper knife that is by far the smoothest that I have ever tried. It is not speed assisted like Ken Onion's (who also holds that patent for speed assist) but it is so smooth that I believe it utilizes ball bearings and as fast as any speed assist.

Bog makes several of these types of knives, the most popular is the Cobra, which is currently offered by Bladeart (www.bladeart.com). The knife has a bit of a wait, but it is worth it. Especially for the price. His blades are also razor sharp.

Talk to Larry at bladeart if you are interested. He is a great guy.
 
I've had the Whirlwind and Discovery for a while and like both of them, so far I haven't had a problem with the dull spots on the Timberline. I just bought a Chive and it's a cool little knife. The only problem is that it's too small for me to use the thumbstuds but the little index finger flipper on the back works fine. I like the assisted openers for the gadget factor, but as far as the Kershaw's and Timberline's, they're also good usable knives. Next will probably be a Scallion, also need a Boa but I like to go cheaper on daily users if I can.

DaveJ
 
that speed safe mechanism actually seems to be pretty reliable...I've not yet seen a defective one..sometimes they're slow..but thats usually 'cos the pivot screw is too tight...

personally I prefer my knives without the speed safe though...too scared that they'd open in my pocket...

the only two I really like are the stainless chive and the boa (both lock in the closed position)
 
I was interested at first until I realised that I could open a knife with a stud or flipper just as fast, and a loosened pivot screw with a little turbine oil made it faster:)

Regards,

Steve
 
Originally posted by DaveJ
I just bought a Chive and it's a cool little knife. The only problem is that it's too small for me to use the thumbstuds ...
DaveJ
Click to expand...

I think the thumb studs are designed to be more of a blade stop than a way to open the blade. But if you would like to make easier to to use the thumb stud, you could sand, file, or grind out some relief in the scales to make it easier to push the thumb stud to open it.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I bought a Kershaw/Ken Onion Scallion a couple of weeks ago and it has me craving a large assisted-open knife.
I've read mixed reviews of the Blackout but the Boa seems to get good press overall. So my next knife might be the Boa.

BTW, the Scallion is a really great little knife. It has replaced my Spyderco Meerkat as my knife while at work. The Meerkat has better steel and the phantom-lock is cool, but the wire clip sucks (IMHO).

Thanks again,
Allen.
 
I own 3 speedsafes, a Chive, Scallion, and Blackout. I have only handled a few of the Timberline Discoveries. The Timberline opens just as fast and solidly as the Speedsafes, and used the thumbstuds as blade stops instead of the Speedsafe's stop pins. All the Discoveries I played with felt great and had no problems, except I did not like the blade shape and bead blast so don't have one.

The Speedsafe is a great mechanism. I don't always carry one, partially because I still prefer a non-assisted opener for most of my needs. I think it's most useful for those who may have hand problems preventing them from the full range of thumb motion to open a standard one-hander. The Chive's opening is especially awesome due to its small size. It reminds me of the CA-legal Pro-tech switchblades with their powerful snap-open and lock-up. Although I find I prefer my assisted openers without the flipper feature, it's necessary on the Scallion and Chive because they are small.
Jim
 
Timberlines opening mechanism infringed on the Onion patent and so they were given a cutoff date beyond which they were unable to sell any more Discoverys w/the opening mechanism. That was around xmas of 2000 or 2001 or something like that. Don't know if they can even service them if problems arise.

Ken Onion will defend his patents against any infringers including SOG should their mechanism infringe on any of his patents.


Jeff
 
Hey allenC :

I like'em all, had a Ken Onion "chive" ; just got "spooked" when I saw all those states amending their respective definitions of a "switchblade". Washington state comes to mind....

"...any knife which opens by spring, gravity, inertia, or other
mechanical device..."

Kinda scary really. Hopefully the AKTI will settle this hash, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

"...and let him that has no sword sell his robe and buy one..."

Luke 22:36

A.E.T.
 
I had play a Boa at shop, finishing, lock, handle... everything is fine, why I did bought that? ****! the assit open is illegal in HK ! so the shop removed the assit bar..:mad:
 
M. Hungarian,
I didn't even think about those studs being blade stops. Mechanically oriented, I'm not. The more I play with the flipper on it the easier it is to manipulate.
DaveJ
 
Originally posted by imp
Timberlines opening mechanism infringed on the Onion patent.
Ken Onion will defend his patents against any infringers including SOG should their mechanism infringe on any of his patents.


Jeff
Click to expand...

Help me out here a bit Jeff, how similar to Ken's design is the mechanism on the Timberline, other than in operation? I haven't taken my Discovery folders apart (yet) but aren't the mechanisms different? Or do they actually use the same torsion bar? :confused:
 
Originally posted by Steve Harvey
Speed-safe: with a flipper, it rocks; with a thumb stud, it sucks.
Click to expand...

I agree with Steve. I carried a Ricochet for about a year--I liked it because the thumb stud was smooth and I could just run my thumbnail under it to open it easily, but my Whirlwind thumbstud was knurled so I couldn't do it the same way (said bye bye to the Whirlwind). I started carrying my Boa over a year ago and only the Camillus EDC has ever come close to replacing it so far. I love the flipper. I also recently bought a boron coated chive for a friend of mine and she can't stop playing with it. I definitely need to pick up another one for myself. Great idea, great knives, but I doubt I'd buy one without the flipper.
 
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