Catch the wave

S

sircantaloupe

Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
399
I was talking to someone about knives today, and mentioned the wave. He told me about a guy in his platoon who's Emerson deployed on a jump and "split his leg open" upon landing.

Now, it stands to reason that maybe a waved knife isn't the best thing to pack for activities like parachute jumps, but I've never had a waved knife that opened unless I wanted it to. Has anyone had an experience with a waved knife opening unexpectedly/accidentally?

(I eagerly await CM's expert opinion :p )
 
The knife opened from gravity not the wave, gravity + impact to the ground caused the tip up carry knife to point tip down.
 
That sounds quite likely. All folding knives should be secured carefully during any physically strenuous activity.
 
It might have been gravity but the hook might have caught on something, isn't there a "jump safe" check to do of all such gear before heading out and shouting "Geronimo"?
 
I never went through Airborne school, but isn't it customary to have a fixed blade on your boot and maybe a switchblade when jumping?
 
Nothing about the wave feature makes it any more or less likely to open on impact than any other folding knife.
 
Also important to note is that the ball detent mechanism on a liner lock and framelock can be a high tolerance tricky proposition -- deceptively tricky to get right. And in general, production companies don't always do a great job on it. So, given that most Emersons are liner locks or framelocks, and that the already-no-so-great biasing mechanism for those lock types is often not perfect in production folders ...
 
I agree with all of the above. The wave had nothing to do with his knife opening and its mostly his negligence that caused it. You never jump with a folder in your pocket, in fact its best to have nothing hard in your pockets. A properly secured fixed blade would be best.

I've never experienced an accidental opening of a waved knife. In fact, Emersons have dual detents to keep it shut.
 
A couple of months ago I had a Kershaw mini Cyclone that was clipped to the inside of the back of my jeans open, poke a hole through my pants and place a sizeable cut into the back of my car seat. When I finally got the knife in my hands the clip was bent badly.

What happened? I still don't know for sure. What I do know absolutely for sure is: FOLDING KNIVES CAN OPEN AND WHEN THEY DO THE BLADE IS EXPOSED. It may be rare but every now and then you hear stories like yours or mine. You have to be extra cautious when stowing folding knives. This is why when ever possible I prefer to carry my SAK and a fixed blade. Although I do carry a Kershaw or Spydie often.

One thing I've noticed about most of my locking folders is, the blade tention that holds the knife into the liner at best works only while the blade is 1/4-1/2 inch out of the liner. In my opinion this is not enough. I wish that the spring would force the knife back into the liner all the way out to at least an inch. This in my opinion would be much safer.

Bill
 
Back when I was jumping for Uncle Sam, I wanted a knife on me for a number of "what ifs". These outweighed my concerns of being hurt by the same knife I was carrying. That being said, there was not as many affordable options to choose from in the late 70's as there is today. You plan, you prepare, you practice and things still happen. By the way, the knife I carried was a Gerber Mark I boot knife clipped to my L.C.E. Wish I could have afforded the Mark II.
 
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