convert to a one-hand opener?

R

RedLynx

Joined
Aug 5, 2011
Messages
11,445
Hi guys,

I have a few knives that are traditional and have to be opened with two hands. I also have one knife in particular that, while it is an assisted opener with a thumb stud, the stud is only on the right side, and it can't be changed, despite the handle having 4 carry positions for the clip (which is why I thought it would be okay to order.) But basically, I am a lefty, and I also use a cane in my right hand when walking anyway. So I wanted to ask about possible things I could do to convert non-one-handed openers to one hand, particularly this knife (a CRKT Fire Spark) as I would really like to carry/use it sometime.

Any help or advice regarding this knife or conversion in general would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!
 
Welcome to Bladeforums RedLynx.

There are a bunch of knives available that are truly lefty friendly and are one handed openers. If you are not particular about certain handle material, I would recommend looking into any of the following (not a complete list)

Spyderco
Delica
Endura
Native
Manix2
Stretch

Kershaw
Blur
Leek
Shallot
Chive
A very long list of assisted openers with a flipper can be had from Kershaw and ZT both.

Although I am not a lefty, my brother is and he has not had and problems with liner locks or frame locks. I also can unlock a liner lock with my left hand pretty easily. Hope this provides you a decent starting point.
 
Thank you for the reply!

I have actually been a member of another forum for about 10 years now and collecting knives that long, so I have, among others, the Endura and pretty much all assisted openers from Kershaw, one of my favorite brands (Spyderco too, for that matter). So I guess I do already own a lot of options, I just figured it would be nice to use this knife, if at all possible. Its design would make conversion difficult probably, but maybe someone knows a trick. Since it was advertised with and has 4 carry positions I figured it would be okay for lefties, and on Amazon it even has a thumb disk, although the actual product has only the stud.

So in a nutshell, no worries if this is unsolvable, I'll just keep this one in the collection box.


And thanks for the welcome!
 
You can definitely have some customization done to that knife. For example, the thumbstud can be removed and a new one press fit or bolted on. I've heard some people talking about modifications to knives that way. In the hands of someone with the knowledge, it is a simple procedure that takes a few minutes. One of the more popular thumbstud styles are the ones found on most Benchmade knives. They have very good purchase without being uncomfortable.

Forgot to mention, there is a new subforum in the exchane section that you can post a thread in where you can request this to be done. You will be contacted by various folks that do this stuff for a living and are quite good.
 
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It's been pretty slow there the past few weeks, one of the reasons (among others) I decided to ask here... although I feel somewhat like a newbie all over again. :P
 
We got a new version of the software a few months ago and we all felt like newbies for a while :D
 
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