Distance between thumb hole and pivot?

[Knife Outlet]

My favorite way to open a Spyder knife is to hold on to the hole in the blade with the thumb and forefinger and then snap the wrist to flip the knife open. There are other ways to use the thumb hole but that's the way I like to do it.

I've noticed how important the size of the knife is and placement of the hole relative to the pivot in terms of using the knife in this manner.

I was flipping some Spyders at the office this evening and even some Benchmade Ascents that use the blade hole. The knives the size of, say, a Native or Rookie work very well in this manner. I was really impressed with how well the little Jess Horn operated with the wrist flip. The Benchmade 820 Ascent-similar in size to the Horn-also works like a dream. But go up in size and it becomes more difficult. An Endura, as an example takes a really health flip to snap open. The similarly sized Bencmade 830 Ascent just doesn't work at all this way. Maybe I had a stiff sample but I couldn't get it to work. Even larger Spyders like Civilian or Military don't work consistently for me either.

Is there some magic blade size or some magic distance between pivot and blade hole that makes this type of operation come together smoothly? Is there something that could or should be done to other models to allow them to work or work more easily in the fashion I've described? Or is the wrist flip the wrong way to open a big Spyder?

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Fred
Knife Outlet
www.knifeoutlet.com

 

[Corduroy]

I'm surprised at your results. For me, weight and action are all that seem to matter; a knife that's heavy (like a steel police) or has really light action (like an AFCK) will easily open with the "Spyder-Drop" as I believe this used to be called. As long as the blade hole is large enough that I don't literally drop it (Viele - ack!) and not placed so too close to the pivot so that your fingers rub, any knife seems to work.

I've been working on my new Calypso like crazy to loosen up the action enough to "drop" consistently with its light handle, and I just sent my Military back because I couldn't loosen it up enough to drop easily (also a fairly light handle). In contrast, my girlfriend's new Calypso has really light handles but a nice enough action to "drop" easily.

The drop isn't really a great idea because you have to "hop" the knife up into your hand for a good grip, although you can deliver moderate-force stikes while holding the hole in thumb and forefinger with three fingers on the handle. I've been trying to teach myself to spin the knife 180 and thumb-flick the hole, but old habits die hard and I still usually drop. It's VERY fast, but I worry I'd do the "hop" wrong under duress, or get hit during the millisecond I'm not gripping the knife. I notice that Spyderco doesn't stress this opening method in their ads anymore, hmmm...

I have a bunch of my own designs that have a choil well forward, below the hole, so that you don't need to hop back on the knife for your grip, but I haven't put any to steel yet.

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-Corduroy
(Why else would a bear want a pocket?)

[This message has been edited by Corduroy (edited 11 May 1999).]