Does the lock on assisted opening knives make them slower than ordinary knives?

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kgriggs8

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The thing that keeps me from buying a Kershaw Leek (or any assisted opening knife) is that I find them slower in actual use than any of my normal thumb stud/holed knives. I can open a Spyderco or Benchmade much faster than having to unlock that little lock on the handle of the Kershaw and then filck the blade open.

So I guess what I am asking is, what is the point of assisted opening? It is not faster so why bother? I got my wife a Chive and she actually uses it and carries it but I know she could open a Spyderco just as fast. Maybe it is the coolness factor but I am all about function in my knives, I use them so I need them not to have any nonsense. Also why add more things to go wrong?
 
Well, the lock on the handle is optional I believe. You could leave it unlocked, but I don't know how likely they are to accidentally open.

I have a Camillus Dominator and I find it much slower to deploy than my Spyderco's and Benchmades.
 
The safety lock doesn't slow down my Random Leek at all ... I took it off the day it arrived :D

I had the same thought, why assisted opening if you had to disengage a lock first, especially as it was nowhere near the opening ramp ?
Had it just under a year and carried it quite a bit. No NDC's yet.
 
The SOG Flash is the fastest assisted opener I've seen. Much, much faster than a Kershaw from what I've seen (but I still like Kershaws better). I've carried the Flash II unlocked in my pocket and have never had it accidentally open. It's also a tip up knife, so the movement of drawing it from the pocket makes unlocking it seem fairly natural.

That said, I can still open any non-assisted one hand opener just as fast or faster. I think assisted opening is just a cool little toy, it doesn't really speed up a knife to the point that it's useful (I feel the same about automatics).
 
I don't use the safety lock at all on my Scallion. And I've never had the knife come open in my pocket whether or not I had it in the pocket, or attached with the clip.
 
I have never used the lock on any of my assisted openers. As long as they are carried correctly, against a pocket seam, they are quite safe.

The ROBO mechanism that Camillus uses strikes me as the safest of the bunch. It has to be opened further before the opener takes over and requires more force to open in the first place. They do take more practice to open quickly, but I think I am now as fast wtih my Aftermath as with my Boa.

--Bob Q
 
I have a Rainbow Chive. I like the knife and the assisted opener is nice but I too think the lock is fiddly and somewhat negates the advantage of the opener. I was thinking of leaving the lock off but didn't because of one small incident. When I got the knife the lock was loose and would undo itself while clipped in my pocket. I didn't worry about it because I planned to leave it off anyway. Well, one day I discovered that the knife had opened itself in my pocket. Not a pleasant discovery. I tightened up the lock so it couldn't release itself but decided it was too fiddly for EDC. It now sits in my M1 Waistpack and only gets used when I need a small pointed sharp blade.

I'm not saying this is going to happen to your or your knife but it has disuaded me from buying another assisted opener. A grey Calypso Jnr. is now my pocket knife for my city pants. :)
 
Ditto Yogs post. I have had my Rainbow Leek as my EDC for the past year with the safety removed No odd incidents to report. Like guns, that safety CAN give a false sense of security.
 
I was once told, by an old and wise firearms instructor, that with any weapon, if you need to do a quickdraw, that you weren't paying attention to your surroundings and deserve an asswhooping...
However, one should practice the fast-draw cause once we're done with our dayjob, we could always get a circus sideshow gig if we were real good...
 
Unfortunately, it's true. One day I forgot to put the safety to my (Kershaw) Chive so it opened accidentally when I was carying it and it stabbed my belly a bit. Since then, I always make sure the safety is on. This issue makes the assisted openers slower than more manual folders; putting that safety on and off takes some extra time and it isn't that comfortable. I definitely agree that with a Spyderco or BM you don't need an auto, but autos (and assisted opening knives, for those who put them in a separate category) are cool, anyway :)
 
I, too removed that plastic sliding lock from my Rainbow Leek because I was thinking that it would be convenient and like what most of us said, faster. Doing so, I broke one rule that seems to be constantly true: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I learned the almost-hard way when the Leek opened up in my pocket without me realizing it. Almost cut myself when I tried to reach for it. That night, I reinstalled the lock again and vowed never to mess with that thing or my fingers will get it.
 
WadeF said:
Well, the lock on the handle is optional I believe. You could leave it unlocked, but I don't know how likely they are to accidentally open.

I have a Camillus Dominator and I find it much slower to deploy than my Spyderco's and Benchmades.
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I never leave it locked, but I left it on, cuz I'm lazy. :p It has never opened enough to where the spring takes over. Just enough so I got scared when I reached into my pocket for my keys, and my finger brushed against it. :eek: It was only once
 
I took the lock off my rainbow chive right away, it only took one evening of carry to realize it was a mistake. IF you intend to carry it in your pocket. the next day I made a leather belt sheath, just a small tube that the knife slides in and the clip keeps it secure. I'm very happy with it now.
 
my camillus sizzle is tight
i ran into stuff to see if the blade would open. no luck. so it's fine for me
 
yog said:
The safety lock doesn't slow down my Random Leek at all ... I took it off the day it arrived :D
No NDC's yet.
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Me too. Haven't had it open unintended in my pocket or anywhere else for that matter.
 
Anyone thinking that "assisted opening" is something to assist in opening a knife has got it all wrong.

The AO is for ......ENTERTAINMENT !

Like in...."Hey, lookee my knife. Flip, snick......Whooooooooooie!)

I even catch myself ....actually thinking..... of which knife to carry (2 hand open or one hand?) when in reality, I find it doesn't really matter.

Unless of course, you have pissed off the Sharks or the Jets.

:D
 
Lavan said:
Anyone thinking that "assisted opening" is something to assist in opening a knife has got it all wrong.

The AO is for ......ENTERTAINMENT !

Like in...."Hey, lookee my knife. Flip, snick......Whooooooooooie!)

I even catch myself ....actually thinking..... of which knife to carry (2 hand open or one hand?) when in reality, I find it doesn't really matter.

Unless of course, you have pissed off the Sharks or the Jets.

:D
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You of course are entitled to your opinion, but should consider that we aren't all 16 years old.I don't carry a knife for entertainment,I carry it for utility.

I have carried assisted openers(blackout,random task,bump in that order) for a number of years. Prior to these I carried a wide variety of quality liner,back,slab lock folders. I find the assisted openers I've owned to be handy and quick. I use them daily and exclusively and could care less if anybody is impressed. I am and thats what counts.
 
They are wildly popular but I don't like assisted openers and I don't recommend them. The reason is that there is additional mechanism that can malfunction and that mechanism provides no useful function other than entertainment as someone mentioned above. A properly balanced one handed opener in the hands of someone with a little practice is far faster than an assisted opener - or an auto for that matter.

I learned to open a one handed opener fast in less than two hours many years ago. I'm not particularly good with my hands. Most people should be able to learn faster than I did.
 
Blades_Two said:
I learned to open a one handed opener fast in less than two hours many years ago. I'm not particularly good with my hands. Most people should be able to learn faster than I did.
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Right. I've prooven time and time again that I can open any one handed opener by just using the thumbstud (and no wrist snap) faster than an automatic or assisted opener. I've seen some assisted openers not fully engage and require some wrist snap to open them all the way.. .and that seems a bit pointless.

Like I said before, it's a cool toy, and I enjoy my Flash II a lot. But I find that a regular one handed opener with a good thumbstud works fine and is just as quick.
 
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