Flick it open?

BS, you are relentless.

Anybody interested in this thread, should read the VERY long debate on this issue in the Review forum.

With the notable exceptions of BS and Cliff Stamp, the concensus was, Sebenzas can handle it, are not fragile knives, and this is really a non-issue, unless for whatever reason, you are out to get CRK at all costs, then, by all means, continue your attack. Did CR kill your dog or something? Flicked him across the road?

Of interest, if you follow BS's logic and posts in that thread, he believes that production Emersons are tougher, better knives than Sebenzas. If you believe that, or him, I genuinely feel sorry for you.
 
brownshoe said:
So how about it. Two questions.

- Do you flick open some of your blades?
- If a manufacturer claimed flicking was abuse, would you feel that there was something wrong with that knife compared to others?
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I don't flick my knives that often any more. I practice my draw a lot, and can open a folder just as fast using my thumb. I do continue to practice inertia openings, but I have a few select knives that I have dedicated to practicing those techniques. I feel it is important to be familiar with inertia openings in a SD scenario.

If a knife can't stand up to "flicking", then I don't want it. Flicking will wear the locking mechanism, but it should not cause total failure.
 
On one hand you've got knives like the Sebenza, with titanium scales/liners and steel stoppins, and you're not supposed to flick them. OTOH, you've got knives like the Microtech Terzuola or CMTX5 with titanium scales/liners and steel stoppins, and these flick themselves all the livelong day. Then you've got ones like the Severtech, Godfather, or Fer De Lance that do much more than flick; they launch.

If these knives can handle it, I think a Sebenza can too. It still depends on the knife though. A thinly linered linerlock like a CRKT M16 I'd probably avoid flicking.
 
Yeah, if you flick an M16 it gets stuck as if you soldered it. That was the reason I returned it.

I can't stop flicking my axis locks. I may have worn out one of the bushings on my afck from overdoing it, but im sending it into benchmade to get it taken care of. My 722 and 530 have held up very well.
 
i haven't weighed in on the flicking issue so this will be my only time(hopefully :rolleyes: )A: who honestly can flick a knife into impaired or non-functionality? B: a knife designed for one handed opening should be able to withstand a lifetime of one handed flicking deployments for actual cutting purposes. C: manufacturers warranties not covering "flicking" related damage is an embarrassing cost cutting disgrace, especially for a high end manufacturer like Chris Reeve. 300+ dollars for less than a 1/2 pound of titanium and steel definitely ought to buy a comprehensive if not no questions asked warranty. Swamp Rat seems to have grasped this concept, for far less currency.
 
This mega topic went around the question if a more limited warranty has an effect on the value of the knife. Most Sebenza owners said no, cause this knife withstand a lot, they don´t care about warranty as long as they never needed it. Some others said the warranty is important. I thought the warranty should cover the whole intended use, but should not cover any kind of wear.

Considering flicking:

Give it a push with the thump is what i always do with my axis knives. Hand swinging flicking is a thing i did over a year with a little Fox liner lock folder with no problems.

But i don´t do this anymore, ´cause it takes more time and hand movement to get the knife out of the pocket, move uo to get a bit speed and then let the blade come out....

It´s easier to get it out, in the same move settle the thump lightly on the 806 hole and give it a flick.

BTW i use to keep the pivot as tight as possible. So the thump flicking way is the more useful to me.
 
Rather than ruling out the flick all the time, I think there would be no damage to the knife it was used occasionally. It seats a liner lock securely and quickly and is useful when one needs a blade for hard use. I can only compare it with giving the bottom of a magazine a hard tap to seat it securely in a rifle or pistol. It's not a necessary movement, and causes wear and tear, but under stress, it's the most secure way of getting the job done.
 
i flick mine, darrel ralph says all his stuff is 'flickable' (is that a word???), imho flicking will not harm a seb, i have flicked mine some and it still looks LNIB, no wear at all so far, i mean it might hurt one if ya stand there and flick it all day long over an d over and over again, but an occasional flick shouldnt harm any good, quality knife imho.
 
Thanks for all the responses.

I am not trying to beat a dead horse. I found it revealing that lots of people indicated their most "fun" knife is one they can flick. Made me want to get a more "general" opinion than what has been discussed over in Reviews.

From the posts so far, most like to flick and most think a knife should be flickable. Slipjoints excepted of course.
 
brownshoe said:
Yes, I flick.

Yes, I think if you can't flick a knife but can flick Spydercos, Benchmades, Emersons, CRKT, Cammilus, etc. there is something wrong with the knife.
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Couldn't agree more :)
 
Brownshoe, I think it's more of a liability issue and forethought as to not having to deal with "stupid damage". For example, if some guy flicks and drops his knife on the concrete and wants warranty service... They can deny him for two reasons when he might want to raise a stink if there was only one... The other part of it is if someone hurts themselves while flicking the knife... The manufacturer is insulated from liability since flicking was forbidden to the point of warranty denial. Reeve is not an unreasonable man, but with his practicality, I think, comes with a refusal to deal with unreasonable demands.
 
CRK does not say the Sebenzas cannot be flicked, nor do they say the Sebenza cannot handle flicking, in fact, you are TOLD by them to FLICK the knife open hard a few times after you reassemble it after a cleaning. They do not recommend flicking, since, over time, I don't care who makes the knife, nor what they claim, flicking will cause at least some deformation of the stop pin(s), resulting in possible lock issues.

What the warrantee limitation does mean is, if you are one of these people who is obsessive about flicking, and you sit there all day long, flicking your knife open and closed, open and closed, open and closed, just because it feels good, repeatedly until eventually you deform the stop pin and the lock moves to the right, well, then that is considered abuse and rightfully so, and then, they will charge you a small amount for a new stop pin, oh, the horror. :rolleyes:

I think it was CRK that mentioned an analagy, if not, I forget who, in any case it goes like this: A maker of high-end cars, like Mercedes, would of course fix a door under warrantee if you opened it and closed it normally, even if you do it very hard, but, if you like the sound it makes when it closes, and you sit there, day after day, opening and closing it hundreds of times for a few years, and you wear out the hinges, well, that's abuse, not a defect.

It's not flicking per se that is prohibited, remember, they TELL you to flick it hard a few times upon reassembly, it is those few people who abuse the knife with obsessive, repeated flicking, and those people maybe should buy a different knife, if what they really want is something to flick, with actual knife performance of secondary importance.
 
I flick my BM 710HS, my 551 and my 556. I could be wrong, but I feel that the Axis lock, which compensates for wear, can adjust for any damage to the stop pin.

I also flick my Cuda Maxx 5.5. My Dominator -- well, it flicks itself open. Both are designed to take it. However, the place where the studs hit the ti frame is now "polished" on both knives. In other words, it's been hammered down, even if its just a hair. So the flicking is doing something to the handle -- will it someday affect function? Who knows?

I have numerous other knives, including Spydercos and 2 Sebenzas. I don't flick any of them (though I flicked my Paramilitary a few times just to see if it could be done by holding the lock open, like an Axis).

It's fun to flick, but I don't miss flicking on the knives that I choose not to flick. What the flick!?

Really, Balisongs are much more fun than flickable knives! :D

Edited to add:

As for the warranty, one that doesn't cover flicking doesn't necessarily mean that the knife that is more susceptible to damage from flicking. Only design, materials and manufacturing can determine whether flicking will damage a particular knife.
 
I've been known to flick open my knives now and then, but I don't do it all the time except with a few knives.

The Spyderco Meerkat just begs to be flicked, as does all of my Axis-lock folders.

I don't flick with all of my might--just enough to positively open the blade.

I don't think flicking is abuse my any stretch of the imagination.

Allen.
 
I have a number of Benchmade Axis lock knives and none of them beg to be flicked. Is flicking something ex-smokers take up to avoid grabbing for a cigarette? It's a knife, not a pacifier. Where's the fascination; what's fun about flicking?
 
ras said:
I have a number of Benchmade Axis lock knives and none of them beg to be flicked. Is flicking something ex-smokers take up to avoid grabbing for a cigarette? It's a knife, not a pacifier. Where's the fascination; what's fun about flicking?
Click to expand...

I don't flick just to flick, I flick to open the knife when I want to use it. I flick it open and I flick it shut. When I'm trying to cut something I don't want to F around trying to carefully open a knife, and carefully close it. I want it to do it's job as quickly as possible. With the Axis lock I just pull back the lock bar, flick open and release the lock at just the right time. To close I do the same thing, pull back the lock bar and flick it closed. I can do all this with one hand, leaving the other hand free to hold onto whatever I'm cutting. I can operate the knife like this with my right or left hand.

I have never smoked BTW. Some people may not poses the coordination to flick a knife efficently and safely and feel the need to talk trash about people who have this ability.
 
It takes me 1/2 sec to thumb a knife open without flicking and it can be done even faster; I just don't see the advantage in flicking. While you apparently see flicking as a necessity, some here consider it "fun".
 
I love rollercoasters, my father-in-law is terrified of them.

So are rollercoasters fun?

Yes for me, no for him.

Different strokes for different folks.

And I was never a smoker but I probably did use a pacifier (just can't remember that far back),
Allen.
 
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