Flicking open any folder is bad for the knive and could void the warranty as abuse.

I think it's more of a liability issue rather than a knife damage issue. As long as you get a high quality knife, flicking it 5000 times isn't going to do much damage to the knife, but rather just smooth the action up a bit. Flicking will wear the knife faster than if you don't flick it, but the difference will be that the service life is reduced from say... 10 years instead of 12 years...

What manufacturers whant to prevent, is some guy flipping his knife, dropping it on his foot, and then sueing the company saying that the company literature told him to flip the knife...

Of course, you could buy a Chinese made Jaguar or Masters knife which will most probably suffer damage as a result of a few flicks.
 
I'm a little unclear, is it only bad-flicking when you use your wrist to create centrifugal force? Or is even using your thumb to flick it out damaging as well? I ask this because when I compulsively flick, I try to train my muscle memory to use only just enough force to get a soft click of the lock engaging, kind of like a game of mine.
 
Or is even using your thumb to flick it out damaging as well?
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I believe its using your thumb as well. As a matter of fact, I believe this even voids warranties on allot of knife manufactures and makers. Chris Reeves knives being one of them. I use the thumb and flick with force on all my production models, but don't flick custom folders. The smooth glide and click of the lock are just as enjoyable when you follow through with it and open your knife without force. :)
 
Some knives just seem to beg for flipping. My MT SOCOM uses the thumb studs for a blade stop. I have been flipping that knife open since 1996. Probably well in excess of 8000-9000 times and it still locks up tight with no vertical or horizontal play in the blade. On the other hand I have an old Al Mar lockback that has no liners that I have been flipping open since 1993 and that has developed some horizontal play but not enough to bother me. Most of my knives are users and those that can be flipped open will be.
 
It is against the law in Canada to own a knife that can be opened with the centrifugal force. Being the law abiding citizen that I am, I would never consider owning a knife that could be flicked open, so this topic has absolutely no meaning to me.

YEAH, RIGHT!
 
Originally posted by Marcelo Cantu
I try to train my muscle memory to use only just enough force to get a soft click of the lock engaging, kind of like a game of mine.
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Technically, you're "supposed" to be guiding the blade out by holding the thumbstud and rotating it out till it clicks into place. Absurd, of course. What you are describing puts so little force on the stop pin, it isn't hurting it at all. I like to do that with my Sebenzas, because they have that smooth-but-moving-through-molasses action. Just the right amount of force, snapping the blade forward, will drop the lock into place. Elegant! :)

Flicking by thumbstud can be done, but the problem comes in when the stop pin gets slammed audibly, mostly by wrist action. (This kind of activity gets knives classified as gravity knives in some jurisdictions.) Some knives are just overbuilt to the point of not mattering. Chris Reeve doesn't like flicking, but his knives are so strong, they are some of the best able to survive it. Go figure.
 
Personally I'd be a little suspect about buying any knife the maker worried about dammage from simple flick openings.
A properly made knife should wear in not out, Yeah I know this is gonna enrage the Sebbie crowd!
Stop pins are hardened for that reason and shouldn't flat spot no matter how many times you flick open the blade.
I've yet to see a stop pin break on a B/M, Emerson, Spydeco, Microtech, MOD, etc.
I suppose if I were to pay 600-1000 and up for a highly decorated 1 of a kind folder I may feel a lil more worried about flicking it open, but I'd probably leave that kind in the safe to show off to my pals or carry around at knife shows, and leave the real work to the EDC knves what work no matter what and I could afford to replace.
Just my own opinion and I'm not trashing anyone who chooses to use his/her knife as they see fit. Ron
 
How would a company know if damage was caused by flicking? The same wear would eventually be caused by normal opening and closing, there's no way they could tell. Unless you said "Hey I damaged my knife by intentionally flicking it open" there's no way they could refuse to fix it. Alot of folders these days have "flippers" on them, so I assume it's okay to flick these open?
 
They will and do refuse to fix them under warranty (some companies and makers, certainly not all). It is not difficult to recognize the damage caused by flicking a knife. Knives that are not flicked can go a lifetime without much wear to the stop pin.
 
If flicking is so bad for knives then what about the assisted opening knives from Kershaw?
 
Originally posted by sc_rebel1957
Personally I'd be a little suspect about buying any knife the maker worried about dammage from simple flick openings.
A properly made knife should wear in not out, Yeah I know this is gonna enrage the Sebbie crowd!
Stop pins are hardened for that reason and shouldn't flat spot no matter how many times you flick open the blade.
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Sebbies have a stop pin that can be rotated to expose a new, fresh surface should any wear be detected. It's the only folder I know of that has that capability. I also assume the stop pin could be replaced if necessary.
 
Notice that the pins on the Buck Strider are inter-changeable, which effectively means that you have 2 extra stop pins to wear out. :D

Wonder if there are other folders (i.e. spydie military, CR, Striders) that have this feature?

Sean
 
Not surprising at all knowing the repitation of Strider knives in general.
1 NOTE-are we talking about the process of slamming the knife open from a snap/inertia opening or the quick snap from a very fast thumb flick?
If so I can possibly see how that may shorten the life of the piviot pin and or stop pin.

Dick since the stop pins on older AFCKs are not indexed, I'm assuming you could possibly rotate them if they did show wear, again after reading this thread I took several factory knives apart today and inspected each stop pin under a strong 8X glass and found no evidence of flat spotting whatsoever Ron
 
Originally posted by Easyrider
If flicking is so bad for knives then what about the assisted opening knives from Kershaw?
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I'm only guessing here, but my chive has dual thumbstuds that act as dual stop pins. They actually stop against the steel handle in a semi-circular recess, which would help distribute the stress of the assisted opening. This configuration seems very strong and resistant in my opinion.

I've only had the knife for 3 months, but I open it at least a few times every day, and I can't detect any wear yet.

Guy
 
Darrel Ralph endorses flipping his knives open. He does it himself with his knives.:cool: Ask him about it!
 
Dirk's right. I've got 3 CUDA Maxxes and a DDR custom, all 5'5" D2. You can ease them open, just barely clicking the lock into place, or you can SLAM !!! the blade open. Locks in the same place. NO damage to the "thumbstud" stop pins.

But I don't think a hard opening with the thumbstud alone counts as really flicking with any strong knife. You have to put some wrist into it to dent metal! :)
 
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