Flicking your Emerson

M

mrpinkbullets

Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
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"Thumb flicking" and "wrist flicking" often come up in questions about different knives, and I recently emailed EKI specifically about this topic (I have a Mini CQC-7B BTS). Here's the reply, evidently from Ernie himself:

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Dear Sir,

Thank you for your kind comments.

I doubt that you will be able to thumb flick the knife open. You can wrist flick as often as you want. Hope you enjoy the knife.

Best Regards,
Ernest R. Emerson

Emerson, Inc.
P.O. Box 4180
Torrance, CA 90510-4180

P 310.212.7455
F 310.212.7289
www.emersonknives.com
www.emersonbrandapparel.com
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So, the definitive answer from Ernest Emerson himself: Yes, it is normal if you aren't able to thumb flick your EKI knife, and yes, it is okay to wrist flick. Out of habit, I'd still discourage you from idly flicking ad nauseam, but it's nice to see at least one knifemaker who's not shy about letting his customers play hard with their knives.

ETA: A few days ago I followed up with an additional question specifically about lockup:

After about a month of moderate use, the action is still silky smooth and lockup is rock solid. However, the lock bar has worn in considerably. Out of the box, lockup was about 30%, and now it's almost 70%. Is this normal? My only concern is that the lock bar will continue to wear down, either causing it to overtravel or loosen up the tight lockup. Does Waving or flicking have any effect on wearing down the lock bar?

Here's Ernie's very to-the-point response:

There will be wear. You knife is normal. Waving and flicking does cause faster wear.
 
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I find the larger EKI knives can be thumb flicked open quite easily, I can do it on my Persians, 8s, 10s and 12s with no problems.
I have never liked slamming a knife open with a wrist flick and see it as totally unnecessary to be doing it every time you deploy your knife.

There is no need to do everything as hard as you can all the time. :p
 
Haze said:
There is no need to do everything as hard as you can all the time.
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I have at least one ex who would disagree with you :P

Seriously, though, it's true. I get irritated by people who wrist flick all the time for no good reason. Yes, it's the "number one hard use knife in the world", but for all that it's still a piece of machinery, and machinery will fail if abused. Emersons are designed to work hard, sort of like sports cars are designed to go fast- but if you drove your BMW like Michael Schumacher every single day, how long do you think it would last?

There is one very good reason for obnoxious wrist flicking: intimidation. Short of racking a handgun, there are not many scarier sounds to meet in a dark alley than the ssssssnick! of a smooth, fast folder being slammed open. Even autos don't sound as scary- some are springy and others sound like door latches, but Emersons are loud and they have that distinctive double-click lockup.
 
mrpinkbullets said:
I have at least one ex who would disagree with you :p
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Well yea, but I was talking about things like walking or brushing your teeth :D

Hammering a knife open be it with a wrist flick or even the wave does command authority in the user.
But as you say you really don't need to do that when opening a letter or a pack of dog food.
 
Haze said:
Well yea, but I was talking about things like walking or brushing your teeth :D

Hammering a knife open be it with a wrist flick or even the wave does command authority in the user.
But as you say you really don't need to do that when opening a letter or a pack of dog food.
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Sometimes you need a good wrist flick to intimidate thos dog food bags. They can be stubbourn.
 
I've taken to useing my chainsaw.....now that I have run out of teeth.:eek:
 
Lycosa said:
Haze... get implants... fangs!! :)
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It's funny you should say that.......... :D:thumbup:

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genius5th said:
I can thumb flick open any emerson, years of practice LOL
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Some can and some can't, and as you can see Ernie himself considers that his knives are not easily "thumb-flickable". Thumb studs are generally better than the Emerson discs for that purpose- you can use round studs to flick the blade forward, but discs are really only designed to be pushed to the side. Plus, Emerson's thick Nylatron washers and tight pivot design mean that opening is necessarily slow (though very smooth). Loosening up the pivot screw to get a faster-opening blade is a no-no, since you're throwing away the tight tolerances and zero-play rigidity that made Emerson famous. To get any kind of speed or momentum when opening the blade, you usually need some wrist movement.
 
You can wrist flick as often as you want
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Wow! I find the response from Emerson assuring to say the least. Interesting, other well-known knife companies want to label common opening methods as abuse of the product while Emerson embraces them.
 
It's pretty clear that they weren't designed to be thumb-flicked open, even if some people can do it. Many Benchmades on the other hand were designed for that. I personally don't think either way is good or bad. I actually enjoy both. It shouldn't be any surprise that flicking the knives open is okay since many Emersons have the wave feature and waving knives open seems to be just as hard on any knife as the wrist-flick. Even with the wave feature and the green light from Mr. Emerson, I still think it's just foolish to wrist flick or wave open the knife too many times. As was mentioned above, any knife will break down over time and this would just speed up the process unnecessarily. If one is capable of thumb-flicking the knives open, I would imagine that that isn't nearly as bad as the wrist flick or waving the knife open. There's a noticeable difference in how much energy goes into the various opening methods.
 
I'll probably make a few people upset by saying this but,

I personally always thought wrist flicking looks terrible, totally lacking of class. :barf: I'm not completely sure why I feel this way. It probably has something to do growing up always seeing inbred Jed/thugs/punks wrist flicking thier fleamarket/gas station/walmart specials. These are also the people I tend to see lose control of their blades mid flick, usually causing broken tips and blades.

Anyways, that's just my opinion.

I'll been thumb popping knives with no problem since I started carrying quality knives when I was 14-15 years old. I started learning on benchmades and its tranfered to every knife I've carried since. I get asked a lot why I carry an auto. Then I just show people it just a normal knife. I guess its that my hand makes very little movement(just thumb moving a little and not extending) yet the blade still snaps out really hard. I do admit a took about a week of getting used to thumb disks again before I could do it without thinking.

Someone mentioned intimidation factor earlier. I personally think a knife that pops loudly with little movement to be just as intimidating if not more than a wrist flicked presentation. Then theres the wave feature. It hard to beat intimidation factor of a blade being snapped open the moment its drawn :D
 
DarwinG31 said:
I personally always thought wrist flicking looks terrible, totally lacking of class.
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I'll been thumb popping knives with no problem since I started carrying quality knives when I was 14-15 years old. I started learning on benchmades and its tranfered to every knife I've carried since.
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Someone mentioned intimidation factor earlier. I personally think a knife that pops loudly with little movement to be just as intimidating if not more than a wrist flicked presentation. Then theres the wave feature. It hard to beat intimidation factor of a blade being snapped open the moment its drawn :D
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As far as wrist flicking not being classy, I'm with you there. Especially with my Sebenza, it looks far more professional and elegant to smoothly rotate the blade out- plus, you get to enjoy that world-class, super slick action. That being said, in high-stress or emergency situations, I do not hesitate to wrist flick. Those are the times when fine motor skills degrade, and it's difficult to get the right grip or the right purchase and position on the thumb lug/disc. Being genteel is less important than getting that blade out right now, and so I do accept flicking in that situation.

As far as thumb flicking is concerned, I can do it on some knives and not on others. Benchmades are easy, so are some Gerbers. Kershaws would be, because the blades are quick enough, but they do a pretty lousy job with their thumb studs (thank god they know how to do a proper flipper). For me, Emersons are out of the question. Try as I might, I have not been able to thumb flick any Emerson knife, ever. With my Sebenza, I'm about fifty-fifty, but I don't like to flick it anyway.

For intimidation, you want big, flashy movements that nobody will miss. If my job is to kill someone, I'll ease the blade open quietly, walk up behind him, and stab him in the throat. But if I want to scare him, I want the most unmistakable motion possible. I want to draw my knife quickly and snap it open with a sweeping arm motion, getting the loudest ssssssnick! that I possibly can- Emersons make fantastic sounds for this purpose. A nice little forward-to-reverse roll finishes out the procedure. I wouldn't think there are many people who would want to try their luck after seeing something like that.
 
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