Flippers, just another fashion?

Thomas, I agree with you. AND for most people, my kind of caution wouldn't be advisable. Still, I know the campus police. Trust me, my "paranoia" is not as bad as you imagine. That said, and I HOPE I've imparted this earlier, for MOST people AOs aren't a problem, and as you say if you have a problem you probably did something else and the knife is just the cherry on top.
 
Thomas W , I wrote a new thread with a question on the AOs.....I do think most LEOs consider them to be switchblades, but if not many can be flicked open,,,,therefore a gravity knife.
 
There is a problem - people who don't understand what gravity is (versus inertia). Flicking is not gravity.

And, please, don't point out that a judge ,or DA, couldn't fathom the concept. If so, the chose not to. Nothin' new in that trait.
 
tom, you seem to be on a quest to pin point knives that are legal in NY. I'm not sure this is entirely possible. You have mentioned in many past posts that your interpretation is that only a few knives (not just AO's) are legal in NY. I'm not sure what to add to help clarify specifics for you.
As you very well know the law can be and is a very grey area, vocabulary is very important, and the interpretation of those words can on occasion vary wildly.

I don't know if this helps you or not, and I also don't know exactly what will satisfy whatever your objective is.
 
Redguy said:
Well, they do. If you take a slab of steel and cut a hole in it, you will weaken it. Period. You are right though, Spydercos are good folders and well designed ones, but their blade's overall strenghs would be significally higher without the thumbholes.


Red Guy,
I work in the engineering industry (I build custom CNC mills and other customized machines) and I know that steel can actually be strengthend by stratigicly places hollows. Lets look to nature: most insects have hollow bones (exoskeloton) which make them incredibly strong for their weight. Ants can lift over 50 times their weight. Another example is I-beams and other extruded beams that have amazing stress abilities. I know these are not dirrect examples, but my point is that just because their is a hole in something, does not mean that it is weakening it. Deterimining stress points in steel can turn into an incredibly dynamic process. It's just not as simple as see hole, see blade break.

I am not in anyway saying that a hole in a blade automaticly makes it stronger, it most likely does make some porely designed blades weaker, but I am saying that a well placed hole may not affect strength.
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Thomas, my only quest is to see where the knife companies stand on this point of law. Kershaw was the orginator of the AO as far as I know, and I had read an article ( which may or may not be accuarte) that your company actually contacted all 50 states to see that they agreed these knives were not switchblades. If this is true it would make me feel much better carrying one here or anywhere else. Walmart sells them here ( but their display clearly states that they are not for sale in all states, and I know in Illionios they were fined and ordered to stops selling them) as do other large retailers, but I know of two small cutlery shops that have been told to stop selling them by both the Nassau County and Suffolk County Police.
As I stated before, I have over 25 of your knives and I just want to get your company's opinon on this area. Thanks !!!
 
michaelmcgo said:
Redguy said:
Well, they do. If you take a slab of steel and cut a hole in it, you will weaken it. Period. You are right though, Spydercos are good folders and well designed ones, but their blade's overall strenghs would be significally higher without the thumbholes.


Red Guy,
I work in the engineering industry (I build custom CNC mills and other customized machines) and I know that steel can actually be strengthend by stratigicly places hollows. Lets look to nature: most insects have hollow bones (exoskeloton) which make them incredibly strong for their weight. Ants can lift over 50 times their weight. Another example is I-beams and other extruded beams that have amazing stress abilities. I know these are not dirrect examples, but my point is that just because their is a hole in something, does not mean that it is weakening it. Deterimining stress points in steel can turn into an incredibly dynamic process. It's just not as simple as see hole, see blade break.

I am not in anyway saying that a hole in a blade automaticly makes it stronger, it most likely does make some porely designed blades weaker, but I am saying that a well placed hole may not affect strength.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your explanation, it was very useful. :thumbup: Well, live and learn.
Click to expand...
 
michaelmcgo said:
I work in the engineering industry (I build custom CNC mills and other customized machines) and I know that steel can actually be strengthend by stratigicly places hollows.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but you're flat-out wrong. Maybe you build CNC machines, but I've got a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Go take a course or two in Statics and Materials, and you'll see.
 
afaik, every folding knife has a hole in it at the pivot, maybe they could stick a flipper on an otf, for whatever reason :p
 
I like playing with the Kit Carson flipper on the CRKT M16, and love the way Ken Onion combined it with his assisted opening invention.
While the spring makes the bigger knives (like the Bump) scarier for sheeples, the assisted flipping is also more accessible to them - I give Chives to pretty much everyone around me, and especially the ladies react way more positively than to a thumbstud or even the Spyderhole.
As for the blade-weakening, that's a consideration for certain military field knives where the blade also serves a tool e.g. for wrenching...
the Spyderco holes are generally an addition/extension to the blade rather than a cut-out of a regular-shaped blade. In any case, the weakening this undoubtedly involves compared to a blade of the same shape without a hole is minimal, failures due to it are unheard-of, making this an academic question.
 
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