Flipping knives?

E

eggzoh

Joined
Apr 25, 2001
Messages
7
Is flipping a knife open over and over bad for it? It is really fun to do, but I want to know if I'm doing them much damage.

thanks =]
 
IMHO , no - i hope not as I do mine like that all the time w/no damage yet, other than a few cuts to me LOL - but many manufacturers recommend against it, and ya can over do anything, ie flipping it open 476 times a day for 5 yrs, or some crazy obssesive/compulsive crap like that,,,,,,,

vet
 
Depends on the knife. Higher-quality ones should have no problem. Lower-quality ones may. Look at stop-pin construction, especially - solid stop pins can take more abuse than hollow stop pins.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
Yeah, I have seen stop pins develop flat spots on them because of constant flicking. But other than that, I can't think of any real damage. I am an flicker myself, especially with my axis locks.
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Too hard to resist,
Matt
 
In my opinion this question is like asking will opening and slamming my car door over and over again for no reason hurt it. At the very least it will wear out more quickly then if I use it as it was intended to be used.

Nothing personal. I just believe it caring for anything I own as well as I can. Wear and tear is normal but I try not to accelerate the process.

You decide.
 
Yes, slamming out a lower quality lockback will break the lock eventually over a period of time.

Now, most of the decent folders with a stud/hole can be popped out with a flick of the finger anyway.


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S4Supply.com
 
Those kind of knives are called balisongs (continuing what Mr. Ralph started
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)!!
And balisongs are freakin' awesome!!! Heck, just look at my username!

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Cameron

"And shepards we shall be, for thee my Lord for thee, power hath descended forth from thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out thy command, so we shall flow a river forth to thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be, En Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti"
A few of my balisongs
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Flipping is absolutely bad for any knife. Even the integral lock Sebenza is damaged by it.

I had a woman (I was at her house for dinner) flat the stop pin on my Kit Carson #18 folder with CPM 420V steel blade in one half hour. Kit does NOT use soft stop pins.

The woman's BM 612 and BM 625 (Leopard Cub and Leopard) knives had been completely destroyed by flipping, and she had to return them to BM for repair.

Don't flip, or if you must, get a $4.99 POS from the Shopping Channel and reserve the knife for that purpose.

Walt
 
I love to flip mine....I dont have an answer to your question..I beleve it is personal choice...I would not flip some one elses knife..That would be in poor taste.
 
CRK makes what many consider to be a very high end production folding knife. It was very interesting to talk to Chris Reeve about "flicking" a Sebenza open....

You might want to contact the maker of the knife you plan to flick and see whether he considers it "use" or "abuse"...

Michael

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He who has smelt the smoke is never free again...
 
I am surprised to see people advising against it.....I would think that would be taken into consideration by the makers.. you have to build a knife for the most severe customer.
 
Walt: the pin flattens a little, but work-hardens. It doesn't flatten any more after that. This is a break-in type of process.

Let's put it this way: 99.9% of the time, I onel my Axis lock knives by flicking them. The only time I don't flick it open is when there is a uppity person nearby who I think will jump or run off and call the police if I do. After over a year of this, they have still shown no damage.

Actions speak louder than words, in my opinion.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
e_utopia; what you say may be true for some knives, but not the Carson. It had blade play after the stop pin was flattened, and I had to (sheepishly) return it to Kit for repair. After two years of subsequent use, but no flipping, there is a tiny amount of flattening of the stop pin, but no blade play.

I still maintain flipping is abusive. Yes, they should make knives for hard use, but remember, you can make anything fool proof, but NOTHING damn-fool proof.

Walt
 
I want to clarify a point. What I was trying to convey is that if I had a choice between two identical knives by the same maker and the only difference was that one was flipped open two thousand times and the other was opened two hundred times without being flipped open, I know which one I would choose. For me this question wasn't about which knives are better for flipping.
 
Eggzoh,
Welcome to the forums. The issue you have brought up has been discussed here with a pretty wide variety of opinions. If you use the search function, you will find a wealth of info on the subject. Personally, I feel constant flipping is bad for a pivot mechanism. A little is okay. I have an old beat-up Benchmade that I reserve for flicking practice. It is pretty well trashed, so I don't worry about further damage. I will only flip nicer knives open in case of emergency.
David
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by e_utopia:
Depends on the knife. Higher-quality ones should have no problem.
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Click to expand...

I would also say a lot depends on the flipping technique. With enough skill you can flip it so that it just opens, which should do minimal damage. Slamming the knife open full force would of course kill it in short order. Also, think about the Kershaw/Ken Onion speed safe knives. They use a normal liner lock and a spring assist that "flips" them open, and after being cycled a few thousand times my Kershaw Ricochet hasn't worn. So if you can flip about as hard as the Speed assist on these knives all should be fine.

From Walt Welch:
you can make anything fool proof, but NOTHING damn-fool proof

Also, you can make stuff fool proof, but you can't make it idiot proof.
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Ditto on what Andrew, Walt, and aerius said. I'm w/ them 120%................
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Also some 'fools/idiots' can/will tear up anything in short order.

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teacher
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I agree with davidb415, the occasional flick shouldn't hurt. But constant flicking HAS to reduce the life of the knife. Maybe it reduces the life from 100 years to only 50 years, but physics can't be denied.
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That being said...those Axis locks just beg for it!

Steve-O
 
I know this question has been raised before, but what about on autos? Are they just built that much better to accept the impulse of the blade flying open? Why not build all knives that way (or is it just too much work)?

As a note, my Kershaw Random Task is developing both horizontal and vertical bladeplay. I still love it though
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~Mitch

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