Help me find a spring assist, please.

I am leaning more and more toward the Leek in composite or damascus.
 
Just an FYI
Technically Kershaw & ZT don't use traditional coil springs in their Speedsafe assisted openers. It is a torsion bar. Which acts more like a leaf spring. Benchmade uses a coil in their assisted openers. In my experience it is a bit more dependable and opens with more authority. Of course YMMV.
I only mention this because the OP keeps referring to springs, and I wanted to make sure he knew the difference.
 
NorthernSouthpaw said:
Just an FYI
Technically Kershaw & ZT don't use traditional coil springs in their Speedsafe assisted openers. It is a torsion bar. Which acts more like a leaf spring. Benchmade uses a coil in their assisted openers. In my experience it is a bit more dependable and opens with more authority. Of course YMMV.
I only mention this because the OP keeps referring to springs, and I wanted to make sure he knew the difference.
Click to expand...

I was not aware of the difference. Thanks for the information! And as long as the blade snaps open nice and hard, I am happy with whatever assisted mech is in play. As I said, if I were not in WA, I would have bought an auto a long time ago.
 
+1 on the Blur. Of all my assisted-openers, I like the feel of the action on this one best.

The strongest assisted opener I've handled is probably the Barrage, as the spring stays engaged through the entire opening motion. The torsion bars on the SpeedSafe models really only directly propels the blade about 90-135 degrees, and the momentum is what carries it the rest of the way. If you have something that blocks the opening of the blade, with SpeedSafe, you'll have to manually open the blade the rest of the way. In practice, I've not found it to be a problem, but then again, when opening the blade, I usually allow clearance for the blade to swing open.

A slight benefit to the torsion bar not engaging all the way is that it makes the knife easier to close and, at least for me, less prone to accidental slips and cuts when closing. I think I've accidentally cut myself on my Mini-Barrage (which I eventually just de-assisted) more than just about all my other knives combined.
 
If you do end up picking up a Leek, I'd recommend the composite blade over the Damascus. One of the main criticisms people raise about the Leek is the extremely thin tip. While that makes it great for very fine work like digging out splinters, it's fairly prone to damage. The composite blade Leeks (as well as the older S30V versions, and the new Elmax Leek) are flat-ground instead of hollow-ground, which means the a bit more material is present at the tip. The grind lines of the flat grind also look nicer, in my opinion.

Also, a big advantage of the speedsafe system is that it's very easy to replace a broken spring, and Kershaw/ZT will send you extras for free if you ask.
 
I think I will be getting the leek with a Damascus blade. If I do, I will happily get rid of said lock. I don't like locks on my assisted blades.
 
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