How fast can you open a folder?

J

JayBird

Joined
Apr 28, 2000
Messages
132
I saw there had been over 100 views of a thread called "how fast are you" and I've always been interested in people's dexterity. I've also heard great stories about Sal Glesser being "fast".

How quickly can you go from hands on hips to deployed blade in sabre grip? I just tried it with my 940 and I'm about 2 seconds.
 
With a Waved Emerson (Commander)... about 1.5
And that was from the bottom of my pocket, not clipped to the top... clipped to the top is significantly faster.
Last year I timed myself from arms at sides, to knife open at somewhere on the back-side of a second... altho average in a hurry, would be about 1 even I figure.

Now.... combine that with good foot-work, and some knowledge of WTF you're s'pose to do to save yer butt... and you'll be in good shape... (better'n me...lol)

Waved Emerson is the only way to go...
I've seen plenty of knives that I could open fast... but for my main knife, I dont plan on ever being without something with a Wave...

"Speed is life. Stillness is death." Who said it? (This is simple I know... :rolleyes: I'm un-imaginative.)
 
I had never timed myself before so I just did it. I practiced a couple times and then did three timed runs. I was using an Axis AFCK. My method of opening was pull it out and wrist flick it open. My first time was .67 seconds. My second time was .65 seconds, and my third was .64 seconds. This is faster than I thought I was. This was going from hand on hip to knife clicking locked. I don't think of myself as that fast so I am sure many people should be faster than this.
 
BTW, my Mini-Com is on its way back to me and I imagine I would be slightly faster with that. I will let you all know after that big brown truck arrives from EKI.
 
Trust me this is an innocent sincere question...... that is all.

How did you time yourself?
 
If I keep it open in my pocket, less than a second.
But I go through a lot of band-aids that way and poke way too many holes in my pocket, so closed and clipped, my BM Ares about .7 secs. strong side, and with an older style BM AFCK weak side about 1 sec.:)
 
Well the first time, I used my Microwave... set it for five seconds... hit start, stepped back, the instant it hit 3, I went for my folder, kept watching timer.

And then before I posted, I had someone else in the house time me with a stop watch.
same basic time 1.5 secs for Arms at sides, long t-shirt down over my pocket opening to be cleared, knife pulled from the bottom of deep cargo pants pockets, to open.

Prolly faster if it was clipped to the pocket tho.

When I still had a CRKT Ryan 7 I removed the thumb stud (dont got the knife, but I've still go the thumb stud on my desk infront of me... weird no?) to reveal the spyder-like-hole beneath.... I could pull it out with hole pinched between thumb and fore-finger, and flick my wrist, to drop the handle into my hand, then close my grasp on it, in about the same amount of time I would think... altho I never timed myself.
(I still like the Wave better... its more natural muscle movement, nothing complex, nothing the requires that added bit of control and dexterity that just isnt going to be there when you really need it.)
 
A knife "Quick Draw" contest ?? Hmmmmm....Kinda neat
idea really. Now to "Quick Draw" and not get cut.....

Now there's a real challenge........

Not for me, I'm to slow anymore.
 
I just tried it and was able to draw, open, close, and clip it back in my pocket before the person timing it even saw me move.

I win.

:D
 
Dual draw...

Delica, FRN/PE, Left
Calypso jr lt, PE, right

out and ready: 2 seconds
out, ready, closed, back: 5 seconds

I start with feet apart, hands on the wall about shoulder width apart... then have the watch started same time I start moving... so allow for the 00.16second delay, both start and stop. stoped after the click on open, after hands out on back.
 
About 0.8 secs from clipped to the pocket to open and ready at eye level arm extended.
 
I've not timed myself, but I made a modification on my Delica that allowed me to open it under the same principles as the Emerson waved Commanders. Actually I think it works a little better than the wave. I'd estimate less than a second from placing my hand on the knife to having it open and ready. My downfall is the step before that, when you have to move your hand from wherever it is to the knife on/in your pocket. I'm not very smooth or fast on that front.
 
Starting from a realistic position, in which the hand doesn´t touch the knife, it takes me about 1.8 seconds for a liner-lock knife, 2.7 for an SAK from my pocket. Drawing a secured Buck Nighthawk takes about 1.5 seconds. A katana is faster than all of them... (OT,I know, but I had to say it.)
 
I can have my M18 out from clipped to pocket and snapped locked in .42 seconds(had GF time it 3 times and averaged it) This is mainly due to the carson flipper, i dont understand how you guys can have a folder without a flipper :) Plus it makes a sweet handguard, impossible to have fingers slip onto blade when stabbing.
 
3 timed runs with my Military resulted in a best time of 1.03 seconds and a slowest of 1.5 when my hand got fouled up by my tee shirt.All the runs began with my hand at my side with a friend giving me the ready,set,go and stopping the stop watch at the click of the blade locking open.
 
My Fastest is Mini Commander. I can go from hand resting on hip to knife ready in hand in about .75 seconds using a wave opening. The next fastest is the Calyspso Jr, with a time of 1.1 seconds. I grab the hole and yank up and back, no need to flick it as it seems to drop itself open. Then comes the Mini-AFCK, at a time of 1.5 seconds. I use a two-finger draw then let the handle fall into my hand and I flick it open using the thumb-hole.

The opening I trust most is my AFCK. The Emerson wave fails to open all of the way about 1% of the time, and the Calypso Jr. opening works only about 70% of the time.
 
Often times when I'm bored Ill practice the quick draw. From a position with my hand about a foot from my side, I can grab the thumb hole and flick it open in about a third of a second.
 
Gerber Applegate/Fairbaine combat folder, 2.5 seconds, out the sheath and open. Of course its not a factory sheath, I had a co-worker who does leather make me a horizontal quick draw sheath for it;)
 
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