How Many Ways Do You Open a Slipjoint?

I'm right-handed. I hold the knife in the fingertips of my left hand and use my right thumbnail to open it. If it's a pen-behind like a Peanut or a Stockman i just face the knife whichever way it needs to be according to the above method with right thumb.
 
I'm right-handed. I hold the knife in my right hand and use my left thumbnail to open it,as for closing-silent spring lasts longer ;)
 
I had not thought about it until this thread....I had to try it to find out. Now I need to go get a Band-Aid. Caution, don't overthink it too much. By the way, left hand, blades up, pull with right thumbnail.
 
J Buck said:
I had not thought about it until this thread....I had to try it to find out. Now I need to go get a Band-Aid. Caution, don't overthink it too much. By the way, left hand, blades up, pull with right thumbnail.
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LOL :D
So true, J Buck! Opening a knife is much safer if you do it "unencumbered by the thought process" (as the "Car Talk" guys used to say).

- GT
 
Case copper locks ,northwoods freemont jack,parker Edwards one blade trappers,I use one handed some old imperial and hammer brand toothpicks if the springs are not to strong.
 
I know it's an old thread, but it was brought up in the Totin' Thread.
Rather than muck-up that thread i thought I'd resurrect this one from the graveyard.
I'm right handed, hold my knife in the left hand, and open with the right thumbnail.
I believe this gives me the best leverage and allows me to open knives with strong pulls more easily.
 
JohnDF said:
I know it's an old thread, but it was brought up in the Totin' Thread.
Rather than muck-up that thread i thought I'd resurrect this one from the graveyard.
I'm right handed, hold my knife in the left hand, and open with the right thumbnail.
I believe this gives me the best leverage and allows me to open knives with strong pulls more easily.
Click to expand...

I do the same. To add some more detail (in case anyone cares), on whittlers and other multi-bladed knives, I start with the largest blade and work my way out (usually the main blade or the one that sticks up the most). This helps avoid blade rub.

On knives that have pile side nicks, especially on trappers, I will hold the knife in my left hand as I normally would, but use my middle finger to pull the back blade open. Hope that makes sense. So right thumb for show side nicks and middle finger for pile side nicks. Very scientific, I know.
 
Knife in right hand. Open with left index and thumb. Years ago I was addicted to Copenhagen snuff. I always used my left thumbnail to open the paper seal to the can lid. I eventually got a thickened nail area there and a callous. Thank the powers that be... I was able to get away from that incredibly destructive and evil habit (and I feel for the people who still use tobacco in any form), and I used the $thousands to buy knives. Good trade.
 
I guess I'm ambidextrous when it comes to opening knives. I switch back and forth without really thinking about it.
 
Knife in the left hand's fingers and pull open with right thumb nail. Sort of like how some would open a pack of potato chips if that is a viable mental image.
 
Mostly open with my left hand and hold in right and open away from my wrist. To be honest about it, I never really thought about it and had to grab a knife just to see how I would habitually open it.
 
Just thinking out loud...
I wonder how many right hand people that hold a knife in the right hand to open it come from the modern world?
I've just always been taught, from scouts and beyond, that you pull the blade with your dominant hand for safety.
Not saying it's WRONG to do it the other way, so don't dog me. I was just curious. ;):):cool:
 
If the blade is too strong to open with my left hand, I pretty much dump the knife in the pile and not use it.
 
JohnDF said:
Just thinking out loud...
I wonder how many right hand people that hold a knife in the right hand to open it come from the modern world?
I've just always been taught, from scouts and beyond, that you pull the blade with your dominant hand for safety.
Not saying it's WRONG to do it the other way, so don't dog me. I was just curious. ;):):cool:
Click to expand...
I'm not from the "modern world" and have never owned a modern knife. I have also never had anyone teach me how to open a pocket knife: it's instinctive.
 
JohnDF said:
Just thinking out loud...
I wonder how many right hand people that hold a knife in the right hand to open it come from the modern world?
I've just always been taught, from scouts and beyond, that you pull the blade with your dominant hand for safety.
Not saying it's WRONG to do it the other way, so don't dog me. I was just curious. ;):):cool:
Click to expand...
Not dogging, John! Six plus decades and I've always held my knife in my right hand, which is dominant, and opened with my left. I don't recall ever being instructed on how to do it, maybe by my dad. I'm curious about the scout reference, I don't recall it, but I don't recall a lot of things! :D I did the cub, boy, and explorer scout thing too.
My experiences with one handers started in the late 80s.
I tend to keep my nails clipped pretty short, but leave my left thumbnail a little longer.
 
JohnDF said:
Just thinking out loud...
I wonder how many right hand people that hold a knife in the right hand to open it come from the modern world?
I've just always been taught, from scouts and beyond, that you pull the blade with your dominant hand for safety.
Not saying it's WRONG to do it the other way, so don't dog me. I was just curious. ;):):cool:
Click to expand...

I was born in the '50s. Is that modern? I normally start with the knife in my right(dominant) hand, tip down, put my left thumbnail in the nick and rotate both hands down and away from each other. I end up with the knife ready to use in my dominant hand. I find it more secure than having to juggle the knife from hand to hand and I'm used to holding things in my left hand while I work on them with my right, so it feels natural. If I have to open my knife one-handed I'm usually holding something with my left hand and can sometimes spare a thumbnail. When I can't, I open my knife one handed either by pinching the blade or by putting my right thumbnail in the nick and then putting the butt end of the handle on my leg and pulling the knife forward as I rotate my right hand outward. After it opens all the way, I roll my palm up to end with the knife, edge up, in my cupped hand while I'm pinching the blade. I then push the butt into my leg to slide the knife forward in my hand and I'm ready to go. It's surprisingly secure. And yes, I have damaged my pants with the tip. I'm hard on clothing anyway, so my wife is used to that. The main the reason that I don't like bear-trap actions and half stops on my knives is because it makes it so hard to open them safely with one hand.
 
Thanks for the responses.
Seems holding the knife in the right hand is much more common than I thought.
I tried opening my knives with the left thumb and it was almost as easy for me.
But it still feels more instinctive to let the dominant hand do all the heavy lifting and manipulation.
 
JohnDF said:
Just thinking out loud...
I wonder how many right hand people that hold a knife in the right hand to open it come from the modern world?
I've just always been taught, from scouts and beyond, that you pull the blade with your dominant hand for safety.
Not saying it's WRONG to do it the other way, so don't dog me. I was just curious. ;):):cool:
Click to expand...
John, I'm a righty who holds a pocket knife in right hand to open it. But I have virtually no experience with modern folders, so that doesn't influence my technique.

I have a different conjecture that might "explain" the method for at least some folks, including me. I hold the knife in my right hand and put my left thumb nail in the nick, but I basically hold the blade motionless and move my right hand to rotate the handle away from the blade (rather than moving my left hand to rotate the blade away from a stationary handle). So the bulk of the work is still being done by my dominant/right hand. I wonder how many righties who hold knife in right hand actually pull handle away from blade like I do.

- GT
 
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