Ken Onion Boa??

Y

yozuri82

Joined
Feb 13, 2002
Messages
95
Hi, I was at a gun and knife show today and i saw what i thought was a Ken Onion Boa. The thing about it that caught my eye was this little lever that one could pull down with their thumb on top of the knife to make it open. Does anyone know what i am talking about? Was this a Ken Onion Boa? Are there any other knives out there with this sorta opening design? Thank You All.
Yozuri.
 
Some CRKT knives (M-16/18s for example) have what's known as a "Carson Flipper".

On the Boa that gets the blade started and "Speedsafe" takes over.

On CRKT knives a little flick of the wrist along with the flipper and they open DAMN fast.

Those are the only ones I know of. I own an M16-03Z and I got that model for the flipper and for the clip that lets it ride low in the pocket.

As a bonus CRKT knives don't cost a lot either!

See my sig!
 
Hard to tell from your description, but the Boa does have what's usually referred to as an "index trigger" that's used to initiate the SpeedSafe and open the knife. As Joe mentioned, the CRKT M16 and M18 both have the "Carson Flipper" which helps to open the knife with a flick of the wrist (no SpeedSafe involved). The Kershaw Chive, Scallion, and new Leek also have the index trigger and SpeedSafe. There are also some custom makers that use this type of "device" such as on the Phil Boguszewski Cobra.

Here's a couple of pics of the Boa (you'll notice that in the open position the index trigger acts as a finger guard):
a1580.jpg

a1580mc.jpg
 
The Maxx 5.5 also opens via the guard being used as a flipper. The thumb studs of the Maxx are really only made to stop the blade from opening too far. A slight flick of the wrist combined with a flick of the flipper and this big blade comes out fast and smooth.
 
The Boa is an "upper-end" Kershaw--very nice in fit and finish and materials. The somewhat radical recurve might be a bit extreme for some, but the knife is a good EDC, IMO. The Speed Safe is fun, also.
 
the boa is an excellent knife, currently it is the top of the line kershaw, fit and finish is excellent, the materials is also top notch, the speed safe is nifty, the recurve is great and not all that hard to sharpen, my only gripe is that it's hard to carry with the clip, the index trigger just doesn't allow for very good cary in a tip down position, if it was tip up it would be better but then the index trigger but scratch you when you reach into your pocket for something, also the kershaw chive and scallion have the index trigger too
 
speed safe is a mechanism developed by ken onion which is kinda of like a automatic. it uses a torsion bar to spring the blade open, it's kinda like a leaf spring i guess but it's not a try automatic, just think of it like it's an almost automatic
 
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