Kershaw ENER-G a 'switchblade'?

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peanuts

Joined
Dec 9, 2007
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547
Hi all,
This is something I have been wondering for a while so I figured I'd see what you guys and gals think. For those that aren't familiar with the ener-g it is very much like any other non assisted flipper knife, but the flipper mechanism works slightly differently. The actual part you press on isn't connected to the blade, it pushes on the blade to open it then hides away in the handle whilst the blade is open. So since what you actually press is not connected to the blade, but part of the handle wouldn't this make it a 'switchblade'? (hate that word). Let me know what you think, thanks.
 
Uuh... I don't think so. You don't trigger a spring mechanism, but you rather push the blade out. That's nothing like a switchblade.
 
Well I'm talking about laws, whether it could be argued that it is technically a switchblade.
 
"Knives that open via centrifugal force and/or pressure applied to a button, spring or other device and made of any material"

I'm fairly sure thats the Australian customs definition, I think americans have a similar definition but I don't know about your country.
 
Hm...that's a tough one IMO.

Well the Ener-G is a knife that "opens via [...] pressure to [...] an other device [...]. I think that if someone wanted to, he could classify it as a switchblade.

I think most U.S. definitions include the term "automatically", which makes them a lot less ambiguous.

Just my own opinion.
 
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The statutes are irrelevant. If you want to know whether this class of knife would be considered a switch blade in your regional law, you'll probably have to consult case law and see how past courts "defined" it.

Switchblade laws in the majority of US states are nonsense. The text is considered irrelevant and the actual ruling comes down to whether or not the Court likes or doesn't like that particular knife. If they don't, they just declare that it was a switchblade all along and you lose.

Just compare the statutory text of State X with court decisions over various different types of knives and you'll see that there's essentially no connection at all. This is, of course, exempting actual switchblades.

Perhaps Australian knife laws aren't ex post facto or otherwise idiotic, but I'm afraid I'm not educated enough to say.
 
peanuts said:
Well I'm talking about laws, whether it could be argued that it is technically a switchblade.
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if you push a "button and the blades pops out"its a switch blade" if you have to touch the blade. even if it a small portion. i. e flipper its NOT a switch blade . would i fight this in front of a judge .HELL YEA.

joey
 
Artfully Martial said:
Switchblade laws in the majority of US states are nonsense. The text is considered irrelevant and the actual ruling comes down to whether or not the Court likes or doesn't like that particular knife. If they don't, they just declare that it was a switchblade all along and you lose.
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Absolutely right. The U.S. switchblade laws were made several decades ago, when the automatic opening of a switchblade knife was actually advantageous. Modern folders are almost always just as fast to deploy, if not faster, than modern switchblades. The laws are very outdated, unfortunately, they're not likely to change any time in the near future because no representative or voter is going to vote to make such an infamous "weapon" more accessible.

@OP: Although assisted opening knives are not switchblades, MOST people think they are. I can't count the number of times I've asked someone what knife they have on them and then they pulled out an assisted opening knife and told me that it was actually an illegal knife. Most people don't understand that the operating mechanism is different. I've even had several cops who didn't understand the difference, which is really disappointing.
 
seniormcblade said:
if you push a "button and the blades pops out"its a switch blade" if you have to touch the blade. even if it a small portion. i. e flipper its NOT a switch blade . would i fight this in front of a judge .HELL YEA.

joey
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Ah but see the flipper isnt part of the blade on this knife, which is what got me wondering. By the sounds of it, it would be more to do with how the court has handles these cases in the past if you were to get pulled up on it anyway.
 
If you live in Australia, forget about it as everyhting is being checked at the moment and if it even has a thumb stud it will be declared a flick knife and will be seized. You will be lucky to get any type of folder past customs right now.
 
Nah I already own one, and I wouldn't say it's quite that bad, my M4 millie got in without a problem. Never had a problem actually, maybe I'm just super lucky
 
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