I hold the handle flat in my right palm with my fingers on the thin sides of the handle, and then use the flat of my palm to push on the spine of the knife halfway, then when all that risky business is over i just slowly let it into the knife handle. They are nice knives but i hate how some of them the blade is WAY off center. I like mine.
I do it exactly like you, and this works indeed fine.
The blade being off-center quite often is due to the drop-forging process that Forge De Laguiole and others use.
Although mine is quite straight, many of these blades are left a little warped from that procedure.
More or less a hit or miss principle i think, and it doesn't seem to hamper it's functionality.
I would like Forge de Laguiole, which i consider the best of the Laguioles, to incorporate a lock as well as a kick in their knives.
That would make them even better.
Spyderco used to have the Ramco-Laguiole folder in it's line-up some time ago, that was imo without a doubt the best version of the classic Laguiole model.
I also found out that, although i have a large version, they are quite good to use in restaurants where steaknives are often unworthy of that name.
Possibly because of the sleek, traditional appearance they are not seen as weapons by restaurant guests and owners.
Tip: always cut your meat in a slanted way on porcelain plates, as this will preserve the edge much longer.
