Life before One-Handed openers

morrowj_98 said:
Only in Europe.
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Not any more.

Even now in Europe new anti-knife laws are in effect. In Germany, you now can't carry a knife that the blade locks, just like France and the U.K. The scandinavian countries like Danmark and the Neatherlands are also very strick on knife carry.
 
I hear ya... I grew up using slipjoints and fixed blades. Didn't get my first locking folder until I was probably 16 or 17. Never had a problem. Just use your tools the way they're meant to be used.
These days, I carry a slipjoint and a one-handed locking folder. They both have their legitimate uses.
 
Gadgetaholic said:
How does that affect something like a Leatherman Wave?
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Badly. Its not knife per say but its main officer's descreet to decide what to do if you have Leatherman which has locking blades, weather its breaking the law or not or if you have any good reason to carry it ( Like my Pulse or Blast ) Toughening laws is one reason I am moving slowly towards slipjoints and traditional patterns. Even I am IT support and I need blast almost daily basis.

I am thinkign if I replace Blast in future with Victorinox Cybertool. And I don't carry lockblades in urban or in work place. Just assortment of high quality slipjoints.
 
Dekz said:
Talk to me when you get up to change the channel on your TV.

Just because the old way worked fine doesn't mean that the new way isn't better. :rolleyes:
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Dekz wins this thread!

I'm one who loves slipjoints, and cannot deny the utility of one hand opening designs. Fortunately, there are some modern choices out there for us.

GIRLYmann said:
slip joint folders are likely to cause accidental injury simply because a user cannot rightly gauge when it would slip shut.
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This is pretty wrong. Slipjoints don't spontaneously shut on one's fingers. It takes very specific actions to make them close. If a user cannot judge when a slipjoint blade can be made to close, this is a user deficit. These aren't cases of accidental injury, so much as negligent injury.

If anything, locking blades are more likely to cause accidental injury, because sometimes locks fail, and when they do, it's often suddenly and unexpectedly. Nobody expects a lock to come undone until the user makes it so. After all, locks don't unlatch accidentally, amirite? ;)
 
thejamppa said:
I am thinkign if I replace Blast in future with Victorinox Cybertool. And I don't carry lockblades in urban or in work place. Just assortment of high quality slipjoints.
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I carry a Victorinox Cybertool every day - it is great! I also carry a Leatherman Wave every day - I have one in a holster on one hip and the other in a holster on the other hip. So far I haven't had any problems - the law isn't entirely clear on what I can or can't carry. I would hope that a police officer would be understanding if I explain that they aren't weapons, just tools - as a computer tech I regularly need various tools and the LM & SAK save me from having to carry a tool bag.

I also have a couple of folding knives - I am pretty sure that they are illegal to carry in this country. They aren't illegal to own and I can legally have them when camping - it is just in an urban environment they would be considered a potential weapon and it is harder to justify a real need to carry them. It is one of those situational things - what is legal in one situation could be viewed as carrying a concealed weapon in another situation.
 
Am I the only one that thinks one handed pocket knives led to less people carrying a knife on their belt and knives being hidden, and that this has allowed people to become "sensitive" to seeing a knife and freaking out. Think about it, if there were no one hand openers, sheath knives would be a lot more common and "in your face" from the moment you were born - hence no sheeple.
 
Chris_Norden said:
Am I the only one that thinks one handed pocket knives led to less people carrying a knife on their belt and knives being hidden, and that this has allowed people to become "sensitive" to seeing a knife and freaking out. Think about it, if there were no one hand openers, sheath knives would be a lot more common and "in your face" from the moment you were born - hence no sheeple.
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Sheath knives have not been acceptable urban wear for a very long time - at least not by gentlefolk. For many years it was expected that gentlemen carried some sort of folding pocket knife - pen, cigar, wharncliffe.... - and not all of these were slipjoints. Well prepared ladies had small scissors and maybe a sterling silver fruit knife in their purse and/or travelling kit (very few ladies dresses were equipped with pockets). When I started work in the 1970's, most of the blokes had a knife of some sort at work. Even the boss used to pull out a small slippie to peel his fruit at lunch time.

It is only in recent times that the sheeple have become brainwashed by hollywood into equating all knives with violence rather than being the useful tools they are
 
I had a bunch of switchblades, butterfly knives and gravity knives long before the current types were out. ;)

But I used to open my Buck 110 one handed.
 
I am not putting down one handed openers by any means. It just seems that there is lack of knife education for the general public (members of this Forum excluded) . Of course the anti knife PC crowd may have something to do with it. The old "Knives are evil" line

It is amazing how many people do not carry any kind of knife. It is sad and kind of funny to watch someone attempt to open clamshell package with nail clippers or their teeth.
 
will62 said:
I am not putting down one handed openers by any means. It just seems that there is lack of knife education for the general public (members of this Forum excluded) . Of course the anti knife PC crowd may have something to do with it. The old "Knives are evil" line

It is amazing how many people do not carry any kind of knife. It is sad and kind of funny to watch someone attempt to open clamshell package with nail clippers or their teeth.
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Most of them use scissors. ;)
 
I find slippies much more trustworthy and long aged than any locking folders.
And I find them somehow "my thing".
 
My 1st knife was a Case Whittler & my 2nd a Victorinox Spartan. I believe learning on slipjoints helps teach you the limitations of folding knives. Once you get use to using a slipjoint for your daily tasks you are less likely to do something foolish depending on the lock to make up for your mistake.

My oldest just got his Whittling Chip in Cub Scouts & his 1st knife is a Victorinox Hiker, I plan to repeat this with my youngest in a little over a year. Once they show they can properly handle a slipjoint, then I will let them get a locking folder. Before there next folder though I will get them an inexpensive fixed blade.

As someone who can only use 1 arm/hand now, one-hand opening knives are easier for me to open. Still I usually carry a SAK of some sort in my off-hand (HaHa Off-hand) pocket. Opening them is clumsily done using my teeth & the lanyard. I also bought a Spyderco Urban Slip-it so I now have an easy opening slipjoint too.
 
Halfneck said:
I also bought a Spyderco Urban Slip-it so I now have an easy opening slipjoint too.
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The urban is a nice knife, but what is the advantage of the non locking urban over say, the g10 dragonfly which are essentially the same knife with the difference being the lock? I really am curious why one would choose the slip joint over the locker.
 
I appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship of an old fashioned slippie, I own more than a few, but I hardly ever carry one anymore do to the many advantages of a modern folder.

I would compaire it to old vs new cars: I think classic muscle cars are beautiful and fun, I love 'em, and they get you from point A to point B in style. But from a performance and reliability standpoint there's no comparison to a modern sports car.

Same with old vs modern firearms. People used to get by just fine with their old cap and ball long guns, but in a life and death situation I'll take a modern gun any day.

It's a kind of choice between a style you like and are comfortable with, or performance you can count on. -Personally 90% of the time, when I need my knife I have only one hand free to get it, use it, and put it away with. Not to mention all the many other plusses of the modern folder. :)
 
sizzler said:
The urban is a nice knife, but what is the advantage of the non locking urban over say, the g10 dragonfly which are essentially the same knife with the difference being the lock? I really am curious why one would choose the slip joint over the locker.
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It's easier to close? Predictable performance?

That is a surprisingly important consideration to me, which is one reason I've been carrying a Byrd Wings slipit most of the time since they came out. It's size and serrated blade were also big attractions.
 
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