Mini Grip Vs. Delica?

[enderwiggin]

How does the Delica not fit this criteria?

It's a lockback. Which can obviously be closed one-handed, it's just tricky until you get used to it.

...Still, there's that whole finger-frightening swing of the blade to the 1/2 stop point right before you reposition your fingers on the knife...

 

[knarfeng]

Mini grip.

Heres why, better ergos, better lock, much smoother operation, more options available and because being able to open and close a knife one handed matters to me.

This inability to close a lockback one-handed I have never figured out. I have been closing lockbacks one handed since I got my first lockback, a 110 in the late '60s.

All one need do is release the catch, then brush the back of the blade against your side or leg. And Voila, the blade closes and you have used one hand. How is this difficult? Am I missing something that you want to be doing that this technique does not satisfy?

 

[s.c.]

This inability to close a lockback one-handed I have never figured out. I have been closing lockbacks one handed since I got my first lockback, a 110 in the late '60s.

All one need do is release the catch, then brush the back of the blade against your side or leg. And Voila, the blade closes and you have used one hand. How is this difficult? Am I missing something that you want to be doing that this technique does not satisfy?

Yes, you are missing something. You can easily close many lockbacks, such as the delica, without involving you leg and much quicker than the method you described.

 

[knarfeng]

I'm trying to understand here. Is the object to close it lightning quick or is it to close it one-handed?

Is there a benefit in closing it quick? If so, what is it?

 

[THG]

All one need do is release the catch, then brush the back of the blade against your side or leg. And Voila, the blade closes and you have used one hand. How is this difficult? Am I missing something that you want to be doing that this technique does not satisfy?

I think his point is that you can't just flick it shut like you can an Axis knife.

Is there a benefit in closing it quick? If so, what is it?

Convenience, I suppose. I could carry my S&W Extreme Ops big folder, and I'd always need 2 hands to open it. Well, I could do it with 1 hand, but it would be a fight every time. Not very convenient. 1-handed liner closing or Axis-flicking seem to be the easiest.

My Delica is a lockback, and I have no problem closing it with 1 or 2 hands. Usually I hit the lockback, insert my pinky from my other hand, then bring the knife closed. If I need 1 hand, I hit the lockback, let the blade drop, then use the fingers on the same hand to finish the closing.

I see no problem either way, but I could see where it might bother some.

 

[coop1957]

Mini grip.

Heres why, better ergos, better lock, much smoother operation, more options available and because being able to open and close a knife one handed matters to me.

I take it from your screen name that you like Balisong knives. Maybe you even have 5 of them. So, you can handle a Balisong but cannot open a Delica one handed? This doesn't jive.

 

[myright]

Yes, you are missing something. You can easily close many lockbacks, such as the delica, without involving you leg and much quicker than the method you described.

You should enlighten us on how this is done instead of just saying it can be done. I don't know of any other way to close a lockback one handed other than having to touch the back of the blade with something other than my hand on the knife.

With my BM I can pull the Axis lock down and reach my index finger up and fold it shut - all with one hand.

 

[myright]

I'm trying to understand here. Is the object to close it lightning quick or is it to close it one-handed?

Is there a benefit in closing it quick? If so, what is it?

IMHO there is no "benefit" in closing it quick.

I feel that the BM is much easier to close one handed. I have both knives and feel that they both have their benefits.

I like being able to close the knife one handed in certain situations, but it's not necessary.

 

[Blop]

You should enlighten us on how this is done instead of just saying it can be done. I don't know of any other way to close a lockback one handed other than having to touch the back of the blade with something other than my hand on the knife.

With my BM I can pull the Axis lock down and reach my index finger up and fold it shut - all with one hand.

You push down the lockbar and shake the knife a little, so the blade drops downward. After a few cuts into the finger tips you might have learned how to manage this.

Well, i have had many cuts, maybe i am somehow late.

Spydercos sometimes or oftenly (i really don´t know exactly) feature a coil at the blade, that falls onto the fingers without hurting them.

So it is pretty easy to close lockbacks one handed and even though it is not nessecarry, it is a comfort thing to do so, besides it is cool .

 

[Greyeagle]

Back in the 70's while working as a deputy sheriff in a rural county I got a call of a vehicle stuck in a ditch. I went to the location and found the vehicle and saw blood stains on the trunk and ground near the rear of the vehicle. Soon there after a guy came up walking gingerly and holding his hand to the side and back of his upper right leg. Well let me make this shorter, he had used his Buck 110 to cut some limbs to put under his wheels to try and extricate his vehicle from the ditch, then did the old one hand shut the knife on the leg trick and ended up stabbing himself in the leg. I asked him to open the trunk so I could see that no body was stuffed in the trunk due to the blood stains. He tried to open and close the trunk real fast but I was able to see a glassine bag containing marijuana( a pound bag). I arrested him and sent him to the hospital for medical attention, called a wrecker for his vehicle. So sometimes the one hand lockback knife closing method doesn't work and can be very detrimental. I would still take the Delica though....

 

[s.c.]

You should enlighten us on how this is done instead of just saying it can be done. I don't know of any other way to close a lockback one handed other than having to touch the back of the blade with something other than my hand on the knife.

With my BM I can pull the Axis lock down and reach my index finger up and fold it shut - all with one hand.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LbmLhzeIwiI

No, this isn't me. Just found it right now.

 

[hozo]

I'm trying to understand here. Is the object to close it lightning quick or is it to close it one-handed?

Is there a benefit in closing it quick? If so, what is it?

Convenience, like others have said (nothing grand like killing speed or tactical or whatever). I sometimes use a knife on a ladder in awkward positions, and the ease and speed a knife closes helps me keep my balance.

 

[Lurker]

You should enlighten us on how this is done instead of just saying it can be done. I don't know of any other way to close a lockback one handed other than having to touch the back of the blade with something other than my hand on the knife.

With my BM I can pull the Axis lock down and reach my index finger up and fold it shut - all with one hand.

On the 110, the lock release is at the butt of the knife. On the Delica, the lock release is half way up the handle. That means that when you press it with your thumb, your hand is close enough to the blade to put your index finger in the Spydie hole and effect a safe and controlled closing of the blade to the one-third or half-way closed position. Then you must reposition your grip so that your other fingers are not in the blade path and complete the closing operation with your index finger on the blade spine.

This sounds more complicated than it is and can be done quite easily and quickly without moving the knife to your leg for something to press the blade spine against. I have always assumed that Spyderco favors the midway position for the lock release for this very reason (one-handed closing without using your leg). Note that with this method, the blade is never swinging freely toward your fingers. The video linked above shows this method once or maybe twice among countless other examples of the free-swinging blade method.

This mid-lock method is not quite as simple as closing an Axis which requires no change in grip. In fact, it is technically possible to do all of the following with an Axis and never change grip: open, make a light cut, and close. It is also possible to close an Axis without ever putting your fingers in the blade path, and that is almost impossible to do with a mid lock (for me at least). I'd give the edge to the Axis here, but the speed difference is not significant in actual use in my opinion (half second or so).

 

[knarfeng]

Convenience, like others have said (nothing grand like killing speed or tactical or whatever). I sometimes use a knife on a ladder in awkward positions, and the ease and speed a knife closes helps me keep my balance.

Well there's an answer that makes sense. That one I can understand.:thumbup:

Can't see any actual benefits to fast closing in the other answers.

Sorry, greyeagle, the idocies of a druggie, particularly after a highway accident, such that he cannot figure out which side of the knife is sharp, I do not see having a bearing on the issue.

Never-the-less, this all goes away if you voice the complaint as "I can't close the lockback as fast as I can close the axis lock." instead of as, "I can't close a lockback one-handed." I won't argue that point.

 

[Greyeagle]

Well I didn't say he was stoned, nor say he was in an accident. He was stuck, he cut himself by stabbing himself in the leg doing a one hand close on a lockback knife, You don't use the sharpened edge you use the back side of the blade. He just misjudged and stabbed himself. Just an example of how things can go wrong. I am sure he had closed his knife many times that way with no incident.
KC

 

[myright]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LbmLhzeIwiI

No, this isn't me. Just found it right now.

Damn - thanks for the video. I'm going to go grab my Delica now

 

[myright]

On the 110, the lock release is at the butt of the knife. On the Delica, the lock release is half way up the handle. That means that when you press it with your thumb, your hand is close enough to the blade to put your index finger in the Spydie hole and effect a safe and controlled closing of the blade to the one-third or half-way closed position. Then you must reposition your grip so that your other fingers are not in the blade path and complete the closing operation with your index finger on the blade spine.

This sounds more complicated than it is and can be done quite easily and quickly without moving the knife to your leg for something to press the blade spine against. I have always assumed that Spyderco favors the midway position for the lock release for this very reason (one-handed closing without using your leg). Note that with this method, the blade is never swinging freely toward your fingers. The video linked above shows this method once or maybe twice among countless other examples of the free-swinging blade method.

This mid-lock method is not quite as simple as closing an Axis which requires no change in grip. In fact, it is technically possible to do all of the following with an Axis and never change grip: open, make a light cut, and close. It is also possible to close an Axis without ever putting your fingers in the blade path, and that is almost impossible to do with a mid lock (for me at least). I'd give the edge to the Axis here, but the speed difference is not significant in actual use in my opinion (half second or so).

Great explanation, Lurker - thanks for the write up!

 

[Buhbuhbonky]

I asked him to open the trunk so I could see that no body was stuffed in the trunk due to the blood stains. He tried to open and close the trunk real fast but I was able to see a glassine bag containing marijuana( a pound bag).

He shouldn't have consented to the search. :thumbdn:

 

[enderwiggin]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LbmLhzeIwiI

No, this isn't me. Just found it right now.

Same method I use, although my closes aren't as, uh, polished yet.

Really, you can one-handed open and close just about any knife with a thumbhole or thumbstud. Even the cheapo Superknife knockoffs Home Depot sells. Almost all can be flicked open, too.

The Axis lock is still the only system I'll repeatedly and confidently close, quickly, and without looking, because I know my fingers are out of the way through the whole arc of the blade.

I'm not sure how much all of this relates to the thread, so let me try and sum up:

All this is relative to what you want in a folding knife. I'm still happily carrying my Spyderco, while my Axis Lock easy open-close knives wait it out in my backpack.

"All good, just different"

 

[3Guardsmen]

He shouldn't have consented to the search. :thumbdn:

A) Most criminals aren't smart.:thumbup:

B) The laws are always changing (this incident took place in the 70's, remember), and depending on the jurisdiction Greyeagle worked in, and due to the circumstances and exigency thereof, consent may not have been required.:thumbup:

C) Sidewalk attorneys are a dime a dozen.:thumbdn:

Not that any of this dialog belongs in this thread.

___________________________________

Back to the original topic of the thread. I prefer the Delica to the Mini-Grip, both of which I have. I can open the Delica way faster (it's waved) and can close it almost as fast.

Regards,
3G