One-hand opening a 110.

S

stevekt

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Dec 10, 2003
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I used to have a Bandit on my 110 but eventually I took it off because I thought it didn't look right. In the past I've grabbed the blade and swung the handle down to open it but I figured I would eventually drop the knife and probably stab my foot. I took out my 110 today and decided to see if I could open it one handed by using the nail nick as a "thumb stud". I figured out how to open it pretty consistently this way and got smoother and smoother openings as I practiced. But I thought to myself, this is kind of dangerous.

The last time I tried it I stood in front of a mirror and watched my refelction instead of looking directly at my hand. I noticed a small white flake fall to the ground as I opened it. I looked at my thumb and noticed a patch of skin had been shaved off. Luckily no blood or pain though, it wasn't deep enough but I had a nice clean smooth spot on my thumb.

Close call. No more 110 one-hand openings for me.

110 + Sharpmaker + moron = blood
 
To open mine, I hold it tip up, by the top of the blade. A quick down-up motion opens it nicely. A benefit is that if I do drop it(haven't yet) I think that it should hit the ground(or my foot) handle first.

Gordon
 
Thats how I have opened mine for years, Gordon. However it is an early to mid 70's model and I think the springs were a bit lighter then. I do remember oiling it up and working the blade a long time to get it relaxed enough to do that with.

I haven't tried it with a new one. Don't recall ever dropping it or getting cut, so far.
 
it may look pretty cool, but opening it by holding the blade and throwing the handle down isn't a very safe way of doing things. The 110 is a very handle-heavy knife and I've seen people try to be cool like that and end up getting stitches.

When I was in high school, a kid tried that and the blade slipped from between his fingers, and no it didn't land handle first on the ground. Why? Because the momentum of the knife opening isn't straight down... momentum takes it towards the heaviest point, which when opening the knife is the bottom; and in opening it this way, the bottom is traveling in an arc down and back. So what happened? Well, when the blade slipped from between his fingers, it flew back and down flipped end over end and gashed his shin.

A kid I work with has (I guess I should say had) a cheap 110 copy... plastic scales, etc. He tried opening it that way and the pivot pin broke and the handle went flying while the blade was still in his hand.

There's really no need for a knife like that to be a one hand opener, but if you really wanted to, I'm sure you could drill a hole and put in a thumbstud. But I think making it a one hand opener would take away some of that nice 110 THWACK sound when opening... I love that sound.
 
I've done a handle-drop opening on 110's since they first came out in the 1960's. I'm a careful guy so no major misshaps. I make sure that the pivot region is real clean. I avoid using oil on the knife since it can get on the blade where I am holding it. I lubricate the pivot using candle wax since that doesn't migrate. I take some tacky beeswax and put it on the side of the blade where I pinch it. I use the minimum wrist action that will open the blade. Sometimes I have used Gunslick in the pivot region and honed the action with lots of repeated openings and closings. I use acetone to get the Gunslick back out and replace it with candle wax.
 
I have always used my thumb to open my 110s and never had a problem. I do keep them well oiled and I do have large hands. my friend tried this a while back after seeing me do it and ended up putting a nice gash in his thumb. John
 
I chose to just get over the looks of the bandit since it was so handy to have it there. I haven't carried a 110 or 112 (or Bucklite) for a long time, but if I did it again, I'd use a bandit.

But it does ruin the classic lines and look!
 
You can epoxy on a bit of leather or rubber or just a lump of epoxy as an aid to opening. Depending on how you form it you might find you like that better than a Bandit. If you use leather it's naturally grippy and doesn't need to stick out much.

Degrease the heck out of the blade first or the epoxy won't stick reliably. Don't use fast-curing epoxy; it isn't as strong.
 
I used the wrist flick the handle down on mine back when I carried it on my uniform belt. I never dropped it, but I was probably lucky. I knew a guy who opened his by holding the blade and flipping the handle away from himself and then flipping it up and catching the handle. Yep, you guessed it, about 15 stitches.

One thing that helps is to put graphite in the joint and work it until it is real smooth. Just give it a good clean and oil after to get the graphite out and stop the polishing effect.

If you wear jeans, you can finger and thumb the blade out about an 1/8 of an inch, hook it on the seam of your pant leg and open it almost as fast that way. Be prepared for complaints on wash day!
 
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