Opening a Folder can be Difficult.

C

coote

Joined
Apr 3, 2006
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I have always had folding knives. Besides being useful, I guess I like them like a woman likes jewellery.

Two or three years ago, I got my first 'one-hand-opening' folder. These are fantastic compared to the old versions with just a nail groove in the blade.

Sometimes when you want a blade, you want it immediately.... and you might only have one hand free for the job. Or your hands may be numb with cold, wet and slimy.... or the thumbnail you'd instinctively use for the job may have broken off.

You might have the best quality steel and the sharpest blade in your folder, but while it is still folded you can't do much with it.

I modified my Leatherman so I can get at the blade more easily (I ground a 'dip' in the side of the body so I could grasp the blade to open it. I also took a Dremel grinder to my Swiss Army 'Rucksack' so that it has a deep groove on the opposite side to the nail groove. I can pinch the end of the blade now and open it without having to insert my nail in the groove. The 'Rucksack' is the knife with the red handle pictured below.

At the top left hand corner of the picture is an old Solingen knife I inherited from my uncle. Great steel, but heck it is hard to open.

The folders with holes through the blade are inexpensive 'Maxam' knives. I bought a bunch of these a while back. To the right is a jar of knives I bought for something like $42... and I think it contained over 100 little lockbacks. Sure, they are small, and they have a serrated blade...but you can leave them everywhere and give them away...and they still do a job better than no knife. They open easily in one hand...and I've ground the serrations off one or two of them. The bigger version shown, with the plain blade, has done a lot of work for me...and the asking price was less than $1. It opens easily, and the blade shape has proven to be rather good for a few of the things I do, including skinning small animals where the blade has to be run under the pelt down the legs.

The CRKT Mo'skeeter has a 2.5" blade and has a lovely one-hand opening action. At first glance the knife seems a bit light for what I do, so I've been gentle with it... but it has performed well.

The lockback with the orange flagging tape attached is my latest bit of jewellery.... a Cold Steel medium Voyager. I really like it, and it opens very easily with one hand.

Also shown are a couple of small fixed blades that I made. These are probably more useful than any of the folding blades...particularly the white-handled one, but they aren't as 'sexy'.

I guess what I'm saying is, while there are some beautiful folders around which are wonderful to work with.... but if you can't open them easily, you are probably better off with a one-hand-opener or a small fixed blade.

Anybody else got any solutions to this problem? Best wishes to all.... Coote.
folders.jpg
 
I prefer autos where they're legal. The only problem is the chances of finding a non "tactical" blade style-- slim and none.
 
a non "tactical" blade style
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Hubertus has autos with spearpoint blades like a SAK.
The MicroTech LUDT has a straight-backed blade almost like a puukko or Mora.
 
you can disassemble an Opinel and sand back the wood that makes the friction on the blade , reassemble and you have a knife that ca n be flicked open and locked with one hand
Mine got that free with age tho .. but it swells in humid climates tho again ...

I have heard it is possible to file / grind the lumps off the back of a okapi 907e blade and again have a knife that simply swings open when you flick it , and locks open , this I have not done , yet , but it makes sense to me that it would work .

I have a brother that just holds his knife by the point of the blade and swings the handle down , using its weight to open the knife , I havent got the hang of it yet , but it seems to work for him on a variety of knives , he has no issue with swing it open , and spin it / grab it and presto , knife in hand very dam fast n flashy :)
 
Coote-

I agree with you 100%. Last september I gave myself a nasty wrist sprain, and was only carrying a stockman and SAK (Spartan). Dang near impossible to open with one hand. I wish I had one of my "tactical" knives with me.
 
One handed opening is a pretty important thing for a knife, mostly if it's your only blade. I don't mind it not being one-handed if I'm in the woods, only because I've got a fixed blade that's my primary knife and it's always easy to get to and is ready for use immediately. For edc in the city, it can be more of an issue! Hard to carry around a sheath knife all day.
 
Myal said:
I have a brother that just holds his knife by the point of the blade and swings the handle down , using its weight to open the knife , I havent got the hang of it yet , but it seems to work for him on a variety of knives , he has no issue with swing it open , and spin it / grab it and presto , knife in hand very dam fast n flashy :)
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This is a method I have used for years with my Buck 112. You don't quite grab the point (because you can't reach it), but you grab a bit of the spine down towards the point and swing it open. Works with a lot of different knives.

Doc
 
Betwen true "autos" and one-handed openers that use a hole or a knob, there are "assisted" opening folders. The first one I came across is the Kershaw "Speed Safe" several years ago. Their Ken Onion folder has been my EDC from that day. My understanding is that it has a torsion bar similar to an automatic, but that it does not fully deploy the blade. Instead of depressing a button, you simply "start" the blade - the knife does the rest. Several other manufacturers have since come out with their own versions, assuring that the lawyers will be busy for years to come.
KER1550.jpg

A lot of times when I need my knife, my other hand is busy holding whatever it is I need to cut.

-- FLIX
 
You could put a One-Armed Bandit on the blade to work as a thumb-stud for opening.
 
I'm perfectly happy with a thumb stud that can be used to flick, or the axis lock. I really don't like the nail groove.
 
It's hard to describe the "karma" that some of my traditional folders radiate. Sure the Queen's springs are a bit tight, but I never had an issue with using two hands. I will cede the point that there is a possible event that a one handed opener would be needed. Hopefully, I will have my fixed blade when that happens.
 
coote said:
Sometimes when you want a blade, you want it immediately.... and you might only have one hand free for the job. Or your hands may be numb with cold, wet and slimy.... or the thumbnail you'd instinctively use for the job may have broken off.

You might have the best quality steel and the sharpest blade in your folder, but while it is still folded you can't do much with it.

folders.jpg
Click to expand...

Thats why they make mora's.:D

In all seriousness, that is why I have for the past couple years not been carrying any folding knife but a small pocket knife like a Case peanut or a Victorinox bantam. I've taken to carrying or stashing around small fixed blades. Mora's in the truck glove box, day pack. I have a small Buck Hartsook that I've been carrying for 6 months now, and it has been very impressive in how handy a small sharp fixed blade is. If I don't have my Hartsook on, its because I have a tiny puuko not much bigger but stouter built, made by somebody namesd S. Dauvi. Those Finn's and Swede's must know something, because you don't see many pocket knives over there, but a hell of alot of small puuko's.

I've actually gotten away from folding knives, and don't even own anything with a locking blade anymore.
Aside from a small slip joint pocket knife for light duty in civilized surroundings, I go with a small fixed blade like the above or one of my mora's. If I need something bigger its time to use a hatchet or 12 inch Ontario machete.

Lockblades are an intermediate step I have no use for anymore. Its Nessmuck all the way; pocket knife, fixed blade, hatchet.
 
JimMLa said:
It's hard to describe the "karma" that some of my traditional folders radiate. Sure the Queen's springs are a bit tight, but I never had an issue with using two hands. I will cede the point that there is a possible event that a one handed opener would be needed. Hopefully, I will have my fixed blade when that happens.
Click to expand...

According to some survey or another, can't remember who put it out, anyway, the most common injuries in the bush are hand and ankle. If you damage (cut, sprain, break, crush) a hand and can't use it, you would appreciate a OH openning blade. Not that my S&M mountain man couldn't be opened with OH, it would just be a royal PITA when under duress and in pain. Another reason why I carry a lighter and a spark-lite firestarting kit. Both, one hand tools.
 
My S+W SWAT has a threaded fastener on the blade that can be loosened or tightened with an ordinary allen wrench. In under a minute you can adjust a new SWAT so that it will flick open one-handed or with its thumbstud. Only drawback is that it's a linerlock, but mine's never failed. I can get the edge arm-shaving, newspaper cutting sharp no problem, and it's aluminum slab sides make it bearable on a lanyard around the neck or clipped inside the waistband too. It isn't my favorite knife, but it is a good knife for the bread ($35 IIRC). - Harry
 
The BenchMade Axis-Lock is about the easiest one-handed, ambidextrous, locking folder that I've found. Available with thumb stud or hole. It can also be opened by pulling back on the lock and flicking it open.
 
I know exactly what you're saying coote - even though I love my Queen Mountain Man folder, I'm usually too lazy and impatient to carry a "two-handed" folder for EDC. :o

That's why I got a Kershaw Junkyard Dog - it's fast and truly one-handed. Just a push with the index finger and the blade pops open. And it doesn't have springs or extra parts like an auto or an assisted-opener. Just a basic linerlock - without a thumbstud! :D

The trick to the knife is a small internal ball indent which keeps the blade secured when closed (the ball indent is on the liner lock portion of the handle - so the liner lock not only locks the blade open but also serves to hold it closed as well). Once the index finger pushes hard enough on the blade's guard and overcomes the ball indentation the blade is then free to swing open. It's an ingenious design.

Here's a video of the larger Junkyard Dog II:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFvvNR0vvHQ

And a good review:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=463586
 
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