Preferred deployment method

Flipper, as they're more compact and with a good fiddle factor.

Realistically, a SAK with nail nick is the one I usually end up carrying most. I don't spend a lot of time outdoors, sadly.
 
A rough count of my knives:
Thumb Stud: 14
Flipper: 5
Hole: 5
Nail Nick (but I don't really count these in the question): 8

That pretty sums up my preferences right there
 
Peter Hartwig said:
I may be at a crossroad. I have always preferred thumb studs followed by non spydie holes(visual rather than deployment problem), but I am starting to get a taste for front flippers-rolled open.
Not a top flipper fan
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jceckrosh said:
Doesn't matter to me really. I but the knife first, and the deployment is a secondary aspect. I rarely (well, never) need to deploy at light speed. As long as it is well designed and works on/for the particular knife I am good (good example of what I think does not work well are the CRK thumb studs - great well made knife, I just can't figure out why the thumb studs work so poorly, or with such difficulty anyway). Although lately I am enjoying several knives with holes.
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Lol CRK thumbstuds are purely a vanity detail. They are among the worst in terms of functionality for my hand at least. For other people they may work great but for me they are not ideal.
 
Flippers if they're done right. I really like the flipper tab on the 0470. Small and unobtrusive.

I'd put the Spyder hole a close second, easy to deploy and no thumb stud to get in the way of sharpening. The only drawback imho is that it can make the blade a lot larger than necessary.
 
Lapedog said:
Lol CRK thumbstuds are purely a vanity detail. They are among the worst in terms of functionality for my hand at least. For other people they may work great but for me they are not ideal.
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Can't help you there. Somewhere along the line my hand figured it out, and I try to keep my mind from screwing it up. They function well for me, and the motion seems to translate to other knives as well. The best part about them though is they don't snag on pockets.
but yours is not an isolated complaint
 
Flipper, they are ambidextrous, a safety feature if the lock fails, a forward guard, most natural to actuate based on my hand position when I take my knife out of my pocket and easy to deploy with gloves on. Only deployment method that has more functions than just deployment of the blade, and also thus smaller flipper tabs offer less functionality. Considering the "(Kit) Carson" flipper was released in 1999, I don't think flippers can be considered a fad after 20 years.
 
Peter Hartwig said:
Can't help you there. Somewhere along the line my hand figured it out, and I try to keep my mind from screwing it up. They function well for me, and the motion seems to translate to other knives as well. The best part about them though is they don't snag on pockets.
but yours is not an isolated complaint
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They work fine but I just find there are others that work better.
 
Thumb studs & an axis lock, I like. Nail nicks, I don't like. Everything else, I'm pretty ambivalent about — more down to the specific knife and its ergos than any real preference. I like the hole on my Manix 2, for example, but have liked that opening method less on other Spydercos I've handled.

Ultimately, my minor preference for thumb studs and an axis lock is probably just muscle memory more than anything else — I've spent more time over the last ~15 years manipulating various Griptillian variants than I have with any other folders that I've owned, so they just feel natural to me. My mini-Griptillian with Wilkins scales most of all, again probably just down to the fact that it's been my EDC forever, and has enjoyed the most fiddling time as a result.
 
It really depends. I like them all depending on the overall design and ergonomics of the knife. Some knives can be too small to comfortably use a thumbstud because of either lack of purchase or over-gripping the lockbar so a flipper works better (flipper is a good choice for the zt 0450). If the knife has a really nice glassy action on washers then studs or a hole allows you to appreciate the smoothness (sebenza). Knives with a strong loud bank vault lockup are also satisfying to slowly roll open. If a knife is on bearings and has a weak lockbar like most zt's I would prefer a flipper because I don't like how these types of knives feel when using a slow deployment method, they feel hollow and unsatisfying. A full sized knife that fills your hand and sits against the butt of your palm well is a good candidate for a hole opener because as soon as you middle finger flick your hand is right in position for a good grip ( for example the strider SnG and PM2). A liner lock like the RAT1 or an axis lock works well as a stud opener because you cant put pressure on the lock bar, compared to the xm18 where I personally don't like using the studs because it's hard to keep my fingers off the lockbar. Sometimes flippers can get boring because you can only open it one way. For me the best option would be a flipper with a hole on pb washers with a detent thats balanced enough to flip well as well as easily roll open.
 
I like opening a balisong the best. There's a billion ways to do it that look awesome.

I only know like five of those, and I suck at them.

Still my favorite though.
 
Spydie holes and flippers for me. My arthritis has difficulty with thumb stubs.
 
My first modern folder some 25 years ago was a flipper. Worked for years and I was quite good at it. Over the past few years Ive been smitten with the Axis-lock. Ive most recently discovered ZT and am back to the flipper again but have to say Ill vote Axis-lock. Spydie hole is nice but it can ruin a girls manicure.
 
Thumb studs, hole and disk are my preferred deployment methods - in that order.
 
I sat down for about 30 min and fiddled with my knives looking for my answer to this question and realized i like all the deployment methods in some way or another. It really depends on my mood, or maybe what I plan to do that day.
 
I love my matriarch 2 with the wave, but I prefer thumb studs. Spyerdco hole is nice too.
 
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