Production Front Flippers Made in US?

dannyp · Jun 7, 2020

I know front flippers have been around for a while, but I've begun to get more interested in them lately. Seems like many are expensive, higher end knives and most lack a reversible clip. I think the front flipper design lends itself to a good ambidextrous choice. I recently found out about the Civivi Exarch, which looks nice. It's a clean, simple design with a liner lock and reversible clip.

That made me wonder, are there any regular production US made front flippers available? I can't recall seeing any off the top of my head. If not, why is that and which manufacturer will be likely to offer one first?

Owen K. · Jun 7, 2020

Check out the olamic busker. It's a great coin pocket knife. That's the only one I know of.

dannyp · Jun 7, 2020

I actually like the design of the WhipperSnapper better than the Busker. Unfortunately, (for me) they are right hand carry only. Didn't really know much about Olamic before. :thumbsup:

kylemiller · Jun 7, 2020

Olamic is also not Made in USA.

strategy9 · Jun 7, 2020

kylemiller said:
Olamic is also not Made in USA.

From their site;
"In 2016 we wanted to offer a robust EDC knife and designed the Wayfarer 247. We quickly realized that to make this knife competitive we need to have some parts pre-machined. Our Visalia shop doesn’t have this capacity and after an extensive search we found such precision in Italy. Everything beyond this initial step is done in California by the same hands that build our customs."

So while the fixed blades are still primarily if not entirely made in Russia, since opening shop in Visalia, CA, the folders are in fact still made/assembled in America. Despite some parts for their production knives being premachined in Italy; customs, one offs, and even the majority of the work and full assembly in the production builds are in fact done in California...

Lee D · Jun 7, 2020

strategy9 said:
From their site;
"In 2016 we wanted to offer a robust EDC knife and designed the Wayfarer 247. We quickly realized that to make this knife competitive we need to have some parts pre-machined. Our Visalia shop doesn’t have this capacity and after an extensive search we found such precision in Italy. Everything beyond this initial step is done in California by the same hands that build our customs."

So while the fixed blades are still primarily if not entirely made in Russia, since opening shop in Visalia, CA, the folders are in fact still made/assembled in America. Despite some parts for their production knives being premachined in Italy; customs, one offs, and even the majority of the work and full assembly in the production builds are in fact done in California...

I did not know that, thanks for sharing.
Much appreciated

strategy9 · Jun 7, 2020

Lee D said:
I did not know that, thanks for sharing.
Much appreciated

You got it... Also I personally love that when looking for outsourcing some of the machine work to keep costs down, they steered clear of the obvious "cheapest" route of going through China, and went through Italy instead...

Owen K. · Jun 7, 2020

Even if they get blanks made up in Italy they still assemble, finish, and customize in the US. In my book that's still American made. Just my opinion.

Owen K. · Jun 7, 2020

dannyp said:
I actually like the design of the WhipperSnapper better than the Busker. Unfortunately, (for me) they are right hand carry only. Didn't really know much about Olamic before.

I missed that you were looking for a lefty. They dont make lefty models ad far as I know but If you order from eugene at olamic you could check if he can drill the clip for your desired location. Cheers!

dannyp · Jun 7, 2020

Owen K. said:
I missed that you were looking for a lefty. They dont make lefty models ad far as I know but If you order from eugene at olamic you could check if he can drill the clip for your desired location. Cheers!

Well I was mostly curious what, if anything was available from US companies. It just seems as if front flippers would be more popular than they are and I'm kind of surprised that the larger manufacturers haven't started making any I'm aware of.

lieferung · Jun 7, 2020

dannyp said:
Well I was mostly curious what, if anything was available from US companies. It just seems as if front flippers would be more popular than they are and I'm kind of surprised that the larger manufacturers haven't started making any I'm aware of.

It's kind of a niche opening method, some people have trouble with it.