Recommend me a new EDC that cannot be opened by inertia

S

slakercruster

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Aug 8, 2015
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I love my Benchmade spring assisted knives, but they are illegal to carry in NYC. I only work part time in NYC part and most of the time I carry Benchmade when not in the city.

I'm looking for an easy to open, quality blade that is 3 inches or under, has a pocket clip and cannot be opened by wrist flicking.

In NYC if you can open a knife by horizontal inertia that is deemed a gravity knife and illegal.
 
Just curious, does wrist flick include holding the blade? Send like every single Spyderco would be in that category?

Also does that mean all flipper knives are out?
 
If I hold any of my Spydercos by pinching the thumbhole area between my thumb and index finger with the pivot end of the knife down and give it a good wrist flip, I can easily cause it to flip open by inertia. Given the NYC and NYPD attitude toward folding knives, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see a NYPD officer use that technique to establish that a Spyderco is what they’d be happy to call a “gravity knife”. That possibility rules out my ever carrying any of my Spydercos in NYC. From what I’ve heard and read, no “test” of what constitutes a “gravity knife” is too ridiculous in NYC. When I travel in NYC I carry a >3” fixed blade, so I know I’m safe from NYC knife enforcement insanity.

On another note... In NY State but outside of NYC, assisted openers can be legal or illegal. If the assisting mechanism (spring, lever, torsion bar or whatever) is attached to the blade, the knife is legal. If the assisting mechanism is attached to the frame, the knife is illegal. This is what the NYS Troopers told me--and I got the same exact answer from three different barracks when I called them to make sure they were all on the same page. County and local cops are surprisingly ignorant of this kind of detail. The desk officer I spoke with at my local PD (a large, well-funded, high end suburban PD) didn’t even know what a flipper was -- much less an assisted flipper.

Be cautious and good luck with whatever you choose to do.
 
craytab said:
I can easily open the dragonfly with inertia.

I'd suggest a traditional or a lifestyle change to avoid going to places with ridiculous laws.
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Hmph... I'll have to check when I get home. Mine's always been pretty stiff. Not doubting you at all. I guess I never really tried to pinch the blade and really flick the handle too hard. Typically, I find the back locks pretty closed-biased.

I certainly cannot "inertia" flick-open my Manix 2 LW in any fashion, holding the blade or otherwise.
 
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Every axis lock I've owned can be flicked open with gravity so I wouldn't recommend that, especially if every Spyderco is out. Sounds like maybe some type of back/mid lock knife with thumb studs would work ok?
 
Kizer ZipSlip or Hinderer Slippy both are strong candidates for your criteria. But honestly I would just go traditional, maybe be one of the Lionsteel M390 offerings? Great balance of modern materials and traditional designs.
 
I can wrist flick all of my modern folders that don't lock shut. No pinching the blade or spyder hole needed. None of my traditionals. I haven't tried my vic classic though.

For the op, I'm sure you know but I believe a pocket clip is considered open carry so you may want to forego that.
 
Case Russlock (clip blade, not drop point). No way that's gonna be opened by gravity. It locks open, can be opened and closed one handed, and some models have pocket clips (look for the pattern numbers that end in C, such as 61953LC).

Q64czv5.jpg
 
jc57 said:
Case Russlock (clip blade, not drop point). No way that's gonna be opened by gravity. It locks open, can be opened and closed one handed, and some models have pocket clips (look for the pattern numbers that end in C, such as 61953LC).

Q64czv5.jpg
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Good suggestion. Like you pointed out the other day it is a slip joint but also has a liner lock.

I wouldn't carry one clipped in nyc though. In the least you could be stopped for open carry.
 
kingston73 said:
Just curious, does wrist flick include holding the blade? Send like every single Spyderco would be in that category?

Also does that mean all flipper knives are out?
Click to expand...

Dunno, but I'd say holding the blade may be OK. But I don't know. If you asked a NYC cop and showed him what you meant, they may say it is not OK and arrest you on the spot and let the courts sort it out...that is NYC.

It has happened before. Someone showed a cop their knife and asked if it was OK to carry. 2 cops could not open by inertia. The 3rd cop could open by inertia and he was arrested on the spot. I almost fell into the same trap trying to figure out the laws.
 
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