And there it was, the friction folder.
I had never really been aware of the friction folder per se as a real knife until Fausto and Alfredo posted all those photo's of the beautiful knives of their country. Most of the friction folders I was familiar with, were the Svord, which is really too big for convenient pocket carry, and some other stuff I had only seen in books. After all, who uses a friction folder in this day and age. I had never run into one.
Or so I had thought.
Since 1982, I'be had an ongoing love affair with the French Opinel. I'd buy one, sand it down and stain and varnish it into something prettier than it was to begins with. Then someone would admire it, and usually it would be someone who was not a knife person but could use a nice sharp knife in their life, so I would gift it out to them, go buy another one and sand and stain and start the proscess all over again. I'd always kept at least one Opinel around for the dirty work like breaking down boxes, and whatever. Between the Opinel and Victorinox classic, I must have given away a ton of them. Converting non knife folks into knife nuts is a crusade that never ends. But I had never really thought of the Opinel as a friction folder. After all, it's a lock blade, right?
Then I started to think about all the times I had used the Opinel without bothering to twist the lock. Just a piece of sting or twine, or slitting open a box the UPS truck had dropped off, it was easy to slip the blade of the Opinel into the box and cut strait back along the seam to cut the packing tape. Opening a plastic bag was easy, open knife, cut, close knife. No twisting the lock because it just wasn't needed. Without really thinking about it, I had been using a friction folder for thirty years without thinking about it. Then Fausto and Alfredo posted pictures.
I took off the locking ring on a number 8 Opinel, and with a ball peen hammer snugged up the joint. I then carried and used the now non locking Opinel for daily stuff. Open a box? No problem. Karen and I sharing a sandwich? Opinel slices it in half. Making a pepperoni pizza from scratch at home? The Opinel sliced pepperoni with ease. It was then that a strange alien thought entered my mind.
Do I need a knife with a back spring at all?
I found, very much to my surprise, I liked the way a friction folder worked for an edc. No backsprngs meant I could tap the Opinel against something like the heel of a boot, a tree, and have it open enough so I didn't have to remove my gloves in cold weather. I found that with now 'older' hands, there was no repercussion of my fingers slipping off the blade if I was a bit careless opening my knife. The blade didn't snap shut, it just stayed right there where you left it 1/3 open. And then there was the intangible charm of using a beautifully simple knife that went way back to Roman times. With a 2,000 year history, that's traditional! I saw a video of a small factory in Spain that had been making penny knives like that since the 1600's. I believe Nontron in France has been in business that long as well.
It was a startling bit of thinking, and a little scary. After all, I had grown up with knives with springs. Jackknives, barlows, daddy barrows, stockmen, TL-29's, peanuts, Swiss Army knives, scout knives. And then there was the ultimate, the Excalibur of scout knives, the original Remington carried by Mr. Van, the demi god of troop 469. Mr. Van didn't bother leaping tall buildings, he just kicked them aside. And he carried a knife with back springs. How could I think of something so alien, so...for lack of better words, un-American? Would the sun rise in the west? Would I be a traitor to democracy, motherhood and apple pie, not necessarily in that order?
I found myself looking at a big knife website that had some small pocket size Patadda's for sale. I browsed the web site looking at Michael Morris friction folders. I contemplated trying a Svord knife. I have to admit I'm a little startled by my changing mindset. It would be like going from a Harley Davidson motorcycle to a Vespa motor scooter. Oh wait, I already did that. Or sticking with Marlin lever action rifles in an age where black tactical rifles are the hot thing. Oh wait, I did that too.
So, how many here have carried and used a friction folder in the real world? Svord, Morris, whatever?
Carl.
I had never really been aware of the friction folder per se as a real knife until Fausto and Alfredo posted all those photo's of the beautiful knives of their country. Most of the friction folders I was familiar with, were the Svord, which is really too big for convenient pocket carry, and some other stuff I had only seen in books. After all, who uses a friction folder in this day and age. I had never run into one.
Or so I had thought.
Since 1982, I'be had an ongoing love affair with the French Opinel. I'd buy one, sand it down and stain and varnish it into something prettier than it was to begins with. Then someone would admire it, and usually it would be someone who was not a knife person but could use a nice sharp knife in their life, so I would gift it out to them, go buy another one and sand and stain and start the proscess all over again. I'd always kept at least one Opinel around for the dirty work like breaking down boxes, and whatever. Between the Opinel and Victorinox classic, I must have given away a ton of them. Converting non knife folks into knife nuts is a crusade that never ends. But I had never really thought of the Opinel as a friction folder. After all, it's a lock blade, right?
Then I started to think about all the times I had used the Opinel without bothering to twist the lock. Just a piece of sting or twine, or slitting open a box the UPS truck had dropped off, it was easy to slip the blade of the Opinel into the box and cut strait back along the seam to cut the packing tape. Opening a plastic bag was easy, open knife, cut, close knife. No twisting the lock because it just wasn't needed. Without really thinking about it, I had been using a friction folder for thirty years without thinking about it. Then Fausto and Alfredo posted pictures.
I took off the locking ring on a number 8 Opinel, and with a ball peen hammer snugged up the joint. I then carried and used the now non locking Opinel for daily stuff. Open a box? No problem. Karen and I sharing a sandwich? Opinel slices it in half. Making a pepperoni pizza from scratch at home? The Opinel sliced pepperoni with ease. It was then that a strange alien thought entered my mind.
Do I need a knife with a back spring at all?
I found, very much to my surprise, I liked the way a friction folder worked for an edc. No backsprngs meant I could tap the Opinel against something like the heel of a boot, a tree, and have it open enough so I didn't have to remove my gloves in cold weather. I found that with now 'older' hands, there was no repercussion of my fingers slipping off the blade if I was a bit careless opening my knife. The blade didn't snap shut, it just stayed right there where you left it 1/3 open. And then there was the intangible charm of using a beautifully simple knife that went way back to Roman times. With a 2,000 year history, that's traditional! I saw a video of a small factory in Spain that had been making penny knives like that since the 1600's. I believe Nontron in France has been in business that long as well.
It was a startling bit of thinking, and a little scary. After all, I had grown up with knives with springs. Jackknives, barlows, daddy barrows, stockmen, TL-29's, peanuts, Swiss Army knives, scout knives. And then there was the ultimate, the Excalibur of scout knives, the original Remington carried by Mr. Van, the demi god of troop 469. Mr. Van didn't bother leaping tall buildings, he just kicked them aside. And he carried a knife with back springs. How could I think of something so alien, so...for lack of better words, un-American? Would the sun rise in the west? Would I be a traitor to democracy, motherhood and apple pie, not necessarily in that order?
I found myself looking at a big knife website that had some small pocket size Patadda's for sale. I browsed the web site looking at Michael Morris friction folders. I contemplated trying a Svord knife. I have to admit I'm a little startled by my changing mindset. It would be like going from a Harley Davidson motorcycle to a Vespa motor scooter. Oh wait, I already did that. Or sticking with Marlin lever action rifles in an age where black tactical rifles are the hot thing. Oh wait, I did that too.
So, how many here have carried and used a friction folder in the real world? Svord, Morris, whatever?
Carl.
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