To spring assist or not, that is the question!

G

Gespenst

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Sep 14, 2008
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Please keep in mind I am an FNG (fricken new guy) but I checked out a friend's Kershaw Chive the other day. It was my first time handling an assisted opener and although I liked the knife, I didn't see how it could be deployed any faster than I can open most of my manual thumbstud or flipper equipped knives, especially with the safety engaged.

With the improvements that have been made over the years in pivot bearings and lock blade knife design in general, what is the advantage of spring assist? Please understand that I am not trying to stir up controversy. It just seems that most manufacturers are going this direction so there must be demand. This makes me wonder if I am missing something. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Russ S.
 
IMO it's very helpful if you're wearing gloves. It can be difficult to open a knife with a thumbstud if you got thick gloves on. Other than that I always prefer a manual open.
 
well one thing i noticed for myself is that knives with flippers, or spring assisted mechanisms that are deployed via a flipper type protrusion dont require you to chance orientation of the blade after you have opened it. a regular folder that is opened manually with thumbstuds will be positioned sideways in your hand once opened, making you have to readjust after you have opened. a blade that opens via flipper does not require to me change the position of the knife, i only have to move 1 finger.

this isnt a big deal at all if you are carrying for utility mostly. but if you carry knives for self defense, the less stuff you have to fumble around with the better.

that being said, most assisted knives are not perfect. every now and then you may activate an assisted opening mechanism and it might not fully deploy your may have not put enough pressure on the mechanism etc....

manual knives are just as good though, they make em pretty reliable and simple to use these days.

i think assisted openers are also uself for those with disabilities right?
 
Thanks for bringing up a good point. I hadn't considered gloved opening.
Are there assisted knives that don't require the additional blade lock but won't open in a pocket? Some of the literature provided by the manufacturers can be a bit vague and nothing beats user feedback.

I ask because I am looking into a new knife for work and most of the designs that I like also happen to be spring assisted. The lock like the one on the Chive would be an issue.

Thanks,

Russ S.


mongomondo said:
IMO it's very helpful if you're wearing gloves. It can be difficult to open a knife with a thumbstud if you got thick gloves on. Other than that I always prefer a manual open.
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Try A kershaw assisted opener a little while and you will be spoiled,I lost my scallion,and just ordered another one,plus their warranty can't be beat:thumbup:Butch
 
Certainly to play with! Deploy a ZT 0300 series a few times and feel the love of that "cocking a gun" kerchunk and you'll not be able to stop deploying them if you're like me . . .
 
Personally, I do not care for spring assist and actively seek to avoid owning a knife with one. (yes I have tried them.)

Just one more thing not to work. And I reeally do not care how fast the knife opens, as long as I can open it one-handed. I carry knives only as tools.
 
mongomondo said:
IMO it's very helpful if you're wearing gloves. It can be difficult to open a knife with a thumbstud if you got thick gloves on. Other than that I always prefer a manual open.
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Only if your stud is poorly placed or puny :)
Thumbholes on the other hand I find have to be gigantic :) for gloved hands
 
The SA isn't just there just for fast opening but on many knives it's to ensure that the knife actually opens fully and locks!

I can flipper open a CRKT M16 just about as fast as many SA's and if you factor in the time for drawing it from your pocket, a CS TiLite or Emerson/Spyderco Wave is even faster .

The advantage of a well designed SA is that once you open it past the camming point it will open by itself with no more assistance from your hand. I've played with a SOG Trident of my daughter's and it does just that so that even trying to open it slowly, it gets to a certain point then flys open and locks, leaving your thumb clear of the blade to settle safely on the handle.
 
knarfeng said:
Personally, I do not care for spring assist and actively seek to avoid owning a knife with one. (yes I have tried them.)

Just one more thing not to work. And I reeally do not care how fast the knife opens, as long as I can open it one-handed. I carry knives only as tools.
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Same here. I'll go you one more, though. I don't even care anymore if a knife is one handed.
 
A/O is a lot of fun, but from what I've seen I think it's more of a novelty on an EDC for normal conditions.

I'm enjoying my $40.00 SOG Twitch II quite a bit, and it sees its fair share of cargo pocket carry time. The opening mechanism is quick, but honestly I can get a Spyderco or one of my Benchmades open faster. Not to mention where the safety is placed.
 
I must be weird, but I like full-auto and I like full-manual, but I tired of A/O knives after only a short time.
 
Of all the "tactical" knives I own, my Kershaw Black Out which is a spring assist gets carried the least. More often I will carry either my AG Russell Folding Sting or my Browning Ice Storm (Mcusta). Like others I think spring assist is more of a gimmick than anything else. As far as gloves, I carry a (2-3) handguns for SD so my right hand is seldom gloved except in the car, if I am outside walking around the city it is in my right coat pocket...along with a airweight Smith. Working around the house or in the woods in the winter I carry a knife easy to open...a Cold Steel TwistMaster.
 
I think assisted opening is fun. That's the only reason I can see for it. One-hand openers of every other type are almost as useful for disabled users.

But I do have some interference from arthritis that makes a small assisted opener or auto a nuisance to hold on to. In that case, it's a negative.

Flippers with or without assisted opening are a lot easier for me than other systems.
 
I had considered that as well however, after looking at how the system works and listening to those who say they have done this, it seems that the torsion bar is also responsible for holding the blade closed (besides the additional lock anyhow).

Have you done thisand if so are my concerns justified?

Thanks,

Russ S.

karnavor said:
If you don't like Kershaw's speedsafe just take out the torsion bar.
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I removed the torsion bar on my Blur and have no problems with the blade staying closed. I can see how some people would have trouble with it though.
 
One thing I have seen on AO versus non-AO knives is that the AO blades tend to stay closed a bit better. The spring assist can overcome a bit more force keeping the blade closed than would be tolerated on a manual open blade.

It is not true on all blades but I have seen a trend in my admittedly small sample collection.
 
Personally, it seems odd to me that some folks seemingly always classify AO's as a gimmick, or speak about how their other manuals, be it a stud or hole, are "just as fast". In this instance, I'll just speak for Kershaw, but when we come out with AO's, internally, we never even talk about the "speed" with regards to any of our AO patterns. To us, AO is just that, a mechanism to assist the user in opening the knife, and it does that quite well.

We've all been in positions where one-handed opening a knife is crucial, AO's can no doubt be there for you if that's the case. They can have the fun and fast benefits that some of you post about, but that's not the true objective of SpeedSafe.

I'm not sure how a blade assist opening feature can be considered a gimmick, as most gimmicks don't really have lasting power, and never really work to begin with. It's been over a decade now, and AO's are more popular than ever. That's not exactly the MO of a gimmick.

Just to be clear, the object of our assisted opening knives are to just give the ELU an additional option when choosing a knife that is right for their situation. As with many styles of knives AO's may not be the right fit for you, but they do fit perfectly for a great many users out on the market.
 
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I had a ZT 0300 and I really liked it however the first thing I did to it was take out the torsion bar. It did not have any problems with it staying closed. On the stud locks like the Spec Bump it appears the the torsion bar does hold it closed. I tend to stay away from A/O but if you like them then Kershaw is the way to go.
 
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