What is the appeal of OTF knives?

Cool and fun to play with. They're also quite practical. True one-handed use and you never have to touch the blade or put your fingers in the path of it opening or closing. Very few non-fixed knives can make such a claim.
 
Wouldn't a heavily built OTF with an appropriately long tang be far more resistant to pressure on the blade in every direction than pinned normal folders?
 
Vicarious Reality said:
Wouldn't a heavily built OTF with an appropriately long tang be far more resistant to pressure on the blade in every direction than pinned normal folders?
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It's not about how heavily built it is, but a matter of tolerances. The blade has to freely move in and out in order to lock up. I'll assume you're not familiar with exactly how these work. There is a spring (or 2), the kind that pulls closed rather than compresses. Pushing the slider tensions the spring, and when it reaches a point, the catch releases and the blade shoots out. At this point there's no spring pushing the blade, it's on its own inertia. It hits the other catch with enough force to lock again.

That's why there's a certain amount of looseness that's inherent in the design. Obviously you'd want it to be as tight as possible, but too tight and there's too much friction/drag and it won't lock. It seems to vary knife-to-knife. I've seen Microtechs with wiggle and I've seen them with no wiggle whatsoever. Getting one with wiggle is considered typical, and getting one with no play is lucky.
 
RandomAyes said:
< long sigh >

< loading up bookmarked Infidel page >

< staring at the big red candy-like BUY button >

I don't need an OTF. I don't need an OTF. I don't need an OTF.
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I would wait on that purchase I have seen them go on the sales threads for like $250 or so .. I would shop around you might save a $100 or so
 
the fact that it's a 1 hand easy open knife. but nothing beats my emerson cqc-11. just pulling the knife out of your pocket opens it. (as many of you know already)
 
Tight quarters deployment and closure is easy with no arc required to open, no required thumb motion to deploy like an out the side knife. No button to fidget for like button release autos thus making deployment much faster. I find the thumb ramp switch works very naturally for me and I instinctually get to it without much thought. I often fidget for the recessed release buttons on OTS autos.

I don't like autos because I can't legally carry them and I love the beautiful simplicity of a locking, manual folder but if I had to choose one or had the need for one, I'd choose an OTF for ease and speed of deployment and closure with minimal movement of the hand I deploy it with. IMO, You aren't buying an auto for the strentgh of the overall knife itself as much as a quick deplying blade to cut something in an elergency or even a third line of self defense if I were a peace officer in a bad spot.
 
I'd love to start collecting them, but the good ones like Microtech are sooo damn expensive, and like everyone has stated, they're border line novelty, and i just wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror after spending boat loads on fiddle faddle fun.
 
Cool factor, recoil, sound of the blade slidin' home into the locked position, as far as an SD blade, I'd rather trust my life to a Fixed Blade, I'm not sayin' there aren't tot quality OTFs out there, for me the most dependable mechanism, is no mechanism and a FB is pretty bullet proof.
 
I don't know where people get the idea that OTFs are gimmicky, a novelty, or only for show. I can only assume that these same people have never actually used one. I've put a Microtech Scarab through its paces at work and it worked and continues to work just fine. You aren't going to be using one for super heavy duty work, but it will handle medium duty work just fine.
 
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