What's your opinion of auto's?

A

Allen E. Treat

Banned
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Oct 4, 2001
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More controversy forumite(s); this'll kick up some dust : I used to own auto's (switchblades) but got put off when thing(s) like a spring broke on a Hubertus (damn thing cost $70 at the time :() I guess ANYTHING mechanically complex is bound to failure (like the humans that made them ; sorry secular humanists ;))
I got nothing against people who(m)
own them, and as I've said before that Goddamn Sen. Mack of Illinois
that got the Federal Switchblade Act of 1957(?) passed was a grandstanding @$$hole like Sen. Kefauver who(m) got the whole thing started in the first place. I am now an admitted Spydie junkie ;) My SE
cricket deploys about as fast as any auto ( or otherwise ) Stay away from them autos! ;)

AET ;)
Edited by Double Edge Dave to eliminate a violation in advertising policy.
 
No, it's a hypothetical discussion that, to YOU may sound like an ad.
Now, ferryman to Hell, what's your
spin on autos?

AET ;)
 
As I rule I don't like folding knives, but I've always been interested in autos. Forbidden fruit tastes best I suppose.

I purchased my first autos in July 1971 in a gift shop on Grant Ave in San Francisco. One was an Italian stiletto with a 5 1/2" blade. The combination of the long blade and an unusually powerful spring resulted in a noticeable "kick" upon opening. I also bought a smaller 3 1/2" stag-handled stiletto and a 6" Svoboda dagger with a cast zinc lion's head handle.
 
No problem with autos. No problem with door knobs either.
 
I love anything complex and mechanical, lots of moving parts, little screws, tiny springs, and such. That's why I love knives, and I love the sound of all those pieces working in concert to fling/slide that blade out into the open position.

I believe that the little George Schrade Pressbutton autos were the neatest pen knives out there, I mean, how great is it to be able to open a knife with one hand.

This hobby also has that little risk involved, that ya could get busted and lose the auto, but that's the chance I take.

All in all I take that chance everyday by carrying some type of auto in my EDC's, usually a small CA legal, or some type of DA.:D
 
does sound ad like... I like autos but it's unlawful to carry one so I don't. What else is there to say?
 
I'd say that anything mechanical is bound to failure. Just a matter of when. And I suppose you could make the argument that the more complex it is, the more likely it is to fail, or the more quickly it will fail.

So if you're willing to deal with the chance that an auto is going to fail on you, go ahead. I probably would be, since I imagine that while it's higher than a simple lockback, it's not high enough to worry about, assuming it's a good auto.

Oh, and just so you know: you had it right with who, not whom, and and all your plurals should be plural. Makes your posts a bit harder to read, at least for us gramattically-inclined folks.
 
Let's clear some things up that the folks at Autos have known for a long time -
automatic knives are legal to own in some states and legal to own and carry in some others and not legal to own or carry in others still . It depends upon the state and it may depend upon the local govt.. In my state you may not carry, but you may collect. In many others you may do both. In others you may not do either.

Autos were often advertised as safety or convenience knives and were never advertised as weapons until the silly interstate commerce laws and state laws that treated the automatic pen knife used to cut thread with the same as the few springblades used in movies about gangs.

There numerous good discussions on the Auto forum about the history of these knives and the legislation here and elsewhere concerning them.
 
I haven't handled a good quality one, but I'm sure an auto will be just as good as the manual version of the same knife. IMO, no knives should be illegal to own, carry, or conceal. Autos would be fine for urban carry but I would be concerned about dirt getting into the action if it was used as a survival knife.
 
I like speed. Who dosen't? I have a SOG Flash II and it's almost automatic action, just plain makes my knife better/faster. The biggest problem with automatic knives is that they're illegal. It's a stupid law, but what ya gonna do? There are a lot of manual knives just as fast as autos, like axis-lock/arc-lock knives. The fact that most manual knives and all fixed blades are just as fast as autos just shows how obsolete the antiautomatic laws are. It's easiser to carry a machete or a glock than it is to carry a stilleto, sounds like a oximoron to me.

I can't stand driving automatic cars though, you can get more speed out of a standard IMO.:)
 
JamesA - I know, sometimes i get my grammar wrong, or mis-spell or mis-quote ;) I say, not bad for someone (like me;)) with a G.E.D.;)
But I've seen ALOT of the same from other(s);) What can I say? English (proper) is a complicated language (ask any foreigner trying to master it ; some are better than us;)) Auto(s) are quite novel & fun to play with, and I've seen some EXCELLENT example(s). Again, this thread was made to evoke CONTROVERSY ;) and to
get an idea of how all the manual/fixed blade/auto owner(s)felt on the matter. From the last few day(s) perusing this forum, the topic(s) are rather, shall I say, blase ( BLAH SAY )? I'm SURE I'm NOT going to hear the end of disparaging remark(s) about this thread, but hell, that's what forum(s) are about anyway (at least from a historical standpoint;)) Let's move on.

AET ;)
 
I had never heard of autos being originally intended as safety knives.
That being said, I see NO point in them as a combat knife. A fixed blade is inherently faster, stronger, and less likely to fail.
I agree however with the "forbidden fruit" concept, and would own one for my collection, if I could find a decent one.

Has anybody ever heard of a "gravity knife" though. I read something about them years ago, but have not found any info about them since. Supposedly CIA agents carried them in thier sleeves during the early part of the Cold War.:cool:
 
The "gravity knife" you mention was made by George Iberson in Sheffield, England during the war(II;)) CIA agent(s) carried alot more than a damn "gravity kife" let me tell you!
Shootouts in the street(s) of Europe
were a rather pedestrian occurance during the "cold" war (Herodotus, the Greek historian,BTW coined the phrase :"A war of words is but a cold one ;)) "Gravity kives" are kinda "grey area" things legal wise.
The "sweep" continues.

AET ;)
 
I think every knife nut should have at least one in their collection...:D

Other than that, I don't see any real value as a combat knife over a good fixed blade..
 
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