Why do you hate Assisted Opening?

You can hide a gritty piss poor action with a assisted opening knife. No control when opening and closing is irritating with one hand. A good custom flipper is faster to open and much more rewarding. Knife opening skills should be learned and perfected and when done correctly, is artistic. Any hack can open a assisted opening knife. Guys that love their knives and are into the art of the knife tend avoid assisted knives like a bowhunter avoids using a crossbow.
 
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I hate them because I see no advantage. I can open many of my "one-handed" knives just as fast and they don't have extra parts that can fail like an AO does. It's just a silly gimmick in my opinion.
 
w9trb said:
I had a leek partially open in my pocket. I was out camping and had a lot of things in a cargo pocket and when I reached in I felt the blade with my fingers and managed to get my hand pulled out without getting cut, but that was too close of a call for me.
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Had the same experience with a Leek and interestingly, that's the only AO that I've had open in my pocket. I have a ZT350 that I'm thinking of removing the spring and making it a manual. Has anyone ever done that?
 
I got a Kershaw Blur recently. While it's a fun knife, I'm finding that AO without a flipper feels odd to me. With the Blur, I'm applying about the same amount of thumb pressure to overcome the torsion bar that I would to manually open a non-AO knife, and in the end they open at about the same speed. With a flipper I feel like the the speed gained from Assisted Opening is more pronounced. So, in the future I'm probably going to stick to flipper designs when I want an AO knife.
 
Too many moving parts is why I never got one. I'd rather control the blade manually. Slipjoints are even simpler yet than a linerlock or backlock. Probably why you see old ones still kicking around.

I'm a fixed fan myself...one chunk 'o steel :D
 
My first and only A/O is the ZT0350 I bought a couple months back. I was with a cop/fellow forum member at a local knife store and he's the one who recommended it to me. Actually, he really recommended the ZT0200 but it was too big for my EDC use so I exchanged it for the 0350 the week after. That said, I'm still somewhat leery of EDCing it because as others have mentioned, I don't want to have any issues with ignorant cops or sheeple hassling me over it. It's also a bulky folder so I EDC it discretely.
 
The cons against the AO's I feel is unwarranted. The "too many moving parts", etc. really is a stretch. Years ago when semi auto pistols were becoming popular, the revolver guys were saying the same thing. Improvements in engineering (and ammo) in the semi autos improved reliabilty. I have been using a Glock 19 for 18 years and never had a problem.

I picked up a BM Barrage 581 a month ago and have carried it in a very hostile work enviroment of blasting steel bridges using a slag medium. This stuff is extremely abrasive and gets into everything. A quick rinse of water or just blowing into the action keeps it reasonably clean.

Knives have to be treated like a firearm, clean it when it gets dirty. Whether it is a linerlock, AO, auto, lockback, or slipjoint. Try not to knock something until you try it. I am running this knfe through its paces right now, right out of the gate. This is a user, not a safe queen.
 
I don't hate AO, just don't have any use for it. For one thing is the possibility of accidental opening in my pocket. If it has a safety that must be disengaged, there is no advantage at all with speed. Also is the possibility of the torsion bar breaking, which can leave you with a knife that won't stay closed. This is why I recently took the spring out of my ZT 0300 and drilled a small hole for the detent in the blade. It opens very fast as a flipper, with nothing to go wrong. AO is fun to play around with at home, but for a knife to be carried and used hard, I don't want it.
 
I don't purposefully avoid assisted-open knives, it's just that none of the knives I buy happen to have that feature.
 
Manual knives are easier to close with one hand. And I did cut myself on one occasion when I tried closing my ZT 0301 with one hand and my finger slipped off the blade, which flung the knife back open, and my finger followed the knife. I'm just a lazy sort of fellow who wants both opening and closing to have zero resistance, sort of like IKBS;).
 
I don't hate AO knives (as I've owned more than a few), and for a while there I just had to have 'em. But here recently after much debate with myself, I've finally come to the conclusion that I prefer non-assisted knives. I love the way the snap of an AO feels, but l love more so the flexibility of how you open and close a non-assisted knife. Especially when I can deploy a non-assisted knife much faster than an AO or even a side opening automatic. This realization has brought me to the point where I've been looking to find new homes for my assisted opening & auto knife collection. Just thought I would share my thoughts because this realization happened a few weeks ago.
 
ono724 said:
Had the same experience with a Leek and interestingly, that's the only AO that I've had open in my pocket. I have a ZT350 that I'm thinking of removing the spring and making it a manual. Has anyone ever done that?
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It's doable with most AOs. Not all, but most. :)
 
I'm in the same boat as Reeek and FortyTwoBlades. A/Os don't bring anything to the table for me that a good manual can't do and they're less complex. I'm simple minded and I like my tools to be the same way.
 
Personally, the assisted or automatic gimmick has lost most of its allure on me. Even here in AZ where I can carry whatever I want, I no longer own any assisted, and only one automatic (used to own many). The fact is that assisteds really aren't any faster than manuals these days.

Switchblades got their bad rap because of their portrayal as "bad guy" weapons in film and TV. But this was back when switchblades actually were faster than other knives. Compare a Hubertus switchblade to a Buck 110. The Hubertus is fast and needs only 1 hand, the Buck is slow and needs both hands.

The "tactical" revolution changed all that. Almost all knives made these days, unless they harken back to the traditional patterns, are fast 1 handed openers. Automatics really aren't necessary, even if you've got only 1 arm. I personally feel that all assisted knives, automatics, and even non-assisted flippers are popular only because of how fun they are to use (and they are fun to use). There just isn't a true need for it these days. People just buy and use them because they want to, and they enjoy it (but there's nothing wrong with that).

Assisted knives are popular because they skirt the switchblade laws because switchblades are almost always defined as having a button or switch, while assisteds don't. But you can be certain that if the Kershaw Leek had been around decades ago when those laws were written, assisteds would have been included in the bans somehow.

But personally, once you get past the fun gimmick of them, assisteds (and autos) really aren't the fastest way to go. Sure, a Benchmade Barrage might be a millisecond or two faster to open than my manual 940, but the assisted mechanism prevents me from flipping the knife closed in an instant, like I can do with my 940. Even a relatively slow knife like my Caly 3 is easier to close with one hand than an assisted knife. And of course, none of them open faster than my Endura Wave.

I don't hate assisted knives, I just don't see the need for them other than knifesturbation (but there's nothing wrong with that - it's only natural).
 
Planterz said:
Personally, the assisted or automatic gimmick has lost most of its allure on me. Even here in AZ where I can carry whatever I want, I no longer own any assisted, and only one automatic (used to own many). The fact is that assisteds really aren't any faster than manuals these days.

Switchblades got their bad rap because of their portrayal as "bad guy" weapons in film and TV. But this was back when switchblades actually were faster than other knives. Compare a Hubertus switchblade to a Buck 110. The Hubertus is fast and needs only 1 hand, the Buck is slow and needs both hands.

The "tactical" revolution changed all that. Almost all knives made these days, unless they harken back to the traditional patterns, are fast 1 handed openers. Automatics really aren't necessary, even if you've got only 1 arm. I personally feel that all assisted knives, automatics, and even non-assisted flippers are popular only because of how fun they are to use (and they are fun to use). There just isn't a true need for it these days. People just buy and use them because they want to, and they enjoy it (but there's nothing wrong with that).

Assisted knives are popular because they skirt the switchblade laws because switchblades are almost always defined as having a button or switch, while assisteds don't. But you can be certain that if the Kershaw Leek had been around decades ago when those laws were written, assisteds would have been included in the bans somehow.

But personally, once you get past the fun gimmick of them, assisteds (and autos) really aren't the fastest way to go. Sure, a Benchmade Barrage might be a millisecond or two faster to open than my manual 940, but the assisted mechanism prevents me from flipping the knife closed in an instant, like I can do with my 940. Even a relatively slow knife like my Caly 3 is easier to close with one hand than an assisted knife. And of course, none of them open faster than my Endura Wave.

I don't hate assisted knives, I just don't see the need for them other than knifesturbation (but there's nothing wrong with that - it's only natural).
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:thumbup::thumbup: That word truly needs to be added to the glossary of knife terms :D
 
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I dont hate assisted opening knives but I sold most of them after I learned to flick the folders open with a thumb stud or spyder hole just as fast or faster than the assisted openers, plus the non-assisted knives are usually a bit lighter so easier to EDC.
 
"hate" is too strong a word. I don't like assisted opening knives for the reasons already stated:
-Can't control the speed or the noise
-One more thing to break
-Don't feel safe with it in my pocket unlocked, but I don't want to unlock a knife before opening it.

but for me the biggest reason is: It just doesn't feel right.
 
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