Why get a flipper?

I currently own only one real flipper, a ZT 0562. I love it, and I love the flipper. However, when searching for future purchases, few of the knives I look at have flippers. Not anything against them, the knives I like just generally don't have them. I have never really found a disadvantage or an advantage of a flipper in practical use. As stated above, theoretically it could get in the way, or save your fingers in a thrust, but I have never experienced either of these things personally. A flipper, especially a good flipper, is a lot of fun and I can appreciate it from an engineering perspective. I think every knife fan should give a decent flipper, like a ZT, a try. I have handled knives that do not flip very well and they kind of kill it for me. The Benchmade 300 Flipper is a good example. Great knife, horrid flipper. I think if you find a flipper model you like otherwise, and meets your other criteria for a knife, give it a go!
 
I don't think they offer any particular advantage in terms of speed, ease of use, keeping finger safe beyond what many non-flippers do, but a good flipper is tons of fun which, in a hobby like this, can be really important to a lot of people.
 
When I was nine or ten, I figured out how to open my Buck by pinching the blade near the nail nick and flipping it open one-handed.
My knife-carrying friends copied the idea (just like I copied another friend who opened his zippo with a flourish).

I like flippers and assisted flippers because I am often already holding what needs to be cut and it's easier to just grab the knife and open it with one hand.
(As opposed to mall-ninja concerns of speed deployment during a spec. op.)
The thumb stud is a viable option, but I find it a bit more awkward than the flipper.
 
Why a flipper? Because when a flipper is designed right, it makes for a perfectly viable, practical & positive means of opening said knife.

Personally not being a big fan of thumb studs or thumb discs for opening, I find flipper opening nice.
 
I can't say that I go looking for flippers, but if I see a beautiful knife that is a flipper it doesn't stop me from getting it.
I have a bunch of flippers and the good ones are great!! I have 3 ZTs that are fantastic flippers!!! J Brous makes a great flipper! Really great!! Spydie Southard & Domino are excellent!
Anyone thinking of giving a flipper a try......DO NOT look at a $16.99 special!! Get something good!
They are a lot of fun!
Joe
 
I really like unassisted flippers that are done well.
I often have a box or a pallet band in one hand that needs to be cut, and its convenient for me to flip the blade out, cut, and close all with one hand.
 
I use my knife at work a lot. Having a blade I can engage easily and quickly with one hand is a big plus for me. I have flippers from the $50 to the $250 range. However, I didn't buy my ZTs because they are flippers. I bought them because I liked knife. Honestly, they could have a Spydie hole or stud and I'd still buy them.

That said, my day to day walking around blades tend to be regular ol' slippies.
 
I like flippers, but like it has been said, it is a personal preference. Not all flippers are created equal.
 
I absolutely like flippers, though it does not mean I prefer it to other opening mechanisms.
 
A well-made, unassisted flipper can be the best play-toy in the world. So much fun to sit and flip during the last two minutes of a football game :D.

Good flippers are an excellent opening mechanism for a knife. Unlike the other one handed systems; hole, stud and Axis, the Flipper requires very little action on the part of the thumb. If you have an injury or arthritis to your thumbs, the Flipper can be a godsend.

You notice that I'm stressing good, well-made unassisted flippers. Poorly made flippers (flippers that don't flip) are a pain in the butt. Likewise, if a flipper is well-made, there's no reason for it to be assisted.
 
I got a couple, and a buddy went off the deep end over flippers. For me, flippers are fun to play with, but in use find I occasionally don't open them properly and I hate having to adjust from my expectation. I would rather carry a small fixed blade and two handed open over a flipper, at least they deploy as expected. The only flipper I carry regularly is a Link because if the assist generally carry is a SAK. But flippers are kewl and are fun to play with, just like automatics, butterflys, gravity knives, German Paratroppers, fixed blades, swords, axes, et. et :)
 
I only have one (a Spyderco Dice, IMHO the best EDC folder I've ever owned). Not because it's a flipper, but because it is beautifully made, the ergonomics are perfect for me, and the size is just right. The fact it is a flipper wasn't a major factor in its purchase, but I was not unhappy to try one out. And I like them, or at least this one.
 
miso2 said:
I prefer front flipper designs above all other opening mechanisms I have experienced so far (vlade nick, thumb stud, regular flipper, and the spydie hole, which would be my second best).
It gives me more control on the blade than regular flipper or any other mechanisms.
I can either flick it or slowly open it.
Furthermore, it does not have that cumbersome flipper tab!

[Youtube]QdFvM6112Hc[/Youtube]


Miso
Click to expand...

Agreed, front flippers are great. I kept my comments about typical flippers but I really like front flippers, I modded my Spyderco Gayle Bradley so it functions ok as a front flipper. My favorite flipper is my Smock Knives SK23. I don't what to call the flipper though, it's not typical as it doesn't protrude out the back, and it's not at the front. I guess top flipper? Anyways, it's awesome!
 
To me the assisted flipper RJ Martin "Tactical" 3.5 1986mw was a revelation.

It seemed to have all the advantages of an automatic, with none of the downsides, plus far greater reliability.

I thought the small guard was a further advantage. There is absolutely no downside to the assisted feature, even though some imaginative people try to claim there is...

The strong, but not excessive, detent of this assisted flipper made me carry a liner lock for the first time in nearly twenty years (since a CRKT Apache opened in my pocket and send me to the hospital)...

Even its tiny pocket clip was superior to any other... And I got the knife for free with another purchase (a $500 Al Mar 3003a "oppressor liber")... I still really love the massive Al Mar, but it needed much more than a heavy sharpening like the Kershaw: A full REK re-grind to a zero edge, and convenience wise it seems like a dinosaur in comparison...

Canadian customs now stop and restrict all flippers (strangely enough, since Canadian laws allow them), and they check every knife package nowadays, so my one free Kershaw flipper is quite literally the king of my folder collection... All my $500 folding knives are users, to save wear and tear on the free knife...

Gaston
 
Flippers are for play. I only get one that can be opened with my thumb also,and that I like despite the flipper. Don t really see the advantage of a flipper except to play with.
 
I used to hate flippers.
Then I got some nice knives with them.
Now I just see it as another way to open a knife, and if the knife I want has one, that's okay.

If the knife I want doesn't have a flipper, that's okay too. :)
 
Picture cutting an apple with a 3-3.5" blade (legal length in many areas and what I consider perfect EDC length) using a classic four-slice technique. A lot of times, if you got a good size apple you end up wanting to use the whole blade. If you have a thumb stud you either lose some blade length or have to push the stud all the way through the apple. Strider/Hinderer style studs that tuck up near the handle are decent at avoiding this. A spydie hole let you use the whole blade but you end up getting apple guck in the whole that you have to clean out. With a flipper you get a clean blade of which you can use 100%. Also a good flipper can be easier to use in your non-dominant hand if the need arises, such as if you happen to be holding a line in your dominant hand and want to cut it without losing tension.
 
As a lefty, I find it easier to open, as most of the knives out there are designed for right handed opening.

I carry my ZT 0566 tip down, the "flipper" is at the top so I have never had a problem with it getting caught while pulling it out.
 
I like it for edc knives that see frequent use.
Easily ambidextrous with one hand. Requires very little movement, and it opens every single time without fail or any real technique to think about. Knives arent a hobby for me, i just want it to open quick and easy. I carry a ZT 0770. I dont really care for the spring assist, but it opens reliably. I might get a 0452 next.
 
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