Why the hate for AO (assisted opening ) ?

DocJD

DocJD

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I can't help notice many members seem to strongly dislike AO even to the point that they will trouble themselves to "de-assist" some models .

This is just a curiosity for me , not a deep concern .

I've only ever owned and carried 3 AO folders . All are Ken Onion "Speed Safe " . Kershaw Blur and the Gryst ( my only one with a safety to prevent accidental opening) . ZT Scavenger .

Never had any problems with any of them , but never used them for anything abusive or "hard use" .

I did read in one thread about safeties that someone had a Kershaw Leek accidentally open in pocket and cause a groin injury . So , there's that concern , surely understandable ! :eek:
 
At least a few reasons that I can think of:
1. Almost all moderm locking folders without AO can be opened just as fast.
2. It is impossible to control/choose the speed of opening of AO knives.
3. The torsion bar of AO sometimes rattles.
4. In case the knife accidently opens in the pocket, an AO knife can be far more dangerous.
 
It's a solution to a problem that never existed. Any modern one handed opening knife can be opened plenty fast without any spring assistance. Just something else to break. I refuse to buy assisted knives. Plus, they don't look good in the eyes of non-knife folks. They are all "switchblades" to folks that don't know any better.
 
I don’t hate them, but do avoid AO now. My EDC for over a year was a 0566, and it served me very well. However, it lead me to these conclusions:

1. While it didn’t come up with the 0566, and I can walk to KAI, I don’t want the potential bother of a broken torsion bar.

2. The assist is clearly not necessary.

3. Unassisted folders are more satisfying for me during the close, and I’m not shy about acknowledging that I am a knife user who also enjoys the hell out of fidget flipping.

4. There’s no compelling reason to buy assisted.

That’s all. Nothing dramatic.
 
I don't hate them, but I find most of them I've owned, it took to much force to get them out to where the assist took over, that they were not any faster than similar non-assisted folders. But when Illinois finally made autos legal in 2017, I've never looked at another assisted anyway.
 
DocJD said:
I can't help notice many members seem to strongly dislike AO even to the point that they will trouble themselves to "de-assist" some models .

This is just a curiosity for me , not a deep concern .

I've only ever owned and carried 3 AO folders . All are Ken Onion "Speed Safe " . Kershaw Blur and the Gryst ( my only one with a safety to prevent accidental opening) . ZT Scavenger .

Never had any problems with any of them , but never used them for anything abusive or "hard use" .

I did read in one thread about safeties that someone had a Kershaw Leek accidentally open in pocket and cause a groin injury . So , there's that concern , surely understandable ! :eek:
Click to expand...

Just one more thing to break or go wrong. I can open manuals faster than some autos anyway. It’s a pocketknife, not a pistol.
 
I've had no problems with the few I owned. I just felt the deployment wasn't any faster than manually deploying the knife & folding any of the autos I owned was a bit awkward for me.

P.S. I think some who have trouble opening manual folders (disabled, arthritis) could benefit from an AO.
 
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Thanks to all ! These answers make good sense to me and satisfy my curiosity . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
I don't dislike AO's, although I do prefer a non assisted knife. With that being said, I have purchased a lot of AO's by Kershaw that I like. In fact, I put more priority on size, design, feel, blade steel, and quality of knife than I do on whether it is assisted or not. For this reason, I have a number of Kershaws at home, including 4 in M390 that I love and consider great bargains. In fact, I would rather have different material (maybe G10 over the slick aluminum) for the scales than having it non assisted.
 
It's multiple things for me. I dislike:
- loss of control of the tool
- spring tension resistance when I'm trying to close it
- anxiety about it accidentally opening in the pocket
- mental associations to low-quality knives, a significant percentage of non-traditional no-name gas-station knives are AO, whereas very few knives over $70 are.
- the inherent flimsiness of most springs employed. A thin metal band repeatedly put under load and flexed is just a recipe for disaster.*

*This is compounded by the often-employed practice of using the spring to hold the blade in the closed position instead of having a detent ball and corresponding hole on the blade tang. In that instance, a broken spring means a free-swinging blade that does not stay closed, and is also a poor substitute for trying to machine a good knife.

But, by far, I most dislike being unable to enjoy the mechanical precision of the only moving part of the tool - pivot smoothness is something I value highly in folders. A good detent with a smooth pivot goes a long way for getting a satisfying feeling of quality out of a knife. I want the knife to glide open to a satisfying click, and drop shut under its own weight when I disengage the lock. Springs prevent that.
 
Same for me as already mentioned, no advantage as manuals are just as fast and easy to open, but assisted is more difficult to close (the same reason I don't really like side opening autos). I have a Benchmade 581 that I used assisted for awhile, decided to de-assist it, and like it way more, it's one of my smoothest opening and closing folders I own, even compared to other Axis locks.
 
I didn't realize they were so hated, I don't love them but I can tolerate them. The big negative for me is that they're just not fun to close, still better than a Buck 110 though.

DocJD said:
I did read in one thread about safeties that someone had a Kershaw Leek accidentally open in pocket and cause a groin injury . So , there's that concern , surely understandable ! :eek:
Click to expand...
Doesn't the Leek have a secondary lock?
 
It seems that AO typically appeals to those who are just getting into the knife hobby. I know it was cool to me when I was just getting started in the hobby. The thinking was like “cool, this is practically a legal switchblade!”’ Before very long the novelty just wears off.


Many come to feel that AO is used to hide a poor action and would rather if the knife was just delivered with a good manual action in the first place.
 
The first folder I had with that was a Kershaw Whirlwind. I let a cop check it out at the gun range. I told him about it and not to "follow the blade" with his thumb when he opened it like you would a regular folder.

He did, and many stitches were the result.
 
I had a Leek, before they made the blade tip lock automatically engage upon closing.

I was concerned that it might open in my pocket if it wasn't locked, and if it WAS locked, it would take longer to open than a non-assisted model. It was therefore a moot point.

I can open my unassisted knives pretty quickly, but I don't delude myself that it's as quick as an auto. A proper auto with a recessed button would be nice and quick to open. A double action OTF too. But the decent OTFs are big bucks; not worth it to me.

I'm probably going to try one of the $40 Bokers soon.
 
NoF said:
Doesn't the Leek have a secondary lock?
Click to expand...
Leek does have a manual lock to prevent accidental opening , but not everyone uses it . Also , if the tip of the blade is missing , the lock might not work .
 
Smaug said:
I had a Leek, before they made the blade tip lock automatically engage upon closing.

I was concerned that it might open in my pocket if it wasn't locked, and if it WAS locked, it would take longer to open than a non-assisted model. It was therefore a moot point.

I can open my unassisted knives pretty quickly, but I don't delude myself that it's as quick as an auto. A proper auto with a recessed button would be nice and quick to open. A double action OTF too. But the decent OTFs are big bucks; not worth it to me.

I'm probably going to try one of the $40 Bokers soon.
Click to expand...

I honestly do not think an auto is any faster than a good manual knife, particularly a flipper. In the same ammount of time it takes for me to push a button with my thumb I can push a thumb stud or a flipper.
 
Smaug said:
Leek, before they made the blade tip lock automatically engage upon closing
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info . I only knew about the manual locks , like is on my old Gryst . I did use it , but it was really a PITA on such a small knife .
 
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