Why would anyone go for an assisted knife?

Granting my preference is for full automatic folders and granting I only own a few assisted opener knives, I am puzzled by the obvious dislike of assisted openers by a number of posters. :oops: I really don't care one way or another but I am curious about the feelings.
 
Chance Mc Call said:
Granting my preference is for full automatic folders and granting I only own a few assisted opener knives, I am puzzled by the obvious dislike of assisted openers by a number of posters. :oops: I really don't care one way or another but I am curious about the feelings.
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Lucky for you, some of us offered our opinions in detail.

If you talked to me from maybe 1998 to 2015, I'd have been carrying an assisted knife. So it's not like I don't have experience with them. The change was that good manual action started becoming widely available in budget knives. All of a sudden, I could have everything what I wanted from an assisted knife (fast opening) without all the jank (slop in engaging the assist, having to push it closed, extra things to go wrong, and more complicated maintenance).
 
K.O.D. said:
My sense of humor is pretty damned dry but y'all generally seem to get when I'm joking.

I got the joke, but even for a thug a tac-force is a low blow. At least make it a S&W.

Everyone has different tastes. I excel at saying outrageous crap and keeping a straight face in real life. It's a love it or hate it kind of humor. I had my nephews convinced for over a year that his parents got their little brother at babies'r'us. Years later they now told him (he is 5) and his response? "No, they got me at home depot." Yeah I'm a bad influence.
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Lol I’m the same way man. One time my family and I went jet skiing on the lake for the first time. My mother is not an outdoor person. her and I are sitting on the dock and there is a bird in the water right in front of us. She asks me “what kind of bird is that?“ I looked over without hesitation and said “oh that’s a purple spotted warbler“. About two years later her and I are talking and bullshitting and I made a comment about the purple spotted warbler. She had found out from one of her friends that that bird does not exist. She goes on to tell me that for the past two years she had been telling all of her friends about the purple spotted warblers. Lol. Granted I don’t know you at all. But I believe they call us “awkward enablers”.
 
shane45-1911 said:
Lol, law enforcement. :)
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(ADHD brain fighting the urge to ask a bunch of questions that are irrelevant to this thread) I appreciate you and your line of work. I feel that is pretty admirable. I realize why those jokes may have offended you. But I found them kind of funny. Then again I don’t feel anyone should put limits on what someone is aloud to joke about or what they find funny.
 
In my middle-school youth, I somhow gotr a stiletto switch blade and managed to keep it from my parents sphere of awarness. Mostly used it as a fidget till both the button catch and the locking bar wore to the point that it would not close or open properly . . .or at all.

As a mature adult now in my 70s, I do not want a switch blade, but fumbling open my Spyderco or the Leatherman Wave is getting troublesome. I would like an assisted opening blade on either or both of them. . .. preferably a "flipper" designe.
 
NPT said:
Offhand, it just sounds like you're a giant jealous peckerwood because you can't have something some of us can. I need an assisted/auto like I need an AR. I don't need it, I want it. I see absolutely no downside to an assisted knife. I carried one for years. There may be downsides to an auto, depends on who you are and the uses you have for it.
But I will tell you this; I'm not fond of thumb studs. For some reason I can't understand, I have a hard time with them. Every time I try one, I come close to separating a fingernail from the nailbed, which is never a good time. So I get that lots of people like them, that's cool, they can have my share. I'll stick to autos, thanks.
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Wanting an AR is a valid reason to get one. I can’t say I don’t need mine. I don’t need it yet at this very moment but I need it to make sure I never need it but can’t have it . If I ever do NEED it I’ll have it. I don’t want to worry about my vehicle breaking down, but I need to accept that is a real problem and need to have the tools Necessary to fix it.
 
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NadrojSnevets said:
Lol I’m the same way man. One time my family and I went jet skiing on the lake for the first time. My mother is not an outdoor person. her and I are sitting on the dock and there is a bird in the water right in front of us. She asks me “what kind of bird is that?“ I looked over without hesitation and said “oh that’s a purple spotted warbler“. About two years later her and I are talking and bullshitting and I made a comment about the purple spotted warbler. She had found out from one of her friends that that bird does not exist. She goes on to tell me that for the past two years she had been telling all of her friends about the purple spotted warblers. Lol. Granted I don’t know you at all. But I believe they call us “awkward enablers”.
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For sure, and I got it from my dad. He was from Illinois and my mom Texas. They went to college in Texas and I guess the term "eat my shorts" was popular here but unknown down there. My dad would always say it and had her convinced he came up with it. Lo and behold his miscreant friends from Chicago come to Texas and are saying it and absolutely died when she told them my dad came up with it.

My oldest nephew (9) has learned well from me. Well, actually, as of Wednesday, I found out he's not my oldest nephew. I have an older half sister who out of the blue contacted my mom. 46 years after being given up for adoption. Now I have a 12 year old nephew and a 15 year old niece who have yet to experience my bad influence.
 
K.O.D. said:
For sure, and I got it from my dad. He was from Illinois and my mom Texas. They went to college in Texas and I guess the term "eat my shorts" was popular here but unknown down there. My dad would always say it and had her convinced he came up with it. Lo and behold his miscreant friends from Chicago come to Texas and are saying it and absolutely died when she told them my dad came up with it.

My oldest nephew (9) has learned well from me. Well, actually, as of Wednesday, I found out he's not my oldest nephew. I have an older half sister who out of the blue contacted my mom. 46 years after being given up for adoption. Now I have a 12 year old nephew and a 15 year old niece who have yet to experience my bad influence.
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I that’s crazy, my younger sister just had a kid. For me the reason I love being an awkward enabler so much is how sensitive people have become and how unwilling people are to be direct. Whether it’s out of fear or embarrassment or social anxiety, all of that is irrelevant to me. It warms my heart To induce mega cringe embarrassment to those around me. It’s almost like The new version of being a shock jockey.
 
Funny thread. Every red-blooded American Patriot should have multiple ARs in their closet, and, well, they probably do. Views on the 2nd Amendment on this site puzzle me at times.

Anyway..

I’ll say SO many good knives have been ruined by SpeedSafe / assisted opening - lookin’ at you KAI. Offer the same knife in both AO and non-AO if you have to.

I repeat - offer the same knives in both styles.

I will not buy AO knives anymore.

The ZT0566 was my go to EDC for quite a while and I can hardly stand the things anymore because of the SpeedSafe crap now.

ZT0770CF and ZT0357 are prime examples of good knives that could’ve been great knives.
 
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It's been so long since I've owned an AO knife, but to me easy of closing is every bit as important as ease of opening. That's why I carry a fixed blade :) Half kidding. Buy what you like!
 
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