Will flicking a knife open eventually damage the lock and/or pivot?

[G8R8U2]

Friction and pressure are, well, friction and pressure... everything wears, and metal fatigues and eventually bends from repeated collisions.

How long it takes to fail and each person's own definition of what's considered excessive are really the questions; and there are too many additional factors to consider to come up with a definitive answer for all knives and situations.

 

[Sosa]

I'm not gonna pay 500 bucks for a knife with an anti-flicking clause in the warranty. Sorry Chris haha

 

[BBW]

It just wear things faster. There are "flipper" knives with no thumb stud or blade hole were the only way to open it is with a "flip". they are not different in any way lock wise than no flippers...

 

[Evolute]

I've been flicking my Cold Steel knife open perhaps 3-5 times per day for well over a dozen years. No signs of significant wear yet, and it's just a cheap knife. Sure, flicking will speed up wear and tear, but if even a cheap knife can handle decades of flicking without any issues, then it doesn't seem worth getting concerned about.

 

[G8R8U2]

I've been flicking my Cold Steel knife open perhaps 3-5 times per day for well over a dozen years. No signs of significant wear yet, and it's just a cheap knife. Sure, flicking will speed up wear and tear, but if even a cheap knife can handle decades of flicking without any issues, then it doesn't seem worth getting concerned about.

3 to 5 times a day is normal use; I think they're talking about sitting on the couch all day snapping it open hundreds of times, in addition to the normal use.

 

[pnsxyr]

There is normal flicking to use and there is flicking abusively (which I believe Chris Reeve didn't do a good job differentiating between). If you pinch the knife handle and flick downward with your wrist as hard as you physically can with the speed of a Mike Tyson punch so the knife SLAMS open with impressive force, the knife will wear faster, and in some cases outright damage will occur. The most common wear here is the development of blade play and lock wear, although materials can fracture in some extreme cases (although unusual). If someone opens and closes the knife hundreds or thousands of times a day just because, it's normal to expect to wear to occur at a faster rate. But even then and while I don't advise it, good knives are built to withstand that sort of repetition.

If you are flicking it open as a normal person does to use not to a point in which the force used to open the knife is grossly greater than the force needed to propel the blade to lock open, provided the stop pin is designer properly, the knife will be fine. In your case, the knife you have is built for usage and with normal usage it will be just fine, even if that normal usage means using a knife tons and tons of times each day as it is built for that purpose.

One step to reducing wear that is often overlooked is the care aspect. The proper maintenance can reduce wear significantly.

 

[dkb45]

There is a difference between flicking a knife and throwing a knife open like you are trying to launch the blade off. I have seen people open their knives like they are throwing a wide punch, or flicking a bug off their hand. I flick my knives with enough force to open them, but not enough to damage it. Flicking your knives intelligently will prematurely wear them out, but if you use your knives and sharpen them the blades will wear out significantly before the lock and stop pin are shot (unless they weren't good to begin with).

 

[Sosa]

There is a difference between flicking a knife and throwing a knife open like you are trying to launch the blade off. I have seen people open their knives like they are throwing a wide punch, or flicking a bug off their hand. I flick my knives with enough force to open them, but not enough to damage it. Flicking your knives intelligently will prematurely wear them out, but if you use your knives and sharpen them the blades will wear out significantly before the lock and stop pin are shot (unless they weren't good to begin with).

To me "throwing" the knife open is a separate issue. Before the advent of thumb studs and spider holes some would use the inertia of the blade to "throw" them open. Some still practice this but it's not necessary.

 

[EChoil]

Either way we are doomed unless Jesus gets here in time, brother. In the meantime, I will desist from the wrist flick method. Thanks. Your story did...er... undid the trick (ha ha, get it?).

Wonder what HE carries....

 

[HorseloverFat]

^
Who is "HE" ? Jesus?

 

[EChoil]

^
who is "he" ? Jesus?

wwjc ?

 

[HorseloverFat]

^
Didn't that character say he was gonna bring a sword?

 

[JNewell]

Such as a Manix 2 (G-10) ? I had not given this much consideration until another member recently counseled against this practice due to the potential damage that could be inflicted upon the mechanism. I imagine that this would no be much of a concern unless the knife had been opened using this method hundreds of times? Thanks in advance for your comments...

Either way we are doomed unless Jesus gets here in time, brother. In the meantime, I will desist from the wrist flick method. Thanks. Your story did...er... undid the trick (ha ha, get it?).

Flicking is an extremely ambiguous term here. You need to specify whether you're talking about thumb flicking or wrist flicking.

But while we're on the subject, I have a vehicle with an engine that has a 13.5:1 compression ratio. I like to run it on 87 octane gas and put my foot all the way into the accelerator as often as I can because I love the knocking noises that the engine makes. Do you think there's any reason not to do that???

 

[bigmark408]

I have never heard my knives ping...its more like a solid click sound and I love it.

Every time I handle a new Emerson I like to give it a nice wrist flick and then hand it back to the owner and watch as they try and disengage the lock.