Wrist flick or easy open lock back blades

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rasp21

Joined
Apr 18, 2015
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O.K. guys, I am guilty of doing the hard wrist flick on the open of the large lock back knives, buck 110, schrade LB7 , and all after. I know some say that is no no, It didn't seem to hurt any of my large lock backs, so the question is " who has had any knife problems from doing the hard wrist flip on a large lock back? Honest question, just looking for good feed back. rasp21. Thanks.
 
My Buck 110 requires two hands to open it, unless I were to open it halfway using two hands, and then in a separate motion flip my wrist to open it the rest of the way. Is that what you are referring to? If so, why would you ever want to do that?
 
This can stay for a spell, though it is a fairly unusual question for us here in Traditional. I've never tried this, but I know that some folks used to do it before the development of thumb stud type knives.
 
jc57, yes, that is what I am talking about. Open half way and flick, and go on with the task at hand. No real reason to do it, other than it FEELS quicker to get on with the chore, or, it may just be a bad habit. I do this when I am by my self, so this is not an impress the kids thing, may just be a bad habit, I don't know. Any one else in this bad habit? rasp21.
 
I tend to open slipjoints with one hand, when I'm at work. (also, depending on how hard the pull is) I have found that friction folders are fairly easy to open with one hand. I don't own any lockbacks though, so I haven't tried opening one with a flick.
 
Ah, I understand now. Forgive my ignorance, I wasn't criticizing you, just trying to figure out what you meant.
 
My uncle opens his buck 110 by grabbing the blade and flicking the handle out, mostly when he's got something else in the other hand. I know his method damages the pivot area, they get real sloppy real fast.
 
ryan sumner, I can open my large lock backs with my thumb, half way, and then do the hard wrist flick to open and lock. I learned this when I was 12 yrs. old from an old boy that lived in the orchard behind our house. I know a lot of guys do this, may be not real common, but many still do. Takes awhile to practice, but many guys do it that way. ,rasp21
 
To me there is something aesthetically pleasing slowly opening a knife fully with two hands and hearing that nice "CLICK!"
 
My brother and I used to do it before Spyderco's and thumb studs. My brother still carries lock back knives and still does it. It will loosen the blade up a bit after awhile. Not too bad though.
 
Opening lockbacks holding the blade and flicking the handle has been done since they have been around, when having the other hand busy.
By doing that you rely on the heavier handle inertia, and of course there is the risk of overdoing, particularly in presence of brass pivots.
If you flick the blade, on the contrary it's small weight isn't enough to provide too much pivot problems.
 
I have a Puma that I've been doing it to since 1986. It got some play after about 20 years of carry, but since it has exposed domed pins, I just gave it a little tap and it tightened up. I don't think it got the play from flicking open so much as all the years of hard use. I carried it every day for at least 10 years.

With knives like my Puma and the 110, lots of people flicked them open in the 70s-80s days. Some would have the sheath upside down so you could thumb it open, the knife dropped into your hand and then you could flick it open. Once your 110 wore in, you could just wrist flick it and did not have to hold the blade any longer.
 
rasp21 said:
O.K. guys, I am guilty of doing the hard wrist flick on the open of the large lock back knives, buck 110, schrade LB7 , and all after. I know some say that is no no, It didn't seem to hurt any of my large lock backs, so the question is " who has had any knife problems from doing the hard wrist flip on a large lock back? Honest question, just looking for good feed back. rasp21. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Rasp,

The way I've done this in the past is to pinch the blade spine with the pivot end near my palm. A sharp downward flick will cause the frame to open away from the blade with a decisive "snap".

A slightly softer version of this is similar to how I one hand open my Opinels. Pinch the blade as above with the thumb and index finger. Then using the tip of the middle finger, push the frame down away from the blade. Once the blade is out a bit, I hook the butt end of the frame against my thigh to open the knife all the way.

I find all lock backs regardless of brand to be a bit frail. They all develop vertical blade play eventually. The fastest way for me to croak a lock back is to use it for brush cutting. The hard cutting forces eventually cause the play to develop. Lockbar/blade interfaces wear, main pivots wear and lockbar pivots wear.

I suspect that the snap open method may contribute to wear in the same way that aggressive driving contributes to tire wear. It's not like tires or lock backs last forever though.
 
I read somewhere the lockback designs like the 110 were not good candidates for conversion to auto knives because the blade action was hard on the contact/bearing areas of the lock. Flicking it out is the same action so will probably hurt it eventually....

I know that auto 110's exist but that's what I read anyway.
 
Thanks, I just had to open the case and grab a 110 to try it with. Works with what I call a drop open. (holding the blade) Could not get the wrist flick right (too stiff?). I have been using this drop open with Spydercos for years and never had a problem.
 
SAK Guy said:
I read somewhere the lockback designs like the 110 were not good candidates for conversion to auto knives because the blade action was hard on the contact/bearing areas of the lock. Flicking it out is the same action so will probably hurt it eventually....

I know that auto 110's exist but that's what I read anyway.
Click to expand...

This isn't about converting a lockback to an auto, per se. It's about using the weight of the frame to open the knife (using the technique I described above - pinch the blade and flick the frame downward).

Note: in some jurisdictions, law enforcement officers will use this test to classify a knife as a "gravity knife". The Buck 110 will easily "fail" this test.

Note: the issue of wear and tear on the contact/bearing surfaces of the lock on a lock back are much bigger than this sort of flick open. Take nearly any lock back and make a hard cut through a 1" branch while leaving your thumb on the back of the knife's frame near the bolster. You'll feel the lock bar lift slightly as the blade literally attempts to wedge itself under the front face of the lock bar.

The only lockback design I know of that won't do this is the Cold Steel Triad lock, which puts a stop pin between the blade and the face of the lock bar. Opening force is taken by the stop pin, not the lock bar. IMO, this is a legitimate improvement that should be copied.
 
pinnah said:
This isn't about converting a lockback to an auto, per se. It's about using the weight of the frame to open the knife (using the technique I described above - pinch the blade and flick the frame downward).

Note: in some jurisdictions, law enforcement officers will use this test to classify a knife as a "gravity knife". The Buck 110 will easily "fail" this test.

Note: the issue of wear and tear on the contact/bearing surfaces of the lock on a lock back are much bigger than this sort of flick open. Take nearly any lock back and make a hard cut through a 1" branch while leaving your thumb on the back of the knife's frame near the bolster. You'll feel the lock bar lift slightly as the blade literally attempts to wedge itself under the front face of the lock bar.

The only lockback design I know of that won't do this is the Cold Steel Triad lock, which puts a stop pin between the blade and the face of the lock bar. Opening force is taken by the stop pin, not the lock bar. IMO, this is a legitimate improvement that should be copied.
Click to expand...


I reread the OP and it's about opening the blade half way and using a hard wrist flick motion to snap out the blade. I used the example of the auto knife conversion to illustrate the results of the same force on the lock as a hard wrist flick.
 
Given that most of the folding knives I have are either small (~3" to 4" closed) or they're elderly, I'm definitely in the two-hands-to-open category. I figure that if a knife wasn't designed to be opened by a wrist-flick, I'm not going to subject it to that, whatever the circumstances.

There is also a question of social acceptibility when you flick open a knife around other people. With non-knife folks, flicking a knife open always, without fail, signals bad intentions on your part, no matter what your actual intentions are. You can protest this as much as you like, and the protestations will be ignored by everyone because they go up against too many hoodlum-switchblade-bad-guy movies and TV shows which have poisoned the air.

I get it that, as Pinnah says, in the end knives are consumable items. However, taking that approach assumes easy replaceability for whatever gets broken. With an old knife — and most of mine are — that's not a realistic assumption. (Nothing I have is rare — they're just mostly long out of production.)

It's lucky I have no occupational need for a beater knife I could open with one hand. If I did, it would be nothing in my current collection. Instead, I'd go out to Menards/Home Depot/Lowe's and buy some made-in-China modern-style folder with a thumbknob or something similar. If it got wrecked in use, well, there's plenty more where it came from.

I guess opening style all depends on what assumptions you bring to the knife in your hand.
 
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You also run the issue of the force of gravity is greater than the grip strength of two fingers; merely drop or watch a knife fly from your fingers to understand the issue. I have damaged or broken a Buck Knight that way, and myriads of others.
 
I pinch drop some of my lock backs like the 99 Wall Street:



And use a one handed close by pushing the lock with my thumb and the the blade with the pad of my hand. Then flip it over to close. One handed opening and closing of a traditional.



Mike
 
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