Friday, December 04, 2009

Assisted Opening Knives: The Politically “Correct” Switchblade

First, an apology to any readers I may (still) have.

I know I haven’t written anything since last May and for that I apologize. I like knives and have about 50 of them. They range from lock blades, switchblades, assisted-opening knives, boot knives, combat knives, one machete, one Cold Steel Kukri and a Katana.

I also have several videos and books about knives and knife fighting.

Having that much material, I thought I would have no problems writing a blog every month or so. I’m not making any promises, but I’ll try to do better. Now on to my blog:





Assisted Opening Knives: The Politically “Correct” Switchblade

An assisted-opening (AO) knife differs from a switchblade in that the tab or lever attached to the blade pushes it outward slightly before a spring mechanism fully opens the blade. A switchblade on the other hand is described (so far) as a knife which completely opens with a press of a button on the handle.

Why are AO knives legal and switchblades illegal in most places? In my humble, however correct opinion it is because some, if not most of the people who write weapon laws are ball-less, ignorant cowards.

We dodged a bullet a while back that would have redefined many pocket knives and especially AO knives as “switchblades”.

Several months ago, the U.S. Customs Service attempted to redefine switchblades in a way that could have included AO knives or folding knives with thumb stud attached to the blade.

Thanks mainly to the knife rights activists at www.KnifeRights.org, the Customs office has backed off.

An assisted-opening knife differs from a switchblade because while switchblade opens with a push of a button on the handle, an AO knife opens after you put slight pressure on a button of lever that is connected to the blade. The slight pressure starts the opening of the blade and the spring assist completes the opening and locks the blade into position.

Confused? I am.

A knife that opens quickly and easily one-handed is an ideal weapon for self-defense. Obviously a sheath knife is usually faster, but a folder is handier and is less prone to upset the cowardly sheep in our society.




The knife shown on the top here is the SOG Trident. It’s a decent enough knife, but it’s a bit thick for me.

The second knife down is made by Smith and Wesson and is an out-the-front (OTF) AO knife. The knife opens with a fairly solid “snap”. My only problem with these knives is the button is near the bottom of the handle, which can make reaching the button and then repositioning your hand into fighting position can be a bit time-consuming if you’re in a tight spot

The third knife down is a Smith and Wesson, Military & Police, side opening AO. The knife can be opened using the thumb stud near the top of the handle or by using the lever located on the back of the handle. I have two of these and the stud on the lever on one of broke off.

The knife on the bottom was designed by Blackie Collins. This knife is plastic except for the springs which assist in the opening of the knife.

The knife can’t be sharpened but the point could probably do some damage. While it may be tempting to try to get this knife past a metal detector, I’m betting it would pick up the metal spring, maybe not, but why would any otherwise law-abiding person want to slip a knife past a metal detector?



These two knives are AO F.A.S.T. , Applegates, made by Gerber. The button on the side of the handle both locks the blade to keep it from opening and unlocks the opened blade for closing. I often activate the lock when placing the knife in my pocket and have to force myself to remember to unlock it. While I like these two knives I rarely carry them. I still need more time to get used to them.

Assisted-opening knives are a good and fun alternative to switchblades. I prefer the actual switchblade but I live in California.

Bryan Grasper

BryanGrasper@live.com

831-241-4767

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