Why have an assisted opener

[Majorlk]

Tell the truth folks. Tell it like it is.
There IS a certain degree of Coolness Factor to the Assisted Opener knives. They are neat knives.
The mechanism is SIMPLE ~ it's not complex.
So the AO feature is not really complicating the knife much at all.
Just find one of good quality that is not junk.

What? Are we now going to make "neatness & coolness" taboo in America?

We are Americans.
We actually LIKE and appreciate some degree of doggone coolness.

Are we now going to apologize for liking a cool perfectly functioning Assisted Opener?

We're hopefully still in the land of the free and the home of the brave...for a little while longer anyway.

You want an AOK because you just happen to LIKE the way it flicks open & you have the hard earned (gradually depreciating) American Dollars to pay for one.

You go buy one if for no other reason than it's just because you want one and you can afford to own one...or two...or three of them. & God Bless America.

Own & carry the knife you like. It's a great American tradition.
Our forefathers were never without a blade and if they were ever without one there sure were times when they wished they had one.

AMEN!!!! why should it matter to anyone what someone else carries?

I have a 30-year old Swiss Army Knife for all the mundane cutting and fingernail cleaning chores and a Kershaw Blur for whatever the SAK can't handle.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[bladenbullet]

my assisted openers have thumb studs...i am assuming by the direction of this thread many are assuming that assisted openers do not...

there may be some confusion between assisted openers and automatic knives which normally only have a button to open the blade....

[packinnova]

AMEN!!!! why should it matter to anyone what someone else carries?

I have a 30-year old Swiss Army Knife for all the mundane cutting and fingernail cleaning chores and a Kershaw Blur for whatever the SAK can't handle.

Man those things are workhorses...Mine's only going on 15 years though. Although I do still have and use the old Barlow my great grandfather passed to me when I was a kid. That thing is ancient but it still gets the job done. Not really destined for people work, but that's what the ZT is for.

[HiFreq47]

my assisted openers have thumb studs...i am assuming by the direction of this thread many are assuming that assisted openers do not...

there may be some confusion between assisted openers and automatic knives which normally only have a button to open the blade....

An assisted opener is any knife that has any kind of built-in mechanism that exhibits force upon the blade in such a manner that the blade is deployed.

There are many knives that have a spring system that will rotate the blade around once the blade has partially opened by the user - that's an Assisted Opener. Many of these blades have thumb studs by which the user will accomplish the task of partially opening the blade.

That said, the existence of a thumb stud does not make a knife an "assisted" knife. My Benchmade 950 Rift has dual thumb studs, but the blade can only be deployed by hand, with no mechanical assist whatsoever - that is NOT an "assisted" or "automatic" knife.

[shockwave]

Let's review the terminology because there's confusion here:

Folding knife: No springs or gizmos. You use a thumb stud or a fingernail slot, or a hole in the spine of the blade. Some like the Spydercos can be snapped out one-handed with the thumb alone, some like the Bucks need a snapping motion of the wrist.

Assisted opener: A new development, these open manually to about 30 degrees, then a spring takes over and opens the knife the rest of the way. The Gerber FAST or Elishewitz Horus are examples of this type.

Balisong: Also called "Butterfly Knife," these have handles that swing around to open or close the blade. Some new types also employ assisted-open technology.

Automatic: Press a button to activate the blade. Some are side-openers and others are OTF.

Fixed blade: Tanto, Ka-Bar, Bowie, etc.

If you're a knife enthusiast you'll have at least one of each of the above styles. Something to consider in a FoF scenario is that you might be grappling and rolling around on the pavement, and if you can get your hand on your knife, either a fixed blade or auto may prove the most useful.

[jeep45238]

Give me a fixed blade, or a folder with a zip tie on the blade. Much faster than any automatic knife on the draw, let alone an assisted knife.



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[QKShooter]

Assisted Opener Quick VID.
YouTube - SOG Flash II Arc Lock Info

[Ghettokracker71]

yep i agree..... no assisted opener here:

Too bad I don't feel theres an efficient way to EDC a non-folder for me. In VA I have to have at least a clip showing, but those sure are nice!

Man this thread is about as bad as the old standard .45 vs 9 or open vs concealed or two hands vs one or ...my pickle is longer than yours...

Actually, mine is largest

....I've EDC them all. Regular thumb stud. AOK (Kershaw Blur Tanto).My preference is my current EDC, wich is a Spyderco Delica4 with the emerson wave-open feature.

[psychophipps]

I will freely admit that there is certain "coolness" factor in assisted-openers and automatic knives. I just got to handle with a new Benchmade Bedlam auto and it was pretty dang nifty with great ergonomics, a fantastic blade shape if you do edge-forward slicing, and a rock-solid lock-up. Please don't think that my earlier comment meant that I feel that all auto and AO knives are complete junk.

That said, I have seen a AO knife fail in a manner that made the knife completely worthless for use as a folding knife (or a fixed one as the knife was locked in place closed to where even hammering couldn't get it open without completely destroying the knife). An AO knife from a well-respected manufacturer that supplies various military and LE personnel around the world with a great deal of satisfaction for fit, finish, and performance in some serious nasty conditions. The failure in question also could not have happened in the manner it did to my standard Griptilian folder. So I was mentioning that there is a potential for a mechanical failure in a AO knife of any maker that is higher than the same potential for a standard folder simply because the AO knife is more mechanically complex.

I'm all for "cool", but the increase in mechanical failure potential, the lack of any perceived speed or reliability advantage by myself in terms of deployment (not to mention deployment under stress), and the typical increased costs involved in these "neat but not truly advantageous to psychophipps' experience" lead me to post a simple opinion that unfortunately proved to be in the negative. If it's more show than go, I'm really not all that interested in dropping extra cash for it.

If you think that AO is good to go...

[Bob O]

I carry a folder weak side, and as much as I've practiced I am still quite slow and clumsy with a non-assisted folder.

I have a Gerber F.A.S.T. Draw assisted that makes a big difference. The Gerber has both thumb studs and a flipper, and it can be wrist flicked.

Strong side, a non-assisted is just about the same as an assisted for me.

Bobo

[Ghettokracker71]

I carry a folder weak side, and as much as I've practiced I am still quite slow and clumsy with a non-assisted folder.

I have a Gerber F.A.S.T. Draw assisted that makes a big difference.

Strong side, a non-assisted is just about the same as an assisted for me.

Bobo

Thanks for bringing this up. I carried a folder strong-side for many years. And only pretty recently have I switched to carrying it weak-side (pocket carry my S&W or p3at strong side now. ) and the wave opener really shines there. Just like you said, I'm SO used to it strong side, its about the same, maybe a TAD quicker with a wave-opener. On weak-side, its night&day.

[tokerblue]

Thanks for bringing this up. I carried a folder strong-side for many years. And only pretty recently have I switched to carrying it weak-side (pocket carry my S&W or p3at strong side now. ) and the wave opener really shines there. Just like you said, I'm SO used to it strong side, its about the same, maybe a TAD quicker with a wave-opener. On weak-side, its night&day.

- I have an Emerson Combat Karambit for my weak side back pocket. It definitely is very quick to draw with my weak hand.

[MilitaryPower]

I have a Kershaw Blur that is assisted opening. I do not trust it as my defense folder though. I know and practice opening my defensive folders and I know when they are open and I don't have to go for that little thumb stud. If my AO doesn't open all the way, I'm screwed. Who practices opening their AO knife all the way manually? Plus, most use a liner lock which I don't like for defensive use either.

[Majorlk]

I'm not into "cool" or "tacticool" or any other of the current buzz words; I just like what works for ME!

[bassoneer]

I must be missing something...why is a thumb stud better than an assited opening knive? I have lots of both, and I have my own thoughts, but I'm wondering for those so big on thumb studs...am I doing it wrong? Is there something that is counter-intuitive and I'm just missing it? Seems pretty straight-forward to me...they both work, but the assisted opening knives are much faster (for me)...what am I missing? Thanks, B