The Assisted Opening Knife - A Great Tool

[Andrew Joiner]

I just got a Kershaw Hotwire. It pops open with one hand and locks solidly. I tested it in the store along with a few low cost, one hand opening knives and was surprised. The precision and quality you get for under $20 is amazing.
As a kid I was fascinated with switchblades but they were illegal. I guess people thought all only a criminal would need one. Now even automatic knives are legal in many states.

I got home and flicked open my new knife to open some boxes. How handy is that to have one hand free to grasp the box while you safely open and close you cutting tool with your other hand!

[Ben Rivel]

And if you really wanna be impressed with coolness, check out a MicroTech OTF knife! Sadly something else most of us can own/carry.

[Andrew Joiner]

It brings out the boy in me. For years I wanted a tool like this and now I can have one, legally.

[John A Murray]

As a kid I was fascinated with switchblades but they were illegal. I guess people thought all only a criminal would need one. Now even automatic knives are legal in many states.

Ha...when I read that, it reminded me of when I was a kid living in TX I too was fascinated with switchblades but knew they were illegal. We went to Mexico once and I "smuggled" one back across the boarder. I was scared for weeks that I was going to get arrested. LOL.

Enjoy your new knife.

[Richard Wolf]

When I was a kid, we used to buy pocket knives and take them apart and sand, file and polish the hinge to make them into gravity knives. Those that don't know, a gravity knife was a knife you could open by flicking your wrist. It saved me a beating one night, I was on the wrong side of town with my school jacket on coming home from my girlfriend's house, two guys down the block noticed me and start to come at me. I flicked open the knife and I guess they wanted no part of it and did a 180 and left.

[John K Jordan]

How handy is that to have one hand free to grasp the box while you safely open and close you cutting tool with your other hand!

Handy and a real safety issue around the farm too. I once had a haltered horse spook while she was tied, flailing, trying to rear, was about to hurt herself badly. I pulled the knife clipped to right front pocket, flicked open, cut the rope - disaster averted.

One-handed (safe) opening and closing is so useful all around the farm I'd hate to use something else. I have several knives that work like this but my favorite is a SOG Visionary I. I like this one so much I'd be an emotional wreck if I lost it so I keep four in my "sharpened" box just in case, swap out the dull ones, and sharpen them all at once when needed. (I once practiced pulling the clipped knife into my hand, opening, closing, then reclipping onto the pocket - my best time was five cycles in about five seconds!)

JKJ

[Ted Phillips]

My go-to one-handed operating knife (both opening and closing) is the Spyderco Paramilitary 2. A flick opens it up. Mash the lock button, flick it back and it's closed. Awesome knife, and made in the USA. One of the things you don't get with a $20 knife is a steel that will sharpen to a keen edge and keep it for any length of time. The Paramilitary is offered in a wide range of steels to suit anyone's requirements (e.g., toughness, edge-holding, stain resistance). This is the kind of knife you can pass down to your Grandkids.

Not an advertisement - I've just been a dedicated Spyderco owner for 35 years.

[Rod Sheridan]

I just got a Kershaw Hotwire. It pops open with one hand and locks solidly. I tested it in the store along with a few low cost, one hand opening knives and was surprised. The precision and quality you get for under $20 is amazing.
As a kid I was fascinated with switchblades but they were illegal. I guess people thought all only a criminal would need one. Now even automatic knives are legal in many states.

I got home and flicked open my new knife to open some boxes. How handy is that to have one hand free to grasp the box while you safely open and close you cutting tool with your other hand!

Hi Andrew, I had to look up that knife, thanks for teaching me something new.

I don't think I could own one where I live due to the following law

"prohibited weapon means

(a) a knife that has a blade that opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife, "

Anyway, it was interesting, I didn't know such things were common, I do normally carry a jackknife, even if my kids think I'm weird.........Regards, Rod.

[Ben Rivel]

FWIW the Kershaw Hotwire is pretty well known in the knife community and is usually a $10 knife. For example: LINK (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kershaw-1310WM-Hotwire-Knife/54997842)

[Martin Wasner]

And if you really wanna be impressed with coolness, check out a MicroTech OTF knife! Sadly something else most of us can own/carry.

I carry a Benchmade Infidel. Work paid for it. My justification being I have to open a zillion plastic bags a day. Honestly, it's paid off.

It cracks me up though, the .45 on my hip with just a strap across the hammer is legal with a conceal carry, but a knife isn't? Yet a sheathed straight blade is? Minnesota is a strange state.

[Ben Rivel]

I carry a Benchmade Infidel. Work paid for it. My justification being I have to open a zillion plastic bags a day. Honestly, it's paid off.

It cracks me up though, the .45 on my hip with just a strap across the hammer is legal with a conceal carry, but a knife isn't? Yet a sheathed straight blade is? Minnesota is a strange state.
The times they are a changin': LINK (https://ravencresttactical.com/otf-knife-laws/)

[Andrew Joiner]

Hi Andrew, I had to look up that knife, thanks for teaching me something new.

I don't think I could own one where I live due to the following law

"prohibited weapon means

(a) a knife that has a blade that opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife, "

Anyway, it was interesting, I didn't know such things were common, I do normally carry a jackknife, even if my kids think I'm weird.........Regards, Rod.
Rod there are several designs that are "one handed opening" that may be legal for you. I have this one- https://www.amazon.com/CRKT-Hollow-Point-Folding-Knife-Stainless/dp/B06W55V7XK There's no spring assist, but its got a ball bearing pivot. You flick it open by a lever on the blade not the handle.

These 2 also open by touching the blade only- The Victorinox Swiss Army One-Hand Trekker and the https://kershaw.kaiusaltd.com/knives/knife/cqc-4k

[Steve Rozmiarek]

One handed opening is a huge benefit. I use this one a lot, would hate to be without it. It's a gravity open, flick your wrist and open or closed instantly. And best of all, I don't feel the least bit guilty for messing up a good blade by digging out grout, or cutting wire or some other thing you shouldn't do with a knife.

https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/ba55ee4c-c19c-42a5-8b82-6b8dc08b2a33/svn/milwaukee-drywall-cutting-tools-48-22-1901-64_1000.jpg

[Robert Pugmire]

Ya I carry spydercos for years for the easy open spydie hole

Love it

[Martin Wasner]

The times they are a changin': LINK (https://ravencresttactical.com/otf-knife-laws/)


Minnesota still thinks it's the soviet revolution...

[Jim Koepke]

Just a question, how do retractible box knives get around "automatic knife" and "Out the Front" knife laws?

jtk

[Martin Wasner]

Just a question, how do retractible box knives get around "automatic knife" and "Out the Front" knife laws?

jtk

Cutting edge length perhaps? Doesn't count as anything since it's only around an inch of blade?

I don't know, I'm just guessing