Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Ben on January 12, 2022, 04:52:04 PM
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So I finally got around to buying myself one of them there auto knives that Americans who live in America* can have. This one:
https://www.smkw.com/sog-tac-au-black-tanto-auto
So the knife itself is nice - good craftsmanship, good design for a lefty, lightweight. It has all the features I like in a knife. The auto-mechanism though, is, meh. I guess the mechanism on this knife, from the reviews is a good one. I was just a bit underwhelmed when I started using the auto opener.
Honestly, I can open my assisted ZT 350 folder about as fast as this one. Part of that could be the mechanism needing to break in. It's pretty...no, really stiff right now. It only showed up an hour ago, so maybe a couple hundred rounds of opening it will slick up the mechanism a bit.
I'm glad I got it to add to my collection and just to be able to say I have another thing I'm allowed to have here in America that I couldn't own before, but again... so far, meh.
*Yes, I could have bought an auto knife back in CA, but I wasn't going to pay $150 for a one inch blade.
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I have a 1970s vintage Boker 712 with red bone scales that I love.
They have been discontinued years ago and a used replacement is close to $350-400, I'm scared I'll lose it so it stays in the safe. I only paid $100 for this one 15 years ago.
Apparently, there are new ones made in China, I need to see if they are the same fit and quality as the old German ones.
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I like the kershaw launch line of automatics, but haven't found much else that that works well for me.
My EDC is a Launch 2, it's pretty small, VERY light and the pushbutton release is very convenient.
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I'm with you Ben. I can get an assisted that works just as well in my hands for a lot less money. The only auto I ha e any interest in is one of the out-the-front double edge blades, and they are priced out of my "I want it because it's cool" budget.
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I'm with you Ben. I can get an assisted that works just as well in my hands for a lot less money. The only auto I ha e any interest in is one of the out-the-front double edge blades, and they are priced out of my "I want it because it's cool" budget.
Yeah, I was looking at the out the front ones, but $300+ is a little pricey for me.
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I picked up one of these last year. The gun store was selling a good bit below the MSRP listed on the website.
https://cobratecknives.com/collections/ctk-1-collection/products/medium-ctk-1-carbon-fiber
Well made, good fit and finish but a little too big and heavy for everyday carry for my taste.
My everyday carry knife is a Kershaw Leek assisted opener.
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We can't have them in Washington unless you are military or a full-time paid cop, firefighter or EMS person, and then only on actual duty.
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I have a CRTK Hissatsu folder that I absolutely love. It's assisted-opening but fast enough for all practical purposes. One oft-overlooked feature that is important to me is not just can it be opened one handed, but also put away one handed? The Hissatsu can.
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I have a big ass Benchmade Adamas but I also find the assisted openers to be really no different and sometimes more convenient than an auto knife. Probably my favorite knife of all was a Kershaw Blur but those for some reason always disappeared on me and I lost two of them. I typically carry a cheap Chinese assisted opener nowadays anyway for the use and abuse of work.
I need to try a good quality out the front type auto.
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IMO, the ones that deploy straight out the end are better to me. They open easier. Makes a lot of sense for casual knife use. However, they don't have as sturdy of a blade as a fixed blade knife if you are doing serious knife work.
However, I am not carrying one of those these days. The cheaper ones I have gotten all seem to end up with bent clips. I haven't wanted to spend the money to get one of the Microtech models.
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I've been meaning to get an auto-opener, just because any non-garbage mechanism will probably open the blade more reliably than I will. Even if I can open a manual knife more quickly, there's also a good chance I'll flub it, or drop it.
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With my SOG Twitch II, I simply can't justify an auto. It's fast, easy, light, and well built, all I can personally ask for. Had it a WHILE now. The action "gums up" after a lot of use but a quick hand scrub, dry, and lube has it right back to 100%. Like guns, they do need maintenance.
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I've been meaning to get an auto-opener, just because any non-garbage mechanism will probably open the blade more reliably than I will. Even if I can open a manual knife more quickly, there's also a good chance I'll flub it, or drop it.
I'll agree with that when it comes to thumb studs, whether assisted or non-assisted. I fumble with those on some of my knives myself. Some assisted knives - my ZT350 EDC is an example - have a "flipper switch" that you activate with your index finger. That has always been fast and sure for me.
I spent some time yesterday evening getting accustomed to the auto, and the switch did seem to break in a bit after probably over 100 openings. At this point I will reassess my first statement and say that I can open it at least as fast as a thumb stud knife, with less chance of slipping on the switch than on a thumb stud. I still seem to be as fast or faster with the flipper switch on the ZT though.
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I have a gerber w SV30 steel. When I got it I took it apart and polished the contact surfaces and it’s good. I agree a good assisted or bearing pivot is just as fast but since I can carry a fixed blade I usually do.
I had a Larry Chew custom spitfire and have judged all pivot blades against that since
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I've never really seen the need for an auto knife.
I have one or two assist opening knives, but I generally don't carry a pocket knife anymore, and when I do, it's the lock back I got from my parents for my 13th birthday.
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I have a knife on me about 90% of the time, and it is usually a multi-tool.
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I carry a knife near 100% of the time especially since I can't carry at work. It is usually a folder. Currently a nice SOG folder, but I have a few others that are nice. The other one I carry might be a WE Knife. My biggest issue with knives is I end up mangling the clips occasionally if the clip catches on something.
Every since I started doing the Knife Rights Ultimate Steel raffle every year, I have a small collection of nice folding knives. Never gave much thought to knife quality before that.
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On the extremely rare occasion I manage to forget my knife I feel naked and exposed without one.
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About the only time I have been without a knife probably since I was six years old has been on planes and certain buildings in DC. Knives were still allowed in school when I was a young buck. IIRC, my high school had its first stabbing a year after I graduated and that was that for knives. I carried a Buck 110 all through high school.
It seems like I have always had a need for a knife nearly every day for as long as I can remember, even if only to open a package.
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On the extremely rare occasion I manage to forget my knife I feel naked and exposed without one.
As do I.
Because if I don’t have a knife on me it probably because I’ve forgotten my pants.
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As do I.
Because if I don’t have a knife on me it probably because I’ve forgotten my pants.
:rofl: same
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I've lost my Kershaw Rake again... It is probably around here somewhere.
I had a different Kershaw that I really liked, but I think that Jenny's kid scarfed it... I like the Kershaw "back of the blade, push me" gizmo for the assisted open...
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Who's Jenny?
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I got eight side switchers from a Russian-owned dollar store for under the table gifts for sympatico friends. At the time, switcheroos were illegal in Colorado, but apparently the Russian owners had no understanding of the term "interstate commerce," so I assumed they were flown into Stapleton directly from Russia.
=D
I kept three of them, still use two, but found out they were no good with stress applied from the handle. One went "pop" and no longer locked up. The other two are still in casual service around the house. Very convenient, especially with my limited strength and Perdlike coordination.
I immediately got two pop out the front switchblades when they became legal and kept a small one in my pocket, but found it got jammed from pocket lint. I now carry a small manual one which seems to be immune from lint and dimes getting stuck in it. The big one is in general service around the house, mainly in opening armor-plated packs of batteries and other small merchandise packages.
El cheapos, no brand evident on any of these doobies.
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When they removed "automatic knives" from the prohibited weapon list in TX I got a couple. A Boker "Kalashnikov" (packed in a box resembling an AK magazine) was pretty cheap, but reasonably functional - AUS8 blade, good clip, but the action was kind of rough. After disassembly I took the stud, chucked it in a lathe, and polished it up some, along with the contact surfaces on the blade, so it works pretty well. It's in my pocket right now.
A (much) more expensive ProTech auto knife has 154CM steel and a much smoother action, though the clip is way too tight. BUT - upon reading the literature packed with the knife - I found out it has NO warranty. None. At least from my viewpoint. The caveats and such in the written materials specify proof of working for the government must be provided before any warranty work is done - so if you're not a government employee - no warranty for you. Eff 'em.
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I've lost my Kershaw Rake again... It is probably around here somewhere.
I had a different Kershaw that I really liked, but I think that Jenny's kid scarfed it... I like the Kershaw "back of the blade, push me" gizmo for the assisted open...
Buy another/a replacement and it will turn up the next day. My SOG Twitch II did! [tinfoil]
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Buy another/a replacement and it will turn up the next day. My SOG Twitch II did! [tinfoil]
That has happened to me twice with not cheap knives. And it's not like I spent an hour looking then hit the "buy" button. I tore things apart searching for several days both times before I called the knife lost. One knife turned up a week after the new one arrived, the other around a month. One of them (both EDC knives clipped inside a front pocket) turned up under the driver's seat of my car (even though I was sure that I checked the floorboard). I can't remember where I found the other one, but it was someplace stupid around the house.
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When they removed "automatic knives" from the prohibited weapon list in TX I got a couple. A Boker "Kalashnikov" (packed in a box resembling an AK magazine) was pretty cheap, but reasonably functional - AUS8 blade, good clip, but the action was kind of rough. After disassembly I took the stud, chucked it in a lathe, and polished it up some, along with the contact surfaces on the blade, so it works pretty well. It's in my pocket right now.
A (much) more expensive ProTech auto knife has 154CM steel and a much smoother action, though the clip is way too tight. BUT - upon reading the literature packed with the knife - I found out it has NO warranty. None. At least from my viewpoint. The caveats and such in the written materials specify proof of working for the government must be provided before any warranty work is done - so if you're not a government employee - no warranty for you. Eff 'em.
Send it in with a copy of your tax return.
No better proof of working for the government than that, I'll wager.
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So using this knife for going on three weeks now, I can say that I'm much less "meh" about it. The slider button has broken in nicely, and after many openings, I will say that I am always much faster than with a thumb stud and equally as fast as my ZT flipper. I've been enjoying how much lighter this one is than the ZT.
So I am open to buying flip open autos in the future (OTF knives are still too rich for my blood for a good one) as long as they have a nice lefty-friendly mechanism like this one does. I also am liking the combined open/safety design. Not having carried an auto before, I kept the safety engaged early on and it is a smooth slide from safe to open. That said, I have been carrying it with the safety off now, and feel comfortable doing so, at least with this mechanism design.
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We can't have them in Washington unless you are military or a full-time paid cop, firefighter or EMS person, and then only on actual duty.
No exemption fior handicapped or one-handed people?
Been a while since I looked at CO knife laws, but I thought they had that exemption even before they took them off the naughty list.
Ticked me off since knives are arms, too.
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I have 4 kershaws that I lose/find on a weekly basis - I get up at 0400 and am dead tired when I get home and often find my missing knife in the laundry - two I bought new on sale at Big Five and two I got cheap at pawn shops.
I plan on buying an automatic for formal occasions where I dress up, have also acquired a tiny Beretta in .25acp - I might get a North American mini in 22mag someday tho for the same purpose.