Auto Knives - Meh

[HeroHog]

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!

[Ben]

Buy another/a replacement and it will turn up the next day. My SOG Twitch II did!

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.

[230RN]

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.

[Ben]

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.

[230RN]

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.

[gunsmith]

 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.