"Flick of the wrist"

lettek · Post by **lettek** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 4:06 am

Can anyone tell me if the non-auto stiletto type knives can still be opened with the "flick of the wrist". That is, one handed. I have been looking for the old style Italian stiletto that are from the early 60's that were opened in that manner. The models from SKM that I have seen have the circle out on the blade and I don't think they can be opened that way. Very simliar to the Kissing Crane type stiletto. These older stiletto knives were almost gravity opened by the quick "flick of the wrist". After lock up, a lever at the rear of the knife on top was pushed downward to release the blade so the knife could be closed. Can somebody help me out with some information? Thanks...

jarvis · Post by **jarvis** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 4:11 am

Something like this?

http://bladeauction.com/cgi-bin/osa/Vie ... ber=712433

lettek · Post by **lettek** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 4:23 am

No, I believe that is an OTF type knife. The type I am looking for looks just like a switchblade but without the release button or lock. The blade swings outward when you snap or flick your wrist.

Gonzo_Beyondo · Post by **Gonzo_Beyondo** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 5:31 am

"brownie pop"

Vagrant · Post by **Vagrant** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 6:10 am

Side opening gravity knives without a button are largely myth [imho]. I've heard of hundreds but never seen one. Others here may be more familiar with them and hopefully can give you better info. I have seen one or two oriental "Stilettos" [back in the 60s] that were loose enough to work this way sometimes but not 100% of the time.

Claudester · Post by **Claudester** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 12:00 pm

Mr. lettek,
The only one I know that can be opened one handed like that is the B-Guard, made by F. Beltrame and the Hen and Rooster Stiletto which is made by Frank also.
I have several and I really like them. You open them with a thumb stud and if you tweak them they are fast opening.
Take Care

jthm · Post by **jthm** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 8:58 pm

possibly a skm kit, without the spring.

mrbigg · Post by **mrbigg** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 3:34 am

Claudester wrote:Mr. lettek,
The only one I know that can be opened one handed like that is the B-Guard, made by F. Beltrame and the Hen and Rooster Stiletto which is made by Frank also.
I have several and I really like them. You open them with a thumb stud and if you tweak them they are fast opening.
Take Care

i have one too, and it does open fast - and it's a very high quality stiletto - much more usable than the classic switches....

Pushbutton · Post by **Pushbutton** » Fri Nov 14, 2003 3:19 am

I must have had a million silver plugs growing up and all stopped midway on the tab you know not stopped but when opened slowly you could feel it nestle into the tab. With time and constant use they got better but they would never open with a flick of the wrist.
PB

Mors Profundis · Post by **Mors Profundis** » Sun Nov 23, 2003 4:12 am

Flick knives are not a myth-I used to take a swing-guard manual folder from the old Western Auto store, weaken the lock spring(which was a bundle of four wires, very odd) and that knife would open with a snap of your hand, every time.
I also got a kris blade hen and rooster to do the same thing, with a little practise, and a lot to work with a dremel tool.
Most of the swing-guard clasp knives that were common in the '70's would open with a flick, once you got to know them, and perhaps smoothed the tang a wee bit with emery cloth.
This is a system that should be explored a bit more-in general, the blade should be heavy(and long is nice,too, I never saw one of those 13" manual stiletto folders that didn't flick open with no more than some oil, or one of the wooden handled five inch "707" knives that wouldn't do the same).
Old clasp knives generally worked this way.

The Falcon · Post by **The Falcon** » Sun Nov 23, 2003 11:06 am

lettek,

Check out the Cold Steel Ti-Lite which is a manual stiletto that can be opened with "a flick of the wrist". It has "guards" on the blade that when caught on the pocket will open the blade in one swift movement. It's similar to the Emerson WAVE opening system.

Milu · Post by **Milu** » Mon Dec 29, 2003 10:02 am

The sfarziglia, a traditional Italian stiletto folder from Naples, skeletonised and nasty was made to be opened by flicking one-handed.

http://www.hapkido.it/armibianche.htm
http://utenti.lycos.it/coltellerie_mariani/

Mors Profundis · Post by **Mors Profundis** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 11:43 pm

Thank'ee kindly, Milu, that is information I never had before, and I'll value it.
The wrist flick knife seems to be too labor intensive to be made any more-you never see those swing-guard clasp knives any more,even in Chinese copies-and a sad thing it is.
One neat system, once commonly sold, was a standard lockback knife, with a steel cylinder that was used to open the nose lock.
Of course, lift that with a careless thumb, and flick, snap, oops, there's a three and a half inch, extremely sharp blade protruding from my hand, how did that happen?
Many Spyderco knives will open with a flick of the wrist, including my(and Hannibal Lecter's) favorite, the Harpy.
That knife scares me, and I almost never carry it.

Milu · Post by **Milu** » Wed Dec 31, 2003 10:05 am

A lot of the traditional Italian folding stilettos such as the Roman and the Sicilian had a lot of slop and could be easily flicked open, they would then lock closed. Bear in mind that most of these were long knives by our standards. Oal of 33cm was often the starting point, the size also helped with wrist flicking them open.

Mors Profundis · Post by **Mors Profundis** » Thu Jan 01, 2004 10:28 pm

Weight and leverage seem to be the secret here, when a folding knife gets much past a 5" blade, it gets difficult to keep it shut.
Those big ol' 707 knives, with the wooden scales(made in Brazil, as I recall, by the most excellant Tramontino works) were a favorite sidearm of skells when I was a rookie cop.
They would open them by holding the blade, flicking the wrist, and gripping the knife with a finger bracing the point.
This was a redneck mode of knife combat with those toothpick patterns, once loved by the sons of the sunny south.
The other style they loved was the hawkbill field knife, with which eviseration was always possible, even probable.
Oft they would say,"I'm gonna cut you three ways-long, wide, and deep!"
Those days are gone, everybody has a gun, and the old ways are no more.