Why are Vics and Wengers easy to open?

[american lockpicker]

I've been looking at a few SAK type knives and I've noticed they are all hard to open(British army knife, camillus, camp knife from Ireland, etc.) yet Swiss SAKs aren't why is it?

[Gareth]

Without knowing the knives you are comparing the SAKs to it's a bit tricky, but it may be because of the nicely rounded corners on the tang of the SAK.  See here:




If the corners were more square then you would end up having to overcome more pressure from the backspring when opening, but with no advantage once in the final open position.  I'm not sure that I'm explaining that very well. 

It's just a guess though.

[appletree_man]

Different temper or steel thickness perhaps 

[Swiss Man]

I have seen alot of nail breakers in my life and not just cheap stuff either but I have never had any trouble with Case or Victorinox.
I think it is just an extra step that they go thru.

As far as I know Vic and Case both go thru 100% inspection before leaving the place I don't know of anyone else that does
that (except HIGH end cutlery) I am sure a Chris Reeves goes thru the same process.

[Ben X]

Yeah I agree with Gareth- and I will amend by saying they are very highly polished on top of the rounded profile. Plus, since the springs do considerably more winding than a single sided Buck, the springs are thinner and probably more flexible and less stiff. They just have good sense about not making their knives too difficult to open. Heck, if you ever saw the springs in a Classic or Executive you would be ASTOUNDED how thin and frail they look, yet they provide pretty good snap. So, they could get a ton more pressure out of the springs than they do on the larger ones. It all just says that thought goes into making them as user friendly as possible! 

[nuphoria]

Fit and finish... the joy of SAKs is in the detail 

[Craig]

Fit and finish... the joy of SAKs is in the detail 

I am constantly amazed that they manage such great quality for such a low price

[Nikos]

I believe they call it "economy of scale".

[BIG-TARGET]

Besides, if you can't open the knife, it would really suck to use

[Styerman]

It's just good QC and engineering . ALP , it's kinda like the different tactile feeling between good and cheap locks , Abloy is a lot smother and slicker than Norlock  .

Chris