Easier opening of slipjoint knives

[dks]

I am sure that most people know this, but for the few that do not I made some simple drawings with a a few notes:

I have a few slipjoints that can be considered nail breakers (GEC… ), despite a good clean and oiling.
The way to get past this problem, many times, is simple physics.

Instead of putting your nail in the nick at right angles to the blade and “pulling”  up hence only using the strength of the thin part of the nail which can be overcome easily by the moment produced (hint – longer nails= larger moment) thus breaking or coming off (direction of force at right angles to the nail), like you may do with a reasonably sprung  knife (SAK) ....




....you need to place your nail at a larger angle to the blade into the nick and “push” up. That way the moment on your nail is minimal (the direction of the force is nearly parallel to the nail) and you are utilising the longest part of the nail so you can push really hard with your thumb with less fear of breakage. (with some knives, unfortunately, you have very little space for that method)

[sawman]

Interesting...thanks for the tip 

[Gareth]

I've often wondered how it might be that people were actually breaking their nails opening knives.   If they are doing it in the same way as you talk about in example 1 then I now see how it could happen.

[dks]

The problem is that for many knives, like SAKs, the 1st method works fine, so you can get used to it. Also with other knives because the nick is low or the knife has thick scales you can not get a good enough angle like the one you need for the 2nd method.

[cbl51]

If I have to start lanning which angle my thumbnail has to be to open a stiff spring knife, I can guarantee ya that I won't bother carrying that knife. I won't carry or even buy any knife that has a heavier spring than a SAK. In fact, my next favorite knife, Opinel, has no spring at all, and works just fine.

I have never understood the heavy spring thing. Why would anyone go and deliberately carry a knife like those GEC's, that if your hands get wet or cold, you're not going to be able to open that knife?

[AimlessWanderer]

If I have to start lanning which angle my thumbnail has to be to open a stiff spring knife, I can guarantee ya that I won't bother carrying that knife. I won't carry or even buy any knife that has a heavier spring than a SAK. In fact, my next favorite knife, Opinel, has no spring at all, and works just fine.

I have never understood the heavy spring thing. Why would anyone go and deliberately carry a knife like those GEC's, that if your hands get wet or cold, you're not going to be able to open that knife?

DO NOT buy a BAK (British Army Knife), you need a team of huskies to pull that bloody thing open 
(or you do with mine anyway)

[dks]

Some people seem to like knives that are hard to open, for some reason. The excuse is that if a knife is hard to open it will also be harder to close, so safer. Of course when it closes it is a bear trap, so if you get caught you will bleed...
Also some people seem to have stronger nails than others.

GEC has got a bad reputation in that area, though their newer knives are better. The problem is that they are expensive knives and so people expect the knife to be perfect. Also they are supposed  to be checked, by actual humans, so it is weird how they pass the QC checks. 
I have some other knives that are just as bad made by Camillus and Rough Rider, where one blade is fine and the other impossible to open. Personally I like knives that can be pinched open more, like Sodbusters.

[cbl51]

Some people seem to like knives that are hard to open, for some reason. The excuse is that if a knife is hard to open it will also be harder to close, so safer. Of course when it closes it is a bear trap, so if you get caught you will bleed...
Also some people seem to have stronger nails than others.

GEC has got a bad reputation in that area, though their newer knives are better. The problem is that they are expensive knives and so people expect the knife to be perfect. Also they are supposed  to be checked, by actual humans, so it is weird how they pass the QC checks. 
I have some other knives that are just as bad made by Camillus and Rough Rider, where one blade is fine and the other impossible to open. Personally I like knives that can be pinched open more, like Sodbusters.

That's one of the things that really worry me, if the thing closes on a finger. With some of the GEC's I've seen it will be like a amputation! Don't understand it at all. If you use a knife right, like any SAK or slip joint, it won't close on your fingers anyways. Look at how long simple friction folders have been around, and are still bing made and used in some parts of southern Europe. Most of the time when I use my Opinel, I don't bother locking the blade, since the dynamics of the slice action will keep the blade open.

I think GEC and the other boutique knife companies that cater to collectors, have sold an over hyped bill of bull hockey to the knife collectors. That way they don't have to make the spring as precise as say a Victorinox spring. Getting it just right is probably a harder job than just making it heavy. So tell the knife collectors that it's the mark of a good knife that you have to really pull on it to open it. I guess I'm a sceptic. For the price of one GEC, I can buy about 5 Opinels, or 4 or 5 two layer SAK's. The SAK and Opinel may not be boutique level knives, but they have been getting it done since 1890, and that's good enough for me.

[Steinar]

If an Opinel is too untested, you could try one from Nontron.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nontron_knife

[Jmora]

I don't think the heavy springs are a QC thing, I think it is deliberate, I presume they are being true to older designs in this respect - e.g. either the 73s or 23s, with their bear-trap springs are based on an old Remington model, which also has very stiff springs.

In any case, GEC has actually responded to the complaints of knife collectors, their newer knives are a lot lighter on the pull than their older ones. I have a linerlock from 2008 that is the hardest spring I have ever had, a 10 out of 10, the new #74 trapper has more like a 5 pull, (where I would say a 5 is about where a SAK is).