Retractable blade knives

[akcabin]

Switch blades and retractable blade knives are legal in ak. No knife laws any more. I have a retractable blade knife that has a grippy rubber handle I keep in my knife bag for breaking down moose. Particularly when gutting. And I have my hands inside a mooses body cavity and cuts are made by feel. I can retract the blade and have a safer situation. And employ it when I'm ready to cut. In and out with the push of a button. I really enjoy the safety aspect.
Our son works in receiving unloading semi trailers and uses the standard style automatic blade daily for cutting open pallets. Again another great tool for that job.
It's a great tool to have. Does anyone else use these

 

[Yoder]

They were just legalized here in PA recently. The fact that a knife of any kind was illegal is completely insane. What do you think you have to pay to get something that's reliable.

 

[northernalpine]

I’ve had a few of the automatic/retractable/“Out the Front” or OTF knives over the years with mixed reviews. The best ones in the collection are from Microtech but they have an incredible price tag attached. The so-so ones were from Benchmade (Infidel), the spring system seemed to wear faster and they were generally bulkier/heavier.

The left one is the smallest and I carry that more than the others by a long shot, but I prefer a basic sheepsfoot or wharncliff style pocket folder for work. Can’t say I’ve ever tried to use an OTF for game.

 

[displacedtexan]

I almost always have a Benchmade Automatic (940) in my pocket.

I don't really care for OTF knives, and I can't imagine using them on game.

 

[rileybassman]

I've had several and they are fun and intriguing for EDC. Due to not being super easy to clean, and due to the design having slight blade play (unless you pony up for a deadlock) I usually tend to go back to side opening knives and quite frankly, and OTF would be one of the last blades I would take for game processing.

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[Cameron.25]

I carry one of the 2 from benchmade i own, for EDC only tho. They're more for self defense than breaking down game in my opinion. Fun knives for sure

 

[Brando]

can you take apart an OTF to clean it? I would have never thought about using an OTF for field dressing but I can see some of the pros.

 

[Billy Goat]

I have a couple Microtech OTF, but I wouldn't care to use them for gutting. 2 Benchmade OTF as well.


Just too much crap to get inside, and they ain't easy to clean.

 

[rileybassman]

can you take apart an OTF to clean it? I would have never thought about using an OTF for field dressing but I can see some of the pros.

Need a special bit, but yes, they aren’t too terrible. Inconvenient, but doable.


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[Weldor]

Anyone had OTF deploy in your pocket?

 

[northernalpine]

Anyone had OTF deploy in your pocket?

Nope. I’ve carried one on several deployments and stateside as an EDC somewhat regularly, never had an issue. Probably combined total of 1k+ days in the field wearing kit, running around, crawling over or through a variety of environments, jumping in and out of vehicles and never had one discharge. The spring systems to present the blade are pretty stout across most of the manufacturers I’ve used.

 

[rileybassman]

Anyone had OTF deploy in your pocket?

Nope. I don’t carry single actions. I don’t know that it would even be possible for a standard double action to go off as you charge the spring with the switch. Aka they don’t sit under spring tension. + they come off their rails when they contact anything, so even if it miraculously did, you would only get a poke… and possibly not even that as your pants would be enough to get the blade off the track.


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[DenimChicken]

I've had a couple issued OTF knives and don't care for them at all. Certainly individual use case dependent, but I have no use for a double edged dagger type knife, and for daily use I find a spring assist much more useful when tackling the chores I usually use a pocket knife for.

 

[Cameron.25]

Anyone had OTF deploy in your pocket?

Nope you gotta press the button pretty dang hard to deploy/retract. I did loan one of mine to a guy and somehow he opened it holding it backwards right into his palm and cut himself pretty good

 

[Cameron.25]

I've had a couple issued OTF knives and don't care for them at all. Certainly individual use case dependent, but I have no use for a double edged dagger type knife, and for daily use I find a spring assist much more useful when tackling the chores I usually use a pocket knife for.

I agree on the dagger blade. Not sure if they still do it but i had benchmade switch the dagger blade for a one sided one on my pagan, like it much better that way. They're local to me so it only took a couple mins

 

[allstajacket]

I managed a gun shop for most of the last decade and started carrying and selling knives, which grew into a full-blown knife e-commerce site built and operated by me.

What I learned? OTF (switchblade, automatic, whatever you want to call them) knives are typically the least reliable type of knife and are NOT built for doing much more than opening letters and fidgeting with.

Was a dealer for Microtech, Benchmade, Protech, and just about every other major brand out there. I never saw more knives go back for repair than Microtech OTF’s, and OTF’s in general.


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[snowymtnwolf]

Benchmade all the way


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[intunegp]

I managed a gun shop for most of the last decade and started carrying and selling knives, which grew into a full-blown knife e-commerce site built and operated by me.

What I learned? OTF (switchblade, automatic, whatever you want to call them) knives are typically the least reliable type of knife and are NOT built for doing much more than opening letters and fidgeting with.

Was a dealer for Microtech, Benchmade, Protech, and just about every other major brand out there. I never saw more knives go back for repair than Microtech OTF’s, and OTF’s in general.


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OTFs probably have the most mechanically complicated opening/closing mechanism which is why you see them going in. Failures to fire, retract, etc. To say they're not built for more than opening letters and fidgeting with is a misnomer though. There are plenty out there that can take a beating with the best of them, Microtech being one. Anymore with seemingly everyone's QC going to shit, it's hit or miss whether you get a good one or a bad one, but whether or not you have issues most likely won't have to do with how hard you use the knife.

Benchmade all the way


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I've handled all the Benchmade OTFs and I'd take a (budget brand) Cobratec over any of them. They just feel cheap. Microtech, Heretic, and Guardian Tactical are the best OTFs out there unless you're ready to pay for a Hawk.

 

[rileybassman]

OTFs probably have the most mechanically complicated opening/closing mechanism which is why you see them going in. Failures to fire, retract, etc. To say they're not built for more than opening letters and fidgeting with is a misnomer though. There are plenty out there that can take a beating with the best of them, Microtech being one. Anymore with seemingly everyone's QC going to shit, it's hit or miss whether you get a good one or a bad one, but whether or not you have issues most likely won't have to do with how hard you use the knife.




I've handled all the Benchmade OTFs and I'd take a (budget brand) Cobratec over any of them. They just feel cheap. Microtech, Heretic, and Guardian Tactical are the best OTFs out there unless you're ready to pay for a Hawk.

100%. This man speaks the truth.

Microtechs and take some tough love, as can the others.

Benchmade OTFs (and I say this as a Benchmade fan with a bugout in my pocket right now) are not even close to the same league.

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[allstajacket]

100%. This man speaks the truth.

Microtechs and take some tough love, as can the others.

Benchmade OTFs (and I say this as a Benchmade fan with a bugout in my pocket right now) are not even close to the same league.

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I’m just saying what I’ve seen from being a dealer. I’ve never sent back more of anything than microtech knives. Most of the time from normal use. They just aren’t meant for rugged application. They tell you they are and show silly torture testing, but the return rate on these is horrible. I wouldn’t daily carry one if I was in any sort of labor field or line of work where reliability is important.

They’re great for the office or just opening packages. Sure I was exaggerating slightly by saying opening letters, but I really wasn’t far off.


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