Auto knives

[StagLefty]

I'm opening and closing mine while I'm typing just because I can

[Irving]

What does OTF stand for?

[elsilrac1]

Out the Front

[Irving]

Thanks, that's definitely not the type of knife I have.

[Jer]

You must be way more tacticool than me. While closing a folding knife with one hand comes in handy I’ve never found myself in a situation where the speed with which the blade was closed was that big of a deal.

It's just easier and faster to pull a button and have the blade retract in an instant and be on with your day w/o having to do anything else. I just don't see how someone could fold a traditional style folding knife faster is all.

The more important aspect isn't necessarily speed so much as convenience though. The ability to deploy and retract single-handed is ridiculously handy... pun intended. It's one of those things that you don't see the need for until you have it and use it for a while. You start to realize how handy it is to not drop whatever you're doing to fold your knife back up safely with two hands. With auto OTF you push a button, cut whatever needs cut then pull the button back and you're done. All with one hand and all as fast as you can push a button. I have a boat load of auto knives that aren't double and even more that aren't auto at all and I find that I never carry them anymore because when I do I inevitably find myself having to drop what I'm doing to fold the knife back up and it is feels clunky and antiquated.

I liken it to shooting a cap and ball gun compared to shooting an automatic. Sure, you can but.... why?

[elsilrac1]

I have used many OTF autos before moving to Denver. My experience with the double actions is they are more fragile than I desire. I carried the Benchmade Infidel when they first came out and I kept having to reset the blade with any use. I shifted to several Microtechs and had similar experience. I will say the single action Microtech Halo V is rock solid, but you have to manually retract the blade when you are done. Just my two cents on OTF autos.

[hurley842002]

I have used many OTF autos before moving to Denver. My experience with the double actions is they are more fragile than I desire. I carried the Benchmade Infidel when they first came out and I kept having to reset the blade with any use. I shifted to several Microtechs and had similar experience. I will say the single action Microtech Halo V is rock solid, but you have to manually retract the blade when you are done. Just my two cents on OTF autos.

I've played with a few double and single action OTF Auto's, and while I can certainly understand the convenience Jer is talking about, I don't have much desire to dabble in OTF autos.

[Jer]

I have used many OTF autos before moving to Denver. My experience with the double actions is they are more fragile than I desire. I carried the Benchmade Infidel when they first came out and I kept having to reset the blade with any use. I shifted to several Microtechs and had similar experience. I will say the single action Microtech Halo V is rock solid, but you have to manually retract the blade when you are done. Just my two cents on OTF autos.

That's crazy because I've had several Infidels (standard, mini, anniversary, gold, etc.) and many Microtech (Ultratech, UTX85, etc.) and they've all been rock solid reliable for my use. I think I read some negative things about the Infidels from over 10 years ago but I think they cleared that up and even the one I had from those first batches gave me zero problems. They had some issues with some Infidels that were produced last year and that put a halt to production for several months that delayed the #'d 10th Anniversary Edition I ordered until this year but other than that I don't think I've heard an alarming number of issues from either. Nothing I wouldn't consider acceptable for production #'s anyway. Probably hard to say if you're one of the few that has issues I guess though. Just my anecdotal experience to add as data points.

I think that one of my favorite EDC knives is still a cheap-o Kershaw Ken Onion Tanto blade Blur but I don't even carry that anymore just because the putting away aspect has become a chore now that I'm use to DA OTF. The Halo is even super annoying due to the "cocking" aspect after each use. I just want to push a button, open a box and push a button and return to pocket. No drama or fanfare and I've definitely drank the DA OTF koolaid. lulz

[elsilrac1]

Might have to try another Infidel then. Mine was a first production run. Thanks for the info. Been a knife guy for a long time and still go in and out of the hobby.

[Jer]

Might have to try another Infidel then. Mine was a first production run. Thanks for the info. Been a knife guy for a long time and still go in and out of the hobby.

My experience has been pretty solid other than having to wait nearly a year for that Anniversary Infidel but once I found out why I was willing to wait. No issues with the handful or so Infidels I've personally owned. I don't go out of my to try to break my knives or abuse them though so not sure how typical my use is. I'm carrying a Microtech Ultratech currently because it disappears in my pocket as compared to the Infidel. The mini-Infidel is a real good size as well. They also have a Pagan model which I have limited first-hand experience with as I haven't owned one.

If you're on a budget I'd say to also check out the Precipice. I have a buddy who got one last year from GOVX or one of those first responder sites pretty cheap and he's had really good luck with it as well. It fires from the side like a Microtech and he's liked his. It's more of an entry-level version though so if you're looking for the most reliable, not sure how that one will stack up long-term. It's still a multi-hundred dollar knife though so I would imagine it's going to be hold up. I just don't have any long-term intel on that particular model to offer up.