Switchblade
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- There is also the Switchblade (airplane) project that started development in 2006, and the older Northrop Switchblade experimental aircraft.
A switchblade (also known as automatic knife, switch, or, in British English flick knife) is a type of knife with a folding blade that springs out of the grip when a button or lever on the grip is pressed.
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[edit] Overview of designs
There are two basic types of switchblade, side-opening and out-the-front (OTF). A side-opening knife's blade pivots out of the side of the handle (in the same manner as an ordinary folding knife). An out-the-front knife's blade slides directly forward, out of the tip of the handle. There are two types of OTF (out the front) knives: double action and single action.
Double action OTFs allow the user to extend or retract the blade with the press of a sliding button. Spring tension in these knives is actually provided by the movement of the button, which makes them much safer to carry since they will not open accidentally. However, the extra force the spring requires can also make intentional opening more difficult.
Single action OTFs require the user to retract the blade manually and compress the spring. Because they often use a lever to compress the spring, stronger springs can be used. This makes them open more vigorously than the double-action type, and allows them to achieve tighter lock-up.
The word stiletto may sometimes be used in American English to refer to a out of the tip of the handle switchblade. However, the side-opening switchblade should not be confused with the butterfly knife (balisong), assisted-opening knife, or the non-automatic stiletto.
Switchblades are often cheaply made; however, there are a fair number of knife companies and custom makers who build high-quality automatic knives for military, emergency personnel, and for knife collectors. Some famous automatic knife manufacturers include Microtech, Protech, Benchmade, Dalton, and Piranha and then of course Italian manufacturers such as Frank Beltrame, whose family has been making automatics for over 50 years.
Because they are illegal in some places, one variation of the switchblade is a dual-action design that allows the user to manually open the knife as though it were a manual (and legal) folding knife. Often, the trigger for such knives is hidden in a grip panel, requires the user to squeeze or twist the handle in a certain fashion, or is hidden in some other manner.
[edit] Legality
Many countries have laws which cover switchblades. These generally restrict one or more of the following: manufacture, export, importation, selling, possession, or carrying in a public place. Regardless of any such specific legislation, in common law countries switchblades are likely to be considered as offensive weapons and carrying them in public "without lawful authority or reasonable excuse" illegal.
[edit] United Kingdom
In the UK switchblades are illegal to "Manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person" under the The Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act (1959). Under other legislation it is illegal to carry such a knife (or any other knife other than a folding knife, with no locking mechanism, with a blade less than 4".
It is not, as usually believed, illegal to own such a knife so long as it is held within the home (though obviously due to the legislation, the knife would now have to be pre-1959 vintage or its acquisition would be illegal)
Later legislation adds similar restrictions for a wider range of other knives and weapons: The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment) Order 2004, Criminal Justice Act 1988 / Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 2019 and The Knives Act (1997).[1] In Scotland the details differ, but the overall effect is similar.[2]
[edit] United States
Each individual state (and sometimes individual counties, cities, and towns) may, and often do, have laws restricting weapons including knives and often specifically mentioning switchblades. These state laws differ greatly,[3] but as an example, in California:
- 653k. Every person who possesses in the passenger's or driver's area of any motor vehicle in any public place or place open to the public, carries upon his or her person, and every person who sells, offers for sale, exposes for sale, loans, transfers, or gives to any other person a switchblade knife having a blade two or more inches in length is guilty of a misdemeanor. For the purposes of this section, "switchblade knife" means a knife having the appearance of a pocketknife, and includes a spring-blade knife, snap-blade knife, gravity knife or any other similar type knife, the blade or blades of which are two or more inches in length and which can be released automatically by a flick of a button, pressure on the handle, flip of the wrist or other mechanical device, or is released by the weight of the blade or by any type of mechanism whatsoever. "Switchblade knife" does not include a knife that opens with one hand utilizing thumb pressure applied solely to the blade of the knife or a thumb stud attached to the blade, provided that the knife has a detent or other mechanism that provides resistance that must be overcome in opening the blade, or that biases the blade back toward its closed position. For purposes of this section, "passenger's or driver's area" means that part of a motor vehicle which is designed to carry the driver and passengers, including any interior compartment or space therein.
Federal laws also apply but generally restrict only the import, export and interstate transportation. The Switchblade Act, (public law 85-623, enacted on August 12, 1958, and codified in 15 USC 1241-1245), prohibits the manufacture or transportation of switchblade knives in interstate commerce. It provides exceptions for government agencies, members of the Armed Forces, and for one-armed persons.[4] The act was amended in 1986 to also restrict ballistic knives. 18 USC 1716 further restricts sending switchblade knives through the United States Postal Service, with a few exceptions.
[edit] Canada
In Canada, Section III of Bill C68 bans switchblades and knives that you can flip open ie. swinging/snapping the knife in a circular motion.
[edit] Germany
Most switchblades are illegal to own or import into or out of Germany. However, if the blade is side-opening, max. 8.5 cm long, the broadness is max. 20% of length, and it's not double-edged, they're legal.
[edit] New Zealand
The Customs Import Prohibition Order 2002 prohibits the importation of "any knife having a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife (sometimes known as a “flick-knife” or “flick gun”)". The Summary Offences Act 1981 and the Crimes Act 1961 section 202A(4)(a) make it an offence to possess any weapon in a public place without reasonable excuse.
