![]() ![]() ![]() In a knife, this translates to flicking your wrist, and the momentum of the blade carries it open.” “Inertia, on the other hand, is the nature of an object to remain in its current state of motion unless acted on by an outside force. In a knife, that means Earth’s gravity is doing all the work, not you. “Gravity,” she said, “is a universal force which attracts two objects of mass together. This painfully nonspecific definition uses two words right out of physics class. “by operation of inertia, gravity, or both.” ![]() It is described as any knife that opens automatically And not seven authoritative and definitive words, seven vague words. The legal definition of “gravity knife” (discussed earlier) is exactly seven words long. Video Credit – Logan Smith both of these cases, and with any knife, they are no more dangerous than their user wants them to be. From there, the blade slides out with gravity. It operates by gripping the handle scales and letting the frame drop out. The Reate EXO is another popular gravity knife. To open it, you pinch the pivot together, separating the two clam-shell style handle scales. The Paragon Warlock gravity knife is the most popular gravity knife we sell. Gravity knives come in all shapes, sizes, and mechanisms, but they all have one thing in common: you don’t have to touch any part of the blade to open one. It is via those loopholes gravity knives MIGHT be legal for you. Later, as with virtually every other instrument of war, Uncle Sam had something to say about it, and as with every other time Uncle Sam had something to say, people started looking for loopholes. With strong military roots, gravity knives became synonymous with war, which was already synonymous with weapons. Do the entire process in reverse, and the knife is closed! As an added perk, the user’s fingers never crossed the path of the blade, so they were among the safest knives of their time. Once the user released the lever, the knife was locked open. The user would actuate a lever with his or her thumb, aim the blade downward, and gravity would pull it out. The locking mechanisms we know and love were still decades out and ball bearings hadn’t made their way into knives yet. Up to that point, knives were either fixed blades (one-hand operable, good size) or slip joint or friction folders (compact carry, good size). Such a knife would be useful in cutting a pilot out of a parachute. In WWII, Luftwaffe pilots wanted a knife that was compact to carry, had a good-sized blade, and could be opened with one hand. In my mind, “switchblade” implies a spring-loaded opening mechanism, and gravity knives don’t have springs. As a knife nerd and not a lawyer, I differentiate. If you ask federal law what a gravity knife is, it will say any knife that opens “by operation of inertia, gravity, or both.” Legally, gravity knives are classified as switchblades. Usually, the blade is held closed by some mechanism in the handle that must be disengaged, and once it is, the blade swings free. What is a gravity knife?įor the purposes of this article, a gravity knife is a knife that opens by the force of gravity. Are gravity knives really dangerous? What even is a gravity knife? Are they as illegal as most people think? The answers might just surprise you. “ Gravity Knife” – the term invokes a sense of danger, shrouded in a mist of legal ambiguity. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |