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Different Kinds of Pocket Knives

Pocket folding knife designs once used by American settlers still find a place in the pockets of modern Americans. Folding knives such as the Barlow, a popular frontier knife, originated in Europe and date to the late 1600s. Founders of well-known American companies, such as Buck Knives and W.R. Case &Sons, developed their own improved versions of the slip-joint pocketknife. Today's knife makers have completely reworked the old ideas, creating pocket folders with many of the features of automatic knives.

Slip-Joint Knives
- Slip-joint knives enclose one or more blades in a handle with metal liners and handle slabs made of hardwood, bone or other durable materials. Spring steel bars in the spine of the knife hold the blades shut. Pivoting the blade out causes the bar to slide over the base of the blade and seat firmly in a machined notch. Pressure on the back of the blade returns the knife to the closed position.
Lockback Knives
- Lockback knives use several different systems, but all lock the knife blade securely in the open position and prevent accidental closure on the user's fingers. Lockback mechanisms add security to the knife.
One-Handed Opening
- One-handed opening knives overcome legal restrictions on the use of automatic knives by substituting manual mechanisms. Some include metal studs on either side of the blade's base. Thumb pressure swings the knife out of the handle, and the blade locks in open position. Other types use thumb holes or loops in the blade for this opening leverage.
Assisted Opening
- This convenient one-handed folding knife depends on manual pressure to start the movement of the blade. Once the blade pivots partly out of the handle, a spring-loaded mechanism takes over. The spring drives the blade into the fully open and locked position.
Automatic Knives
- Automatic knives open at the push of a button. Switchblades pivot open from the side of the handle, while out-the-front (OTF) knives shoot forward. Both types lock in the open position and cannot close without manual release of the blade lock. American federal law prohibits the importation of automatic knives. State laws regulate ownership and use.
Balisong
- The traditional folding knife of the Philippines, also known as a butterfly knife, stores a single blade in a two-part handle. A flick of the wrist swings one side of the handle 360 degrees and swings the blade 180 degrees. With the two handle halves positioned back-to-back to form the grip, the blade locks into open position. Many of the restrictions applied to automatic knives also apply to balisongs.

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