has anyone handled a switchblade case with a Kershaw brand knife, Ken Onion model with "speed-safe" torsion assisted blade opening system?

Loooks like we will be taking one to trial next month, the def had two, left handed and right handed in each pocket. Defense states will be flying a Kershaw rep in for expert opinion.

Any assistance or recommendations appreciated.

Well, you asked, so here goes.

The Kershaw Chive is available at just about every Wal Mart and Academy in the state and is not, IMO, a switchblade under the Texas definition.

A switchblade is defined as:

"any knife that has a blade that folds, closes, or retracts into the handle or sheath, and that:

(A) opens automatically by pressure applied to a button or other device located on the handle; or

(B) opens or releases a blade from the handle or sheath by the force of gravity or by the application of centrifugal force."

SEE Tex. Penal Code sec. 46.01(11)

As for (A), first, the Chive opens manually, not automatically, by pressing the base of the unopened blade itself toward the handle, & is assisted by a torsion bar. Second, it does not open via pressure to a "button" on the handle. There is no such button, or any other device for that matter, on the handle that, when pressed, opens the blade. The pressure is to the blade itself. So (A) is not met.

As for (B), the blade is not opened or released by the force of gravity or by the application of centrifugal force like, for example, a butterfly knife would be. It's opened/released by manually pushing the blade out with your finger, and is assisted by a torsion bar. So (B) is out.

Anyway, just being honest.

[This message was edited by ChrisW on 04-24-03 at .]

Now i am confused....how is it that it opens "manually," but with the assistance of a torsion bar? I remember taking a regular pocket knife to trial under this definition once because the hinge was so loose that it just flicked open. Is that what we have here?

The Onion model Kershaw won't open (unless it's been altered) unless and until someone makes it open by pushing the blade out from inside the handle...the "button," which is really only a place for the finger to push on to keep one from slicing his or her digits off, is on the blade...there's no "switch" that can be manipulated in order for the knifeblade to spring out of the body as do "regular" switchblades. It will be interesting to see what jurors think about the knife. Good voir dire question would be for anybody on the panel w/ a pocketknife, then anybody w/ a Kershaw on them or in their tackle box.

Rob,
No, different deal. The base of the blade protrudes out from the handle and forms a "flipper" that the user pushes to open the handle. The user is pushing the blade itself out, rather than pushing a button that releases a blade under pressure. In fact, the user must actually overcome an initial resistance created by the torsion bar, until the torsion bar reaches a point where it no longer resists. Then it simply is easier to push.

In your example, the knife was, I'm guessing, similar to a butterfly knife in that it used gravity or centifugal force to open, ie, the user either turned it over & let the blade fall out, or "slung" the blade out with centifugal force. On a Ken Onion model, not only is the knife not designed to be opened by simple use of gravity or centrifugal force, I seriously doubt anybody, except maybe the the strongest among us, would be capable of overcoming the initial resistance of the torsion bar by "slinging" the blade open with centrifugal force. Neither subsection of 46.01(11) is met.

[This message was edited by ChrisW on 05-01-03 at .]

[This message was edited by ChrisW on 05-01-03 at .]

AP,

Just saw your reply. Wouldn't the prosecutor need to mirandize the jurors prior to asking those questions?

What for? I hope it's not against the law to carry a pocketknife, or have one in the tacklebox, if so, better send the sheriff over here.

They're just voir dire questions, sort of like "Can anyone here name Scott's band?"

[This message was edited by A.P. Merillat on 05-01-03 at .]

The knife (actually knives - def had a right handed version in right pocket and a left handed version in left pocket) is not the Kershaw "chive" with the extension on the rearend of the blade. They are two of the Kershaw Ken Onion "speedsafe" knives. They have a knob on the blade (just like my S&W knife in my pocket now) to assist with one handed opening. But the speed safe has a torsion bar in the handle that once the blade has been pushed with the thumb,the torsion bar takes over and swings the blade to an open and locked position. See Kershawknives.com site. Several knife sites refer to it as the "Ken Onion SpeedSafe torsion bar mechanism of assisted opening".

These speedsafe knives do not fit 46.01(11)(a). No button on handle and no automatic opening. There is obviously an application of force of some type to open the blade, but is it centrifugal force to meet sub (b)? That is what we are not sure of and it may not be.

ray,

The force used to open the Onion series is not centrfugal force. Centrifugal force is the the force that tends to impel a thing or parts of a thing outward from a center of rotation (See Merriam Webster Online Dictionary). On an Onion Series knife, the movement of the blade is intitiated by the user actually pushing the blade out with his or her finger. Just like any other knife. The difference is that the Onion can be released faster due to a MECHANICAL device that allows the blade to open easier after an initial resistance. The energy (force) is derived from the user pushing, and is sped with MECHANICAL assistance, not by gravity, not by centrifugal force.

Here's an example:
Dunk a basketball into water, pull it out, then spin it on the ground (or on your finger if you you're really skilled). Water will fly off as the ball spins. Now, you have two objects being propelled - the ball and the water. The water is being propelled by centrifugal force, ie, it's being forced outward from the center of the thing being rotated by the force of the rotation itself. However, the basketball ITSELF is NOT being propelled by centrifugal force, but rather your hand. The Onion blade would be similar to the ball - yes, it's being rotated, but by force of the user's hand, and with MECHANICAL assistance.

Or a hand-pushed merry-go-round. Like when you're a little kid & start pushing the thing without checking to see if your buddy is holding on. Your buddy losing his grip, flying off & bustin' his *** is an example of centrifugal force at work. The merry-go-round itself is propelled by the dude that didn't wait to see if his buddy was holding on. Though you and your buddy may disagree on how funny him flying off the merry-go-round was, the principles still apply.

Or that ride at Six Flags that spins around and pins you against the side.

Maybe I'm not explaining it well. The best thing to do would be to run down to Academy or Wal Mart and look at one yourself. I think you'll see what I mean. Of course, that presents other problems - like what do you do about all those Academy & Wal Mart clerks peddling Onion knives?

[This message was edited by ChrisW on 05-01-03 at .]

[This message was edited by ChrisW on 05-01-03 at .]

Chris,

What about the fellow who is on the merry-go-round with a basketball, and it starts raining while the guy spins the ball on his finger? Of course, the m-g-r is still turning in this scenario -- clockwise -- and with the rain and all, there is water flinging off of the basketball...I wonder, in such a case, would Scott's drummer still be able to twirl his sticks during the bridge (or dare I say, the TURNAROUND) of say, "Green River"?