Here's a story about a Naval aviator whose automatic knife opened up in his survival vest. Ouch!

Lessons learned: 1) know your gear and 2) check your gear.

That is a hilarious article in the title and the whole "I don't normally bleed this much from preflight" but I had my buck tempest do that once while I was pulling it out of my pocket. Thankfully I didn't get cut but it was a real eye opener. My guess is the safety snagged on the pants and then somehow it deployed as well.

Oww. That sounds like the Benchmade Model 5000 Auto Presidio. Can anyone verify?

I had two thoughts after reading that:

1) Stuff happens

2) Relying on SOMEONE ELSE to check YOUR survival gear once a month (when you might be flying with it every day) seems like a really stupid way to do business. Who is going to have to use this stuff to survive anyway...

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Unfamiliarity breeds accidents...

Here in Oregon we're allowed to buy, possess and carry automatic knives, so there are a LOT of them around.

I've had several friends and one employee whose autos came off safe and deployed in their pockets. (The employee's incident occurred while I was in the room - took a couple of stitches to the fingers that were unknowningly thrust into the now-dangerous pocket!)

After that, I decided against carrying mine (a Benchmade engraved "first production) and sold it - for enough money to buy a couple of really nice non-automatic Benchmades!

The thumb-opening models are more than fast enough for me... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

-=[ Grant ]=-

A friend once gave me a Benchmade auto folder, don't know what model, that had NO safety, just a recessed button. Made a nice letter opener at home, no way I would carry it (even if it was legal where I lived, which it wasn't)...

One handed opening is available in so many non-switchblade forms.
Assisted openers are legal just about everywhere in the US as are the spyderco's and hole in the blade types.
I can open mine just as fast as an MC-1 or other automatic.
I wonder why the military still persist with automatics ?
It's a shame that the "Switchblade" has such an unfounded bad rap.
Purely psychological, automatics are no more effective than any other folder as far as a weapon is concerned.
It does help in an emergency, one handed opening no mater what type.
Guess the 1950's did it. Funny now a hoodlum would be embarrassed to pull out such a thing.