A knife in which the blade is held closed by spring pressure (i.e. it has a “bias toward closing”) but which requires only a few degrees of opening to move the blade past the pressure point so that it opens the remainder of the way by spring pressure alone. Offers the quick opening of a switchblade knife but is legally “friendlier” in most areas. First introduced in 1998, by Kershaw (designed by Ken Onion) and Meyerco (designed by Blackie Collins).

Pictured knife is a Kershaw Random Task II which employs the Ken Onion-designed SpeedSafe assisted opening mechanism. The original Random Task was Kershaw’s first assisted opener.