Do you say ‘switchblade’ or ‘automatic knife’?

Sounds like a George Carlin question. Switchblade is warm and fuzzy. Automatic is hard and cold.

To me, this is what I consider a switchblade. It’s a classic Italian stiletto. It clicks open with a menacing double click.

This is not an expensive one; I couldn’t find a maker’s mark.  The blade is stamped “rust free” so I assume it’s stainless steel and is too dull to even cleanly open envelopes.  I remember when knives came relatively dull and you put the kind of edge you wanted.  But I don’t want to sharpen it and alter the ‘factory edge’.  It has the classic release button which allows a leaf spring to fire the knife open, a slide safety and a horn handle.  I got it as part of an estate I purchased and kept it because the knife was unlocked by depressing a tab on the knife’s butt.

But say automatic to me and I got to go with Pro-Tech knives.

From Knife Magazine Contributor Frank Karl’s personal blog, One Man, So many Knives.

View Linked Article