How Does an OTF Knife Work? | In-Depth Demo

Here I dissemble an OTF knife to demonstrate how it operates.

Hope y'all enjoy!

00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Front and Rear detent
01:25 - Steel plate
01:58 - Thumb Slide
02:25 - Main Spring
03:25 - How it "shoots" out
04:17 - How it "shoots" back in
05:10 - Super Fast Explanation

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** THIS VIDEO WAS CREATED FOR EDUCATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. USE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN USING OR HANDLING ANY OF THE ITEMS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO, YOU TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF DOING SO. DO NOT ATTEMPT ANYTHING SEEN IN THIS VIDEO AT HOME.**

[SparkyMTB]

I’ve watched 6 videos on this subject today (how does an OTF knife work) but your video has the best explanation, thank you 👍🏼

[Arrowed_Sparrow]

Thank you for the easy to follow explanation. The mechanism is actually more simple than I thought.

[yungmoosepiss]

What a concise and clear explanation. Bravo!

[itztwoost]

I was curious what this extra spring was for that came with my otf knife so I was an idiot and disassembled my knife and it took me a good 20 minutes before I found this video and was able to put it all back together. This video saved me so much time, thanks!

[nabins]

Jeeze, lots of videos trying to explain on here but not one is concise enough to make any sense. Yours however was to the point and super informative. Understood the mechanism. Thank you!

[Jacob-olzb]

I'm so happy I found your video. This was an amazing explanation. I had tried other videos first and they didn't explain it that good. This video is the one that actually taught me. Thanks for taking the time to explain this!

[dougvail]

I found a microtech OTF knife in bad shape and wanted to fix it. It was different than the knife in your video but your explanation was so thorough I was able to understand the fundamentals of this design. I was able to dismantle, clean and repair the knife. Thanks to you I have a cool EDC knife. Keep up the good work.

[LifeYourGames]

Very nicely explained and easy to follow. Thank you! :)

[jordanhanlin]

I have one of these knives and it is by far my favorite out of all my knives I now see how it works n is pretty badass thanks for video

[bozmeg]

Thanks ! Last video I saw did not explain how the spring works. You have the ability to explain in detail how it works. Thank you.

[stephenthomas]

Defiantly the very best explanation thank you

[jeffcanfixit]

GREAT vid!! I'm more of a folder guy (just 1 otf) but I've always been curious as to how they work. That was clear, concise, just well explained.. 👍👍🔪

[NonEuclideanTacoCannon]

Found a Benchmade OTF on the side of the road a while back, and I loved that thing. I basically used it as a glorified box opener, but it was extremely handy and I used it every day. Then it started getting stuck open. Took it apart, thoroughly cleaned it and hit it with dry lube. Still gets stuck out. Thought about buying a new one, then I saw the particular knife I have is like $400. I was hoping to glean some insight as to why it would close normally, but I'm still stumped.

[the-sassy-blacksmith]

Thank you man, im working on making an assassins creed hidden blade and am hoping to use this mechanism

[unidentifiedbiomass]

not as complicated as I thought it would be, still whoever figured this out is big brained

[Moltimer]

thank you for the explanation it was very clear and amazing

[matthew]

Nice video you really helped me understand how the knife works. there really hard to get here in canada I was very curious how it works and I don't wanna take mine apart an risk braking it or something

[Nefville]

Thanks. I just got a Lightning OTF, the older version, and I was wondering how that works so easily. I guess it doesn't take a lot of force from your thumb to move a blade in and out, but it does kind of seem like magic.

[dondee]

So basically the two springs (some OTF knives use only one spring) are under some stretch tension all the time. Moving the thumbswitch adds some more spring stretch tension and releases the little catcher tabs on either end and the blade slides either forward or backward. Pretty smart idea making a spring do work in either direction. I just wonder how much thrusting force an OTF knife can withstand before the blade collapses back into the handle. Seeing the guts of the OTF makes me think of a glorified utility knife for some reason. I guess it is like seeing the sausage being made. Great job on your video here.

[markswishereatsstuff]

The Lightning OTF is a great knife for the money. I have a Microtech that is impossible for me to retract so I don't use it. Deploying it is no joy either. Lightning for the win.