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What’s the most horrifying thing you can think of in a survival situation? You got it. A jammed automatic OTF knife.

Imagine you desperately needing to cut a tangled rope around you but your blade won’t jump out. Or you flick it open to realize the blade’s too dull. These are survival horrors we all dread.

Automatic OTF knives fail, even the best of knives can do. It’s not an everyday thing but they happen. 9/10 cheap automatic OTF knives will fail irrespective of what you do.

However, if you own a switchblade from a reputed maker, the top-notch mechanism will help deploy the blade even in its worst beaten shape.

But why face the danger when you can alleviate the risks altogether? Marines, expert hunters, fishermen and outdoor campers all know the importance of knife maintenance. They know a blade in first-rate condition can mean the difference between life and death, eating and starving.

And here’s how you can do it too.

How To Keep Your Automatic Otf Knives Razor-Sharp

I already wrote a separate article on how to keep your automatic OTF knives razor sharp. Basically, blades will go dull at some point depending on the usage. It’s a natural process of steel erosion. As you cut, something, tiny bits of the metal fall out and some stick around the blade.  

When sharpening your knife, you’re doing the same, removing tiny bits of the steel and rearranging them.

Use a whetstone stone to sharpen your blade. This is the most basic sharpening tool you can find and the best in my opinion. It’s easy to carry, costs next to nothing, you don’t need power (use it in the forest) and can bring the zing back to the best of knives.

Sharpening stones are two-sided. One side is more abrasive than the other, use that side first if your knife edge is too dull. Then use the smoother side to give it a sharp silky finish.

Fixed Blade Pro Hunting Knife

In recent weeks, we've talked a lot about the history of automatic knives (or switchblades) and the strict laws surrounding the manufacture, import, and sales of these tools. Even with these limiting laws, automatic knives stay incredibly popular among adventurers, nature lovers, hunters, fishermen, and collectors.

A switchblade is still the ultimate hunting and survival knife, as well as a multipurpose tool that can come in handy in all sorts of situations. So, if you're on the hunt for a new and shiny automatic knife, here are 3 fantastic options that will be a great addition to your collection.

Cutter // Carbon - $84.99

Compact and inconspicuous, Cutter is Tekto's smallest and subtlest sliding knife. Precisely because of its size, it is usually a great choice for those who are looking for their first automatic knife and want to start small. Cutter fits perfectly inside a pocket, purse or even on a keychain – it's that small and lightweight.

But don't let Cutter's size fool you. This knife is just as powerful as some of its larger counterparts. Its blade is made out of 440 stainless steel, the handle is zinc aluminum and it employs the latest spring technology that makes it easy to use and even easier to fall in love with. Cutter Carbon is also one of our most affordable automatic knives which is another advantage for those who don't want to spend too much on a knife.

In a country like ours (U.S.A), where buying and using firearms is legendary, it’s hard to imagine why there would be a ban at all on a 6-inch switchblade. The National Rifle Association says people in Texas and New Mexico can buy full-auto weapons made 1986 and earlier as long as they are federally registered. Texas prohibits the sale of fully automatic weapons but, if the gun is properly registered under federal law, it’s legal to have. Wouldn’t you think that a man with serious intent to kill, rob or something more sinister would get an automatic firearm rather than a switchblade? As much as the ban on automatic knives were welcomed by many, it left an awful lot of people baffled. According to FBI, Four times as many people are killed with knives than rifles. This is a very strong case indeed. However, take a look at the chart below. Look closely.

There is a lot of confusion about blades going dull. Some even feel wrongly done when their prized knives start to go dull.

Here’s the fact, all knives including the best-selling knives will lose their edge at one point or another. A quality pocket knife will stay sharp a lot longer than cheap knock-offs but ultimately will still lose its bite.

This is not as heartbreaking as many may feel. Knives losing sharpness is a natural process like life and death. But the good news is, you can bring a quality pocket knife back to life with a quality sharpener.

Man. Steel. Stone

Knife sharpening is a skill that anyone can master with a bit of practice. And like learning any other skill, it trains your brain to be smarter.

But that’s not all. Some of the best pocket knife sharpeners are simple tools like Whetstone. Using a whetstone to sharpen your knife allows you to form a bond with your steel. You’ll feel that your own rhythm has begun to sync with the motion of the blade.

Knife sharpening is an art. To be able to sharpen your knife, especially at the beginning, you will have to understand the knife’s anatomy, its type, mechanism, blade, weight and size.

                                           Image source

Once you’ve understood the different parts of your knife, you can then start to master the use of a whetstone to sharpen your blade.

There are hundreds of tutorials online where you can see how to best use a whetstone to hone your steel. This is the one I recommend for beginners. Beginners Knife Sharpening Tutorial.

History shows us that knife-like-tools used for cutting have been around for millions of years in some form or another. The oldest knife-like tool was the Oldowon used by the homo sapiens around 2.5 million years ago.

Knives are the ultimate survival tool, and even at this modern tech age, we still rely on them for an infinite number of tasks in our planetary system, from backcountry to a space station.

 Hunting knives are engineered for tough conditions, to help make the kill, and come to the rescue in survival situations. Any man prepared to gather food in the wild will need a hunting knife.

 Purpose

 You may well be thinking, “What is the true purpose of one?” Well, try skinning an animal or stripping a branch with a penknife!

A good hunting and survival knife will make a mockery of these tasks. The ideal blade size is 4-5” with a curve to the point. The curved point will make skinning and slicing easier with the natural cutting motion.

Some hunting knives sport both a curved and a straight edge. Many fishermen are inclined to blades that incorporate the ‘Gut hook’.

                                     The ‘Hook’ - Fishermen’s favorite

Best Automatic Knives

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