Knife folding: a bit of history

The first folding knives appeared more than two thousandyears ago. Even in ancient Rome, they were used as a cutlery and a pocket tool. They were very simple and cheap, they were even called "penny". No spring or other fixer blade was provided: it was attached to the hinge and, if necessary, either hid in the handle or got a simple turn. In the open position, the blade was held only by frictional force, and during cutting - by focusing the butt on the handle. Of course, the first folding knives were of very poor quality, almost disposable, because they quickly failed.

Development of construction

In the form in which we are used to ourselvesto represent the knife folding now, it appeared three hundred years ago, when a lock was invented, which allows fixing the blade in the open state. And not just some kind of a lock, but a lot of various designs, most of which are used in modern knives. The perfection of the design coincided with the general technical boom of mankind and reached its peak to the beginning-middle of the twentieth century. It was in this period, according to collectors and experts, the best folding knives were created.

Modern folding knife

Our time is, first of all, the perioddevelopment and appearance of new materials, changes in their qualities and properties. As before, the folding knife reflects the technical achievements of the era. In the modern "folding" used old, tested by years and experience of constructive solutions, but new materials are used. Handles are made of heavy-duty plastics and duralumin, which, with light weight, have excellent strength characteristics. Powder metallurgy has become very popular, which, while preserving excellent cutting and other qualities of the blade, can make it cheaper and faster to manufacture.

Best Assistant

If, as already mentioned, a folding knifewas used by our ancestors exclusively as a cutlery or a unreliable tool, now it is the best assistant for all occasions. The evidence of its high reliability and consumer qualities is the mandatory presence of "folders" in the equipment of fighters of modern armies. In the military, such knives are positioned as a survival tool, an object that will cope with any situation. Of course, military knives are made by special technology, and, of course, they can not be freely acquired. Meanwhile, the knife market, and without the military, is filled with all sorts of samples for various purposes: it is a folding tourist knife, and different multi-tails, in the handle of which dozens of instruments can fit. In addition, there are hunting "folds" and ordinary pocket or penknives. You can choose a folding knife depending on your aesthetic preferences or its technical characteristics. Here, by the way, it is worth mentioning one of the modern technical solutions, probably the only know-how after the forties. This is a servitor sharpening, first applied to the folding knives of the company "Spiderko". Such sharpening allows you to cut literally anything from bread to rope.