Slip Joint Knife
Most pocket knives for light duty are slip joints. This means that the blade does not lock, but, once opened, is held in place by tension from a flat bar or leaf-type backspring that allows the blade to fold if a certain amount of pressure is applied. The first spring-back knives were developed around 1660 in England, but were not widely available or affordable to most people until the arrival of the Industrial Revolution and the development of machinery capable of mass production. Most locking knives have only one blade that is as large as can be fitted into the handle, because the locking mechanism relies on the spring along the back of the blade to lock it and it is difficult to build in multiple levers, one for each blade. Slipjoints tend to be smaller in size than most typical pocket knives.
Some popular styles of slipjoints are:
| Style | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Barlow | The Barlow knife has a characteristically long bolster, an elongated oval handle, and two blades. It is assumed to be named after its inventor, although there is some dispute as to which Barlow this actually was. | |
| Camper | The traditional camper knife has a large spear and shorter clip blade, along with a can opener, combination cap lifter/screwdriver, and an awl or punch | |
| Canoe | The canoe knife has a handle shaped somewhat like a native American canoe and usually comes with two spear point blades | |
| Congress | The congress knife has a convex front with a straight or shallow concave back. It usually carries four blades. | |
| Elephant's toenail | The elephant's toenail is large design similar to the sunfish but usually tapers on one end giving it the "elephant's toenail" shape. These knives like the sunfish usually have two wide blades | |
| Peanut | The peanut knife is a very small knife with one or two blades. | |
| Penknife | The penknife was originally intended to sharpen quill pens, but continues to be used because of its suitability to fine or delicate work. A pen knife generally has one or two pen blades, and does not interfere with the appearance of dress clothes when carried in the pocket. | |
| Sodbuster | The sodbuster has a simple handle with no bolster and usually only one blade. | |
| Stockman | The stockman has a clip, a sheep's foot and a spey blade. They are usually middle-sized. There are straight handled and sowbelly versions. | |
| Sunfish | The sunfish is a large design with a straight handle with two bolsters. The blades are usually short (less than 3 inches), but both the handle and blades are very wide. Sunfish knives usually have two blades. | |
| Trapper | The trapper is larger knife with a clip and a spey blade. The blades are usually hinged at the same end. | |
| Whittler | The whittler is a pattern of pen knife which has three blades, the master blade bearing on two springs. |
Read more about this topic: Pocket Knife
Famous quotes containing the words slip, joint and/or knife:
“All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called “facts.” They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain. Who does not know fellows that always have an ill-conditioned fact or two that they lead after them into decent company like so many bull-dogs, ready to let them slip at every ingenious suggestion, or convenient generalization, or pleasant fancy? I allow no “facts” at this table.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)
“Your letter of excuses has arrived. I receive the letter but do not admit the excuses except in courtesy, as when a man treads on your toes and begs your pardon—the pardon is granted, but the joint aches, especially if there is a corn upon it.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“I loved. And a man will guard when he loves.
Their white-gowned democracy was my fair lady.
With her knife lying cold, straight, in the softness of her sweet-flowing sleeve.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)