How about a Swick Folder?

[mark greenman]

Now with Pics!




So, I love the look/ performance of the Swick, but carrying a fixed blade knife concealed is a Felony in California, ironic considering that a concealed handgun is a misdemeanor.

Anyway, I’ve been scheming off and on for months about the idea of a folding Swick, and how cool that would be. We’ve all seen how sweet Spyderco fixed blades (Temperance, Ronin, Shivworks Disciple) have been reborn as even cooler Clipits (Lil Temp, Yojimbo, Pikal.)

What I’d like to see then is a folding Swick. I’m no good at drawing, but I will attempt to draw one later (if anyone wants to try to render one, that would be awesome!)

I envisioned the knife looking kind of like an Orgy between the Swick, the Yojimbo, and the P’kal. In other words, a
-3” Wharnie blade (similar to the Yo, but slightly longer)
- Forward canted Blade (like the Swick, Ayoob, and Khurki)
-Deep choil, lock in grip G10 Handle ( Yojimbo-Dodo hybrid)
-Removable wave post (just like Pkal)
-Comp Lock (Yojimbo)
-Wire clip (P’kal)

Blended together, I think that the Folding Swick would be one of the most practical EDC/ SD knives that Spyderco has ever produced. It would have the slicing power of the Yojimbo; the intuitive, claw like cutting of the Swick; the speed of the Pkal; and most of the grip security of the original Swick.
In short, the Folding Swick would be a very intuitive, versatile, and unique folder. It would be as well suited to cutting out an article in a magazine as it would be at cutting yourself out of a life-threatening situation. And frankly, that’s what I’m looking for in an EDC.

What does everyone think?

[Blue72]

Try a Lava,comes pretty close

[cosmo7809]

Try a Lava,comes pretty close

You sure about that?

[Blue72]

You sure about that?

Yes, with its deep choils and negative angle blade.

Its not a wharnie, but its the closest folder in the spyderco line up that has the swick feel to it

[mark greenman]

Well, the Lava has the negative blade angle and the deep choil, but its very far indeed from the Folding Swick- everything from size, to construction, to blade style is different.

So, your thoughts on this non Lava, Folding Swick?

[VashHash]

I say keep the fingerhole in it i like spinning my knives and a folding swick with a hole in it would let me spin it even more. Not to mention provide a very firm grip and make it more useable as an EDC. Definitely Comp lock or BBL/CBL something we know is very secure and one hand operable without putting fingers in the path of the closing blade. Maybe S90V CF Sprint run... if only

[untamed]

I have a Gen. 1 and love it to bits!

Personally, I think the strengths of the Swick do lie in the fact that it is a small, unobtrusive, very handy fixed blade.

I've arrived at this conclusion as someone with a long time martial arts background and some exposure in emergency/tactical medicine. Having carried it both in neck knife as well as appendix IWB, rip-cord style platforms, arguably, deploying a fixed blade is faster and more consistent than any folding knife. This especially becomes apparent during critical situations where speedy execution is essential. Just pull it out of the sheath and its great ergos and angled blade intuitively "point" to what has to be handled. The retention (with the index finger) inherent to the design is just icing on the cake.

To me, it's all about the KISS principle.

[Blue72]

Well, the Lava has the negative blade angle and the deep choil, but its very far indeed from the Folding Swick- everything from size, to construction, to blade style is different.

Not as far as you think, I think with lighter scales and a modified blade shape it would come very close

[mark greenman]

I have a Gen. 1 and love it to bits!

Personally, I think the strengths of the Swick do lie in the fact that it is a small, unobtrusive, very handy fixed blade.

I've arrived at this conclusion as someone with a long time martial arts background and some exposure in emergency/tactical medicine. Having carried it both in neck knife as well as appendix IWB, rip-cord style platforms, arguably, deploying a fixed blade is faster and more consistent than any folding knife. This especially becomes apparent during critical situations where speedy execution is essential. Just pull it out of the sheath and its great ergos and angled blade intuitively "point" to what has to be handled. The retention (with the index finger) inherent to the design is just icing on the cake.

To me, it's all about the KISS principle.

I totally agree that a fixed blade will always be more reliable. Its just that, for many people, carrying a fixed blade is impractical or illegal, regardless of size.

Thats why I wanted a waved, Larger folding Swick. With the wave feature and some practice, folders can be deployed virtually as fast as a fixed blade; when you factor in that no concealing garment has to be lifted out of the what first, they very well might be faster.

So, with a wave + Swick Ergos + a longer blade, I think that this could be a very handy folder.

dd61999- Thanks for the pic, your right, the Lava is very similar is size and profile! I guess I'm envisioning a larger folder than the current Lava or Swick. Just as the Lil' Temp was a scaled down version of the Temperence fixed blade, I envision the Folding Swick as a scaled up version of the Swick FB, since the knife no longer needs to be so tiny for the purposes of concealment, so why not enjoy a larger blade?

I'm going to try and upload a sketchy sketch later today.

[Ed Gordon]

what about a spin

[VashHash]

yeah nothing beats the speed of a Fixed Blade no auto or anything will ever even come close just pull and use no need to think about pressing a button or flicking or anything it's just ready to go

[J.B]

Hey dd61999, thx for using my old pic :eek: :D

[Pneumothorax]

Probably not exactly what you mean, but size and blade shape of the Urban wharnie looks similar. you dont have the downward angled blade, though...

Disregard this comment...I've been enlightened in the following posts...

[Blue72]

you dont have the downward angled blade, though...

The negative blade angle is key. It is what makes these knives special

[mark greenman]

My favorite folder is the Spyderco Massad Ayoob, which was one of the first knives to use a negative blade angle.

Here is MA's explanation for why the negative blade angle is so crucial from this thread http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... ?p=4180798

[the negative blade angle] is what gives the C60 its superior stabbing accuracy that posters in this thread have mentioned, and it also gives tremendously more penetration, because it aligns the skeleto-muscular support structure of the arm with the point (number one), and therefore with anyone who knows how to put his weight behind a punch, gets the entire body's force going directly behind the point (number two).

As other posters have also noted, the handle-to-blade angle puts much more force behind a slash as well as a stab. Instead of the blade "skimming" over the target as it hits hard resistance such as bone, the 90 degree angle of the blade when held in reverse grip (and KEPT there by a handle shape that allows the thumb to lock it at that angle) the C60 is more likely to shear directly through whatever resistance it encounters. Because of the design features, something very similar happens with a slash from the conventional saber or pekal grasp.

With the inherent power of the negative blade angle design combined with the spectacular slicing power of the wharncliff style blade, the folding Swick could potentially outperform the Massad Ayoob and the Yojimbo.

[mark greenman]

Here's some comparison pics to give sense of scale to other MBC folders







What do you guys think?

[El Tigre]

Cool! I would buy one.

"El Tigre"

[untamed]

Interesting drawing there. It does look like a melding of those three folders, but I am missing the finger hole though as well as the orginal "grip signature".

That being said, I DO appreciate anyone putting in this level of enthusiasm and thought in a project. Who knows what'll happen in the future? Good luck!

[ColonelX1]

Now with Pics!

diggin the design, but why not make the hole big enough to stick a finger through? keep with the Swick theme

[cyberspyder]

diggin the design, but why not make the hole big enough to stick a finger through? keep with the Swick theme

There'd be no benefit with a bigger hole...I like it the way it is right now.