While I am licensed to sell switchblades (now called 'automatics') within the State of Wisconsin, an assisted opening knife is not an auto. The law defines a switchblade as a spring opening knife with a button release on the handle.

There is no button on the handle of an assisted opening knife. You push the blade open with your thumb, and when it opens to a certain distance the spring flings it open from that point. You play with these knives long enough and it's just as fast as an auto. The springs in the ZT series are quite "brisk," as well.

It makes an intimidating metallic locking sound when it opens. I've watched the eyes and mannerisms of clients when I snap one open. Most people blink, and some back up. To a mugger in a dark parking ramp thinking he's coming into a few easy bucks, this sound coupled with the sharp pang of his tendons being severed might just turn the tide...

BTW, this scenario above wasn't added to chest-thump. Sadly, it is now how I view street crime. Let me offer an explanation.

One, I realize that some muggers and other random thugs 'brandish.' In most cases, that is indeed chest-thumping, done solely to intimidate their potential victim. The trouble is, I'm not a mind-reader. The predator might be a hardened 'banger with no intention of going back to prison, or he might be an innocent kid doing his first crime. I have no way of knowing.

Something chilled me about 1985 in an article written by Evan Marshall in a gun magazine. He was a police officer, and wrote several articles on the lethal nature of ammunition in "one shot stops." He stated that "in the old days" he would have remained silent as a robber emptied the cash register till in front of him, only memorizing details for a later arrest. Even back in those times he stated he had then changed his mind--he would now kill the guy as fast as he could. It's worse now.

I carry knives capable of lethal wounds, and I have for many years. The CCW provision has just passed in Wisconsin, and obviously I will apply for a license. Clearly, if you have an exit route it's better to grab your wife and run. With the latest breed of thrill killers I'm not sure I'll be given a chance to run, they just might want to eliminate the witnesses.

If approached on the street in a mugging, I will now assume this is life-or-death, and I intend to slice my way out of it. If my wife is with me, I intend to keep slicing until I see arterial blood. Yes, I know I'll be facing some form of mandatory arrest until the facts are established and months on the pschiatrist's couch--even our trained soldiers suffer. I do not see an alternative now. And I do not wish to see those in my care maimed or killed because I wanted to be merciful.

I'm not sure that most folks who are not professional cooks know exactly how sharp modern Japanese alloys can become. Below is a demo of a knife made from VG-10, one of the best Japanese blends. The current Zero Tolerance folders are made from S30V, but I would gladly accept alloys in BG-42 or layered and folded alloys used in the best kitchen cutlery. (I have a hammered and folded Japanese folding santoku I use in restaurants that only offer crappy knives to their patrons.)

Watch the test of the santoku to the end. It is sharp. However, to me the edge dragged a bit on the paper, and I would polish that edge to at least 7000 grit. My friend in Wyoming polishes his knives--both for the kitchen and the folders he carries--to at least a 15 degree edge and 128,000 grit.

After you watch the shoe being sliced you'll understand how a defensive cut from a polished knife can go through a leather jacket, through tendons and down to the bone. So sharp, that I do not let lookie-loos handle my personal knives. Every idiot thumbs my edge, then I have to clean it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dklERlulQA

The knife at the bottom of the photo is my folding santoku, and it is highly polished and sharper than the santoku in the demo. All of my personal knives are in this condition.

https://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb23 ... 002-28.jpg

I can only say "Amazing"!!
I'm shocked at how sharp that is, cutting through the shoe was pretty cool. Yeah I can see how you could easily un-zip someone through their jacket, what ever it was made from... maybe chain male would slow it down but wow...

Does stainless hold an edge? does it make for a good blade?

Modern alloys are considered "low chromium" stainless. They are alloys like VG-10, that form the core of some very high end Japanese folded knife blanks. They are sharper that carbon steel. Usually finer grain (referring to carbides) they polish to an almost spooky flawless finish.