Safety Tips for Using the Butterfly Knife
Many people prefer the butterfly knife as a self-defense weapon because it is lightweight, easy to carry and efficient to use. However, for the uninitiated, the butterfly knife can prove to be a daunting weapon to use. And in a worst case scenario, it can be very dangerous indeed. To make sure that no one turns your butterfly knife as a weapon against you, here are some important safety reminders:
Familiarize yourself with how the butterfly knife is built
A butterfly knife is so-called because of the way it is designed. It is actually a folding knife that when closed, hides the blade between the grooves found in the two handles. Opening and closing these handles mimics the movements of a butterfly’s wings, hence the name.
A butterfly knife is a pocket knife, around 5″ in length when closed. When opened, it could extend up to 9″ or 9.5″, depending on the length of the blade.
Learn to open the knife efficiently
A butterfly knife can only be considered a weapon of self-defense if it is opened. For beginners, opening the butterfly knife means using both hands. For more experienced users, it is only a one-handed approach. In an emergency, the most efficient and effective way to use a butterfly knife is of course, to open and close it using only one hand. This is an important skill you should learn, something you cannot do properly unless you use the most basic safety steps.
First, find the safe handle of the butterfly knife. This is the handle that the blade does not touch. The other handle is called the free handle because it is the one that makes most of the movements during opening and closing of the weapon.
You will be using the knife by grasping the safe handle and allowing the free handle to swing clockwise. The free handle should then be flipped up to join the safe handle cradled in your palm. This will reveal the blade in full and allow you to begin using it. Closing the knife simply requires that same movements – releasing the free handle and letting it swing clockwise, to be flipped to enclose the blade completely.
Practice
A butterfly knife can only be used safely for self-protection if you can open it quickly and without harming yourself. If you’ve never handled a butterfly knife before, it’s important that you learn how to open and use it as soon as possible. Spend half an hour to an hour’s worth of practice daily. Once you’ve familiarize yourself with how the weapon feels and how it behaves, you should be able to use it efficiently, safely and confidently within just a week or so.
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