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Iirc there are styles of thumb stud that allow you to simulate the action and speed of a flick knife
Festerban-
It should be noted that knives that open manually, including those which can be opened with a thumb stud, do not fall under the amended definition of a flick knife.
(Same link). So it seems quite clear that thumb studs are allowed. (Which makes sense - the thumb stud is not a mechanism which activates the blade in itself, merely an assist to manual opening, and ruling out every thumb stud would in turn surely rules out any knife with a thumb indent as well, i.e every SAK in the country.)
I take your point re speed of opening: I can certainly open most of my knifes with a thumb stud with a ‘flick’ provided that I’m holding them right. Which begs the question of course what and why the legislation is designed to prevent.
I always wondered about the legality of the CRKT provoke, which has a fairly unique mechanism. It’s not automatic (despite ‘kinematic’ branding), nor a gravity knife, but doesn’t appear to be stocked anywhere in the UK. It doesn’t seem to be covered neatly by any legislation.
kkg337
Anyway, the reasoning behind the 2019 amendments to what consititues a ‘flick knife’ were:
I can’t imagine where an automatic opener could have a mechanism anywhere other than the handle (or attached to it.) No doubt there was a specific loophole they were closing - can anyone figure out what kind of thing it was trying to curtail?