How to Care for Your OTF Knife
Out the Front Knives (or OTF Knives) have many benefits and uses, whether around the house, at work or just as a great piece to a knife collection. However, just like with any knife, it is very important to remember to always properly care for your knife, and in this article we will discuss some techniques for proper OTF Knife Care.
Why is Knife Care so Important?
Because of how OTF Knives deploy, the mechanism that deploys the blade can take a beating over months of solid use. Since OTF Knives are so perfect for everyday carry, they are especially prone to damage from wear and tear, and from their frequency of use.
These factors, and others, can affect the spring mechanism on your OTF Knife and cause it to misfire, or maybe not even fire when pushed at all. When using your knife as an important tool, or for your self-defense, every second counts and you want to be sure that your knife is always ready to go when you need it. Not only will maintenance ensure your knife always fires when ready, but it will greatly extend the lifespan of your knife even through frequent use.
Using the proper tools for your job is very important to ensure a proper clean of your OTF Knife. A solid maintenance routine will include an OTF knife being cleaned every month or two, more or less depending on the frequency of use.
To throughly clean your knife, you will need a few different materials. A good quality knife lubricant will prevent the spring from getting stuck in either the open or closed position. Gun oil, rem oil or WD-40 will also be sufficient to clean the spring mechanism.
Learn How to Properly Clean
While OTF Knives may come in a variety of shapes and sizes, learning proper cleaning technique will apply to cleaning any of them. The basic steps are to use compressed air to clean the surface initially, use your knife oil (gun oil or rem oil will work as well) to lubricate the spring mechanism of your knife, testing the firing a few times to ensure proper lubrication, and then once again blowing compressed air to remove any excess oil.
There are many available resources on proper OTF Knife Maintenance that will be much more in depth, and will go over every single detail of the OTF cleaning process.
For optimal performance of your OTF knife, you will need to develop a habit of proper cleaning and maintenance. Depending on your use, once every 1 or 2 months will ensure that your knife is always reliably working when you need it to.
OTF Knife Care is extremely important to make sure that your knife is always firing and sharp when you need to use it. We hope that you are able to use these and other resources to properly care for your OTF knife so that it is a great tool for years to come!
