Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Automatic Knives

First, are these things even legal? A friend of mine recently moved and stored a bunch of his stuff at my place. He finally is "letting me" sell all his crap, so as I was sorting it last night and figuring out what to throw and put on the various boards to sell, I came across 2 auto knives.

I remember him getting these in kit form "for collectors only" through the mail, must be 20 years ago now. They are in prefect shape and knowing him, never cut a thing with them. One looks like the classic switchblade, the other a stilletto that pops out the front.

The blades are sharp and function fine. I didn't check out the kind of steel for the blade and didn't see a name either. But it could be there, I'm just not much of a knife guy.

Any idea what's the worth on these?

Kit knives are usually not very valuable, but I'm no expert on them. You may try taking a pic and posting on Bladeforums. Bernard Levine has a subforum there. He's a master of knife identification and appraisal.

The legality of possessing, carrying, and using automatic knives varies widely from state to state. You need to know your state laws and also need to understand the laws of your city/town/municipality.

Another pitfall of auto knives is shipping them across state lines. It is not legal to use the USPS for this purpose. Many people do it, but the penalties are stiff. Always use a commercial carrier (UPS, Fedex) when shipping autos.