I met Walter Wells Collins, also known as Blackie, at the first SHOT Show I attended. I stopped by the Meyerco booth and they introduced him. He was gracious, warm and put up with me asking questions and posing for photos. He had a true love of knives and knife making.
As most of you know he died when he crashed his Triumph motorcycle July 20, 2011. He was 71 years old.
I recently decided I needed wanted a Collins so I bought a FreeHand. Blackie Collins designed the knife exclusively for Meyerco and I’ve always liked its looks. The button release, matte silver blade and round silver medallion containing a BC set in shiny black handles has always appealed to me.
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| It could be the right size to carry just about anywhere you go. |
The 2.5-inch blade is made from 154CM steel and is housed in a glass filled nylon 3.5 inch handle. A button releases the blade and your index finger can flick the blade out.
Yes, it took a little practice, but not much.
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| With a little practice you can open the knife with one continuous finger pull or walk it open with several shorter pulls. |
Push the button again and you can close the blade with your index finger or simply wipe it closed.
The blade is too light for a wrist flip to open the knife, but I’ve read that people are converting these to auto-knives with a little work. I wasn’t able to find a spring kit or video but I really didn’t look that hard. I did find you can take the clip off. The knife is set up to be carried tip down and the knife handle doesn’t look like you can reverse it. Without the clip you can drop it in your pocket and go about your business. Not every knife has to be a hide-in-dark-shadows-tactical knife.
