A manual opening knife is opened using a thumbstud, thumb disc, thumb hole, nail nick, flipper, or other opening aid on the blade. Meant to be opened with two hands (or one hand, with practice), a manual opening knife requires you to deliberately open the blade into the locked position. Manual opening pocket knives are less maintenance, less expensive, and offer a traditional, tactile appeal over assisted opening knives.

Find the right manual opening pocket knife for you from brands like Benchmade, Black Tusk, Buck, CRKT, Kershaw, Opinel, Spyderco, Steel Will, and Zero Tolerance.