The BacKnife design
1. Ceramic blades are for cutting, not prying, if sideways force is put on the blade it could break. Having the blade inside a rigid handle is necessary to provide protection.
2. Dropping a ceramic blade onto a hard surface could cause damage but with an extremely light weight handle, even if blade is exposed damage is unlikely.
3. The blades are not only sharp on edge but also come to a very sharp point. (great for removing splinter from finger) Using a pinch grip to hold blade extended when cutting makes it less likely to accidentally stab yourself as the blade is not locked in open position.
4. The channel where the blade fits does have tension sufficient to hold the blade in closed or open position until force is applied to the back or front slopes of the blade.
5. There is a “stop” ridge at the back of the handle to prevent moving the blade out the back when retracting blade.
6. There is a “friction stud” at the top front of the handle to keep the blade from moving forward until a reasonable pushing force is applied the the back slope of the blade.
I would appreciate and suggestions for improvements.