ratcheting mechanism on Spanish Navajas

[Chris Evans]

Hi Richard,

I have for a long while wondered what is the function of the ratcheting mechanism on the locks of traditional Spanish navajas. It makes it impossible to open them silently. The only advantage I can see is that it could not be accidentally closed on the hand while opening the knife; perhaps if someone kicked it in mid-open? I have read that it acts much as the rattle on a rattlesnake; announcing imminent danger. If any of you experts have an idea, I would love to know.
Thank you.
Richard.

There's no easy answer to your question.

The current urban myth is that it was intended to frighten the opponent, but this does not stand up to scrutiny because only a very timid and inexperienced fighter would be so affected and a bolder adversary would take advantage of this impediment.

Some years ago I was told by a knowledgeable Spanish collector that there was some evidence that it was a requirement by the authorities to slow down the opening and provide a warning noise. To me this seems more plausible especially when we recall that a good many navajas had only three teeth, which appear to be some kind of token concession to a requirement.

Another plausible justification is that the ratchet, `carraca’ is Spanish, prevented the inadvertent dangerous opening of the larger blades, say if falling of a horse, but again three teeth do very little.

The undisputed authority on the navaja, Forton, in his very comprehensive and definitive work on this knife, completely avoided this subject.

I’ll add that with the post 1900 levered latch, the navaja can be opened without the back spring engaging with the ratchet and in fact can be flipped open, but not always reliably.



Fernando: I think that this thread should be transferred to the Ethnic Weapons forum where all the past discussions on the navaja took place.


Cheers
Chris