A.G Maisey:
We are in agreement that the ratchet can function as a backup to the main notch. However, it is also undeniable that it impedes silent, fast or inadvertent opening. So here we have three more functions, all related to opening.
Now the question remains which was paramount in the incorporation of the ratchet and why. The Cold Steel Elan and Kudu renditions of a traditional navaja also incorporate a ratchet, but the teeth are rounded and do not positively stop the blade at any one position, only impedes its motion - Clearly it serves a greater role re opening than closing.
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This entire question is actually an engineering question. I don't see it as a cultural question, <snip>
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When it comes to weapons, engineering considerations very often address legal requirements. What stands in the way of the there being a cultural/legal aspect to this or for that matter any design feature, especially one that is targeted by the law, as locks were?
Forton makes it clear that old Spanish law concentrated on the locking mechanism and navajas with a positive lock were illegal. So now we have a curious situation in which the law declared lockable navajas prohibited weapons, but in many areas they were sort of tolerated. By sort I mean that from time to time the authorities clamped down on their use and at others did nothing.
The Castilla La Mancha area is and was the traditional home of the Spanish cutlery industry and zealous enforcement of the law would have had serious economic consequences; So this accounts for the lax and inconsistent law enforcement.
As a hypothesis, and that is all this is, it is reasonable to posit that the local authorities required the presence a ratchet on all navajas, as suggested by my Spanish contact, to reduce their efficacy as weapons.
Here we have to remember the that the sole reason behind the navaja’s existence was the banning of all effective weapons after the Spanish War Of Succession and the subsequent ascent of the House of Bourbon to the Spanish throne, a French royal house imposed on Spain and one that greatly feared rebellion.
I have an open mind on the subject, though I find the explanation of intimidation by the noise produced hard to accept.
Cheers
Chris