Constructive criticism for Spydercos large FRN folders

[vivi]

I love large, light knives. So I've bought a lot of the larger FRN Spydercos. Pacific Salts, Enduras, Police, Resilience, Stretch XL etc.

I think on a lot of these models, the smooth area underneath the clip is inadequately sized.





The clip puts pressure on the very edge of the smooth logo portion of the handle, which results in pocket material being grabbed by the bi-directional texturing on the draw.

This is most noticeable on FRN Police and Resilience folders. They both hang up any time I draw them from my pocket.

It's not the end of the world for me as I prefer a strong hold on my clips, but it feels jarring going from the G10 versions to the FRN versions and having them feel so different on the draw.

Going forward I think the smooth logo part of the handle needs to be widened on knives like this.

[Ramonade]

I've noticed the same thing on my FRN Police 4. I found a clip that just goes a bit further on the smooth spot to pary that issue :)

[James Y]

I fully agree that the flat logo area should be expanded, so the clip contact area is fully on the smooth logo. A clip should be grippy enough without being a pocket shredder. Besides, texturing on that spot serves no real practical purpose, IMO.

I had to switch the clip on my Police 4 LWT to tip-down carry, so it wouldn't shred my pocket material. Luckily, in the tip-down carry position, the clip contacts a bit more on the logo than it does in the tip-up carry position.

Jim

[yablanowitz]

That explains why I had never noticed the "problem".

[Bemo]

I've actually thought about taking some sandpaper to that area to see if it would help.

[Road Tripper]

I noticed the same thing on an Endura in tip-up configuration; it's one reason I moved that knife along. I do like the Seki FRN otherwise.

[Toucan]

The longer the knife the longer the smooth "pad" will need to be to accommodate tip up and tip down configurations. That takes up a lot of the surface that would ideally be grippy textured. Maybe the solution is two much smaller smooth pads directly beneath where the clip would sit in either spot, instead of one big one.

This could potentially mean smaller, less obtrusive clips on big folders, smaller total area of flat pad, and more grippy surface in the center on the knife. I think it might look a little goofy since we're so used to the single oval pad on FRN, but it makes some sense.

As an aside, I really like the way the pad is done on the Native. Just a circle with the Spyderbug is very aesthetically appealing compared with say, the pad on FRN Native Chief with all the words and negative space. The FRN Tenacious is a nice middle ground with the model name and bug on a circular pad.

[mongo1958]

I noticed this on my P4 but I also noticed that the clip slides into the pocket a bit easier.
I also modified my knife extraction technique as well.
Thumb and index finger goes into the pocket grabbing the knife, middle finger is on the clip (in the curve of the clip), all 3 digits pull up on the knife. This works well with deep pocket clips too.

[weeping minora]

I, too, find this to be a problem. As a "happy accident", at work last week, I ran into a box with my Stretch 2 XL clipped to my pocket and the clip bent, allowing just enough give to still be securely clipped, yet whilst offering a much smoother seat, or draw, to the knife. sal has pointed out numerous times that he prefers to do this (bend the clip a bit, not run into boxes) in receiving his particular examples of knives and I find that to be the perfect advice for these larger folders, in their currently produced existence.

I do agree however; the clip needs to lengthen a bit, or the flattened landing pad needs to extend to accommodate the standard clip, as it be. Perhaps the future, but I'm not holding my breath, as I'd expect higher costs to befall the consumer.

[sal]

We would have to extend the pad. Not an easy task on existing models. We can consider it for future models. Personally, I've never experienced that, as Weeping Minora said, I bend out my clips. I don't like them too tight. We make them tight for those that like them that way. Easier to make it looser, than to make it tighter.

sal

[Coastal]

MXG Gear's titanium shallow-carry replacement clip #101061 is longer than Spyderco's clip, and neatly solves this problem on some models while being more comfortable in my hand. On other models it's too long, and recreates the issue on the far end of the pad. It costs $23, so only worth it if the draw/re-clip issue is a big deal to you, or if you're simply looking for a more comfortable clip.

[vivi]

We would have to extend the pad. Not an easy task on existing models. We can consider it for future models. Personally, I've never experienced that, as Weeping Minora said, I bend out my clips. I don't like them too tight. We make them tight for those that like them that way. Easier to make it looser, than to make it tighter.

sal

I definitely wouldn't expect any existing molds to be re-tooled. Just a suggestion for future FRN folders.

Loosening the clip can help. I just want to see the larger models be as smooth on the draw as a Delica, Native or mini Manix. There's a pretty big difference between how those models draw and how a Police or Resilience draws.

Maybe two small pads would be better than one really wide pad?

[Coastal]

Maybe two small pads would be better than one really wide pad?

As one who replaces many of my Spyderco clips with both deep- and shallow-carry aftermarket versions, I'd vote for a single, continuous longer pad, if such a change is ever considered.

[vivi]

Don't get me wrong, I am beyond pleased with what I saw in today's reveal.

However, seems I'm not the only one that noticed the clips......

This is wonderful news for Salt

........Unfortunately (for me) is that by all appearances in the photos of the PM2 and Native Chief Salts, the pocket clips' contact points do not contact fully on the flat/smooth logo on the Natice Chief; and on the PM2, the clip appears to contact fully on the texturing; the flat/smooth portion looks to be completely away from the clip's contact point.

Jim

I'll deal with it, but looking at photos I expect the Chief Salt to get hung up on my pocket when I draw the knife just like the Police LW does.

[James Y]

Don't get me wrong, I am beyond pleased with what I saw in today's reveal.

However, seems I'm not the only one that noticed the clips......

This is wonderful news for Salt

........Unfortunately (for me) is that by all appearances in the photos of the PM2 and Native Chief Salts, the pocket clips' contact points do not contact fully on the flat/smooth logo on the Natice Chief; and on the PM2, the clip appears to contact fully on the texturing; the flat/smooth portion looks to be completely away from the clip's contact point.

Jim

I'll deal with it, but looking at photos I expect the Chief Salt to get hung up on my pocket when I draw the knife just like the Police LW does.

I had to switch my Police 4 LWT to tip-down for it not to tear up my pockets when clip carrying. The logo portion on the P4 LWT catches a little more of the clip's point of contact when positioned for tip-down carry.

From the look in the photos of the PM2 Salt and Native Chief Salts, I doubt a clip position change will make any difference, especially on the PM2 Salt. It looks like the contact points will be on the texturing regardless of clip position.

Jim

[vivi]

Yep. I'll be going to work with some sand paper.

To be fair to the crew, if they saw this thread and decided to change the clip contact area like I suggested, the models we just saw were more than likely already tooled up. So, they're aware of this minor nitpick, and maybe down the road we'll see some adaptations for newer models. Changing existing models would not make any financial sense at all, so I don't expect that.