I need a really low riding pocket clip and you might as well...

[Magic]

I've decided that I need to switch over to having really low riding clips...so that when a knife is clipped to my pocket, no one can tell that it's a knife...but they are instead more likely to think that it's a pen.

Now, I remember once going to South Carolina, and seeing that it seemed more normal to have a knife clipped to your pocket than not, but I can tell you that in San Francisco you almost never see one clipped to a pocket.

Unfortunately, perhaps the best example I have of a low riding clip is on the Benchmade Pika...you can see it here...(scroll to the fifth picture)

http://sigforum.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=6 ... =410106001

Now, don't worry I'm not going to switch allegiances...my goal is to retrofit my Burgundy Calypso Jr....and any other knives I get with a clip that can be removed/replaced...

And also to see who else thinks they might want such a clip.... from what I can tell the clip on the Calypso jr. shares a hole pattern with other knives, including maybe the upcoming 4th gen. endura and delica. (Can someone confirm?) So if Spyderco did a run of after market low riding clips, they could probably sell enough to make it worthwhile.

Picture it this, your 5th grade child is hurt in school, and the school nurse calls you...so you rush over from work. But the security gaurd at the front of the school sees your clip and calls the police....carrying a Calypso Jr. in a k-12 in California can get you one year in jail. (Even though it's perfectly legal outside the school).

The above is pretty unlikely, but in many communities it's better not to advertise you have a knife.

So I'm hoping Spyderco will do a run of low riding clips without the Spyderco logo....I also expect this could be a win-win...because the price to manufature the clips can't be that much...it could end up being one of Spyderco's highest margin products.

[Chucula]

some random advice: dont buy knives because you are loyal to the brand--buy them because you think/know they are good. you said "dont worry about me switching allegiances" and you should also not worry about it. Brand loyalty is quite pointless and i dont believe anyone would care if you got some otehr knives. diversity is good :D

i know the meerkat has a low clip and that was seen by many (i think) as a good feature. i wouldnt mind the lighter knives to have a low clips, but the heavier ones might pull the pocket down in that case. correct me if im wrong

[STR]

It would be no problem at all to mount a fold over pocket clips like these toward the bottom of the page if you scroll down after clicking the link These would easily go on an FRN or titanium framed Spydie to make it sit lower in the pocket.

http://knifekits.com/store/s-pages/kk_s ... .htm~smain

[Simon G]

The UK Penknife has a low riding clip, it was one of the design parameters because of the unfriendly attitude towards carry. Being non-locking, which is not as big a disadvantage as you might think, could well be "forward thinking in jurisdictions where carrying is being frowned upon.

God bless,

Simon.

[Simon G]

I should also have said it's a "wire" type cip that almost disappears against the pants, especially if dark coloured pants! :cool:

[spyderknut]

Meerkat or UKPK are Spyderco's best clips for low-profile carry. I wish more clips were like these.

[Slvgx]

Many of us have been pushing for Spyderco, or anyone for that matter to put out a nice range of aftermarket clips. Nothing really has come of it, yet.

[denny]

Take a look at the mini manix it is going to ride low, if you can wait till it comes out.

[bell]

Spyderco, after tons of input and requests such as above for a low riding clip seems detrmined to want to show the blade. Maybe this is some kind of PC thing avoiding any claims of "covert carry" by spydie customers or some marketing thing. I dont know. I do know I would like a low ride clip for my Calys, et. al. and am taking a long look at the BM Pika.

[spyderknut]

"Picture it this, your 5th grade child is hurt in school, and the school nurse calls you...so you rush over from work. But the security gaurd at the front of the school sees your clip and calls the police....carrying a Calypso Jr. in a k-12 in California can get you one year in jail. (Even though it's perfectly legal outside the school). "


I am sure California is a very nice place to live and all but that is just friggin' ridiculous. I don't even think about going to pick my kids up with clip in place.

[markg]

The Dodo has an almost pen like look when clipped in the pocket.

Also the Benchmade 420, has a wonderful low ride clip, however it is as big as a bratwurst...

If you want to stick to Spyderco, give the Dodo a try, between the wire clip and round "butt", it does not look knife like at all...

[The Deacon]

The "waterfall" style clip STR pointed out certainly looks like a reasonable solution to the problem. It should make either an FRN Calypso Jr or the new Manix 80mm (both of which have the screw holes located forward of the pivot) darn near invisible.

Edited to add: This has got to be a "no-win" situation for Spyderco and other companies. Some states, like mine, consider it "brandishing" if a knife is even slightly visible, others consider it a sign of bad intent to carry one concealed. RH, LH, TU, TD, discreet, high vis, handles could quickly begin to look like Swiss cheese.

[WOTANSON1]

The Dodo has an almost pen like look when clipped in the pocket.

Also the Benchmade 420, has a wonderful low ride clip, however it is as big as a bratwurst...

If you want to stick to Spyderco, give the Dodo a try, between the wire clip and round "butt", it does not look knife like at all...

I'll second the Dodo, rides real low, allmost undetectable, one of the best :spyder: ies out there.

[gabo]

Along with the Dodo, try the Yojimbo, same appearance as a pocket pen

[Magic]

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

STR...your suggestion was very helpful!

So, first I didn' realize that the mounting holes for a clip on the calypso jr. are an industry standard. But I assume that's what your implying by saying I can buy a clip from knifekits. This seems like a great solution. All I have to do is buy a clip from them, unscrew the current clip, and screw in the new clip??

For those that recommended various knives....

The Meerkat clip looks ideal, but the knife is discontinued, although It seems readily available. Still I can't get it in vg-10, and am not sure of the safety of the lock, so I don't think it's right for me.

The Dodo lacks a lanyard hole...so that's out for me, plus it's not an ideal blade shape for me.

The Mini Manix looks from the picture like you'd be able to see part of the blade when clipped to my pocket, so that's out....plus there is no Boye dent, so it's not for me.

The yojimbo looked pretty awesome, but Mr. Blonde has basically talked me out of trying to edc it here:
http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.p ... ht=yojimbo

So it comes down to getting the clip changed on my calypso jr. I'll take the knifekits approach....has anyone actually done this before? Do I reuse the same screws I have?

[skcusloa]

What knife clip are you looking at to fit the calypso? I could not find one that is low profile.

[STR]

For the record: I never said that the CJ clip was 'standard' size. Nor did I intend to come across as if one of the knife kits clips would just snap right in using the original screws without some homework.

You must first measure the original clip width of your CJ at the mounting position. Widest point and center to center for the holes. I believe it measures 5/8". That is going from memory as I've sold my CJ quite a while ago. I believe the silver clip will work leaving you with one extra screw.

At any rate, even if the clip didn't match up to both holes you could still use one of the original holes on the CJ or just about any other factory knife to mount one of those clips.

Do so by tapping and threading a new hole for the remaining one using a $3.95 2-56 size tapered threader and a drill press to hold that for you while you manually turn the head of the drill to thread the hole. Drill the new hole first with a 1/16" drill bit using the clip as a template held in place by the first screw you secured in the factory hole. If you don't have a drill press you will need to purchase a wrench to hold the threader also. About $5.

I've threaded FRN, G10, Micarta, Bone, Brass, Titanium, and stainless and many other handles this way. For the softer materials you can get by with a 1/16" drill. For harder materials you need to use the correct size bit normally used, which is a #48 or the slightly smaller diameter #51. I prefer the slightly smaller #51 because I feel the smaller diameter even though by just a little bit makes the threads deeper and less likely to strip out on you.

Most of these clips from knifekits are set up for 2-56 screws which are slightly bigger in diameter than the standard Spyderco screws that come on the clip from the factory. The original screw will fit the hole in the clip but it is advisable to secure the head with a bead of thread locker just before tightening it down and let that set up good before use. This way the clip will be less likely to move from use.

Doing it the way I have described if the two holes don't match up as I suspect they will would require using one original screw and one 2-56 size screw in a 1/4" length. These screws are slightly different sizes but you have to look close to tell so it won't look bad when done. However I doubt it will be necessary. I suspect the mounting holes on that silver clip at knife kits will match up well enough to the original on the CJ to allow it to work.

[jaislandboy]

I too prefer "low riding" spydies for discretion...my faves include: the Meerkat, Dodo, Poliwog, Kopas, Yojimbo, Impala, and Spyker; the "innocent" appearing wire clips of the Dodo/Poliwog are super stealthy!

[Magic]

What knife clip are you looking at to fit the calypso? I could not find one that is low profile.

On knifekits.com click on the specialty parts. The two different clips are in the third row to the bottom. They are the foldover clips.

[zeus]

I use the fold-over clip from Knife Kits on my Cuda Maxx and it is nicer than the factory clip. Haven't gotten around to mounting one onto one of Spydies yet.