i'm done with tip down spydie's

[tonydahose]

i have always carried my :spyder: "s tip up, just my preference. well last week i took out my CF military and sharpened it up and put it into my edc rotation. my first day back at work with it and i was pulling it out to cut something for a coworker but then he just broke the rope and didnt need it anymore. so i am in mid draw so to speak and i just decide to put it back in my pocket. the blade popped open a bit and now i have a nice gash in my thigh. it sliced through the skin to expose the muscle. bled like a stuck pig. sure enough we get a fire that night too so it was bleeding some more. in 7 years of carrying spydercos i have never cut myself in this fashion. i'm done with tip down knives and my military until Sal comes out with the tip up millie.

[The Deacon]

I'd wager more people have cut their hand on a tip up knife that opened partway by itself while clipped in their pocket than have cut themselves as you did with tip down ones. That said, it is probably safest to stick with one mode or the other, mixing the two modes. So, if most of your knives are tip up, and that is what you are accustomed to, and comfortable with, then it's best to stick with it exclusively. OTOH, not sure if Sal would want the liability issues selling a Military set up for tip up might bring. But there's always the option of having someone like STR convert yours to tip up.

[mr.vandalay]

hello tonydahose, i have a few tip down spydie's and i think that what happened to you has more to do with military being a linear lock than a tip down...
police and endura ss are tip down but will always close all the way because they are back locks so they cant stay a bit open little military.

on the picture below there's military and endura unfolded just before they would close on their own

hope you can understand what i was trying to say... and i'm really sorry about what happened to you

[Fred Sanford]

That sucks man. I bet that sucker hurts too especially in your leg right there.

I wouldn't discount tip down. I would also think it has more to do with the fact that it's a liner lock. We've all poked ourselves with a knife somehow I'm sure.

However I've never poked myself with a tip up knife that has the spine jammed in the back seam of your pocket.

[tonydahose]

hey Paul i think sal has already said it is in the works on the tip up millie..time frame who knows..i know it is because of the liner lock and the tip up combination, i should have put that in the orignial post. either way it has been put back in its box which is really unfortunate because it is a great knife. i am hoping the the endura that i sent to T. Krein will be my new favortie edc, millie style blade with tip up and zdp :D .

[Axlis]

Sorry to hear about your accident, prayers sent for a quick recovery. :)

I actually prefer tip down over tip up because I have almost been cut several times with tip up carry, but accidents can happen no matter what. I cut my self pretty bad the other day myself. :o

Hate to see you not carry the millie, but ya gotta go with what you feel is right.

[zenheretic]

Tip down, tip up, fixed blade, in a momentary lapse of focus, folks have cut themselves with all of them on the draw and/or while putting away.

Let's be careful out there.

[The Mastiff]

My worst self inflicted cut was from a tip up knife ( from another manufacturer). The tip of the blade stuck into the bone on my little finger, then cut around the back when I pulled it out.

I agree with Zen that it's possible no matter how you carry it. Joe

[Vincent]

I like tip down, they draw alot faster.

[Capt. Carl]

Accidental openings is the reason I fear knives without some spring keeping it closed. I also fear tip up knives without spring . Scares me to death the thought of sticking my hand in my pocket to a razor sharp exposed blade like that, the reaction of pulling your hand out could even make it worse! :eek:

So I guess I fear what you want in your springless knives. Although, I always hold the blade and the handle with the same hand before or during the act of putting it in the pocket to make sure the blade is closed..

For the most part, I am Ok with linerlock knives, but I am most comfortable with backlocks and axis lock knives that I know will have a strong bias to stay closed.

[jaislandboy]

Hope it heals up quick Tony......more often than not, the detent of linerlocks/compression locks is much "weaker" than a "lockback" style knife as mr. vandalay's pix show.....folders made with the former have a greater tendency to "wave" open on the draw......which can be scary if it occurs "unexpectedly"...... whereas with lockbacks I have no issues carrying these "tipup"....
the clipit with the strongest detent for a linerlock/compression lock in my collection is my Salsa.....I welcome the cobrahood on this piece because it's difficult overcoming the detent with "just the thumb in the spyderhole", whereas my SS ATR 's detent is the total opposite....it's so "light" that i could almost flick it open without using the spyderhole.... :rolleyes:

[Blackhair]

I had several instances where my Linerlock Gerber (I was young and foolish, please don't punish me!) opened up and poked me in the leg. Luckily, nothing serious, mostly annoying (and scary).

[JspyEDC]

Hope you get better Tony. We all carry the scars of our hobby. The only knife ever to open on the on me on the draw (of course, excepting the Waves) are tip-up knives. It wasn't pleasant pulling my serrated Dodo out without paying attention one evening while playing poker. The guy seated next to me nearly fainted when he saw the blood coming from my thumb. I prefer tip-down. When drawing upward, it seems to me that there's less that can go wrong with a tip-down.

Just keep waiting for wire clips to come tip-down... ( I know, I know the meercat is tip-down with a wire, but seriously, how could I possibly EDC a tiny, little meercat?

[gull wing]

You could always get a knife fixer to install a clip tip up style.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa17 ... CN1016.jpg

[Tonie Nichols]

Tony

I have two Military's which I have modified for tip up carry (one left hand one right) and have NEVER had them fall open in my pocket! And I wore them while I was training!

The Military is ridiculously easy to modify for tip up carry. Tape the clip in the position that you want it and then, with a hand drill and a drill bit just slightly smaller than the diameter of the screw, drill through the hole of the clip. The slightly smaller drill allows the screw to tap new threads for itself. If you have any doubts as to the screws staying tight, use a drop of super glue in the hole.

If you just can't bear the idea of drilling a hole in your Military then might I suggest a Chinook 3?

[dantecubit]

Terrible, terrible. A certain deathtrap. I advise you to package that military and send it to me forthwith.

[spydutch]

Very sorry to hear that Tony. I hope you recover soon.

Maybe all this accidental opening might have something to do with the fact that a lot of people like their knives rather loose so they can be flicked open easily :confused:

That's one of the reason I like my Military action rather stiff. I really have to use my thump to open the blade and have to squeeze the knife closed with a reassuring closing "snap" of the last few mm.

I carried the Milie to work with me in the same pocket as my wallet. I often had to run, crawl or jump and I never had the knife open on me if I didn't want to. Heck, I've even slept with the knife clipped to the RFP of my sleeping sweats(I must admit that the Milie is not the most comfortable Spydie to sleep with though :eek: )

Just my 2 eurocents :o

[dialex]

Sorry to hear about your problem. I hope you'll recover soon and the scars will be barely visible or not at all.
The only time I had such an incident was with a (Kershaw) Chive which I carried IWB with the safety off (never liked safeties, even on autos). The darn thing opened and boy the tip is sharp (my belly could testify this) :o

[WOTANSON1]

Hey Tony,
Bad luck man :eek: hope you heal quickly :) . I don't have any idea why someone would say that tip down anything is safer than tip up, come on the back of the blade is against your pocket. That's why I don't buy liner locks from any company, even Spyderco. I won't buy a custom from a maker who wants me to sign a waiver when I ask for tip up (has happened twice, needless to say the order was cancelled immediately ), sounds like they should be working on their detant problems if you ask me. Hope you feel better.
Cheers,
Rob

[Qship]

My worst self inflicted cut was from a tip up knife ( from another manufacturer). The tip of the blade stuck into the bone on my little finger, then cut around the back when I pulled it out.

I agree with Zen that it's possible no matter how you carry it. Joe

Tip up, carry the knife all the way at the back of your pocket. As long as the back of the closed blade is snug against the back of your pocket, the knife stays closed. Draw by sticking your thumb in your pocket, and tracking back to the knife.

Qship