Tip Up/Down carry style, deployment options

[Michael Cook]

:spyder: I carry tip-tip up and only use kinetic openings when playing or knifesturbating. In any kind of MBC/tactical/training situation I use the convulsive 2-handed gross motor opening technique I learned from Mr. Janich. Kinetic opening is fun but I value dependability and reliability over speed or flash. YMMV. :spyder:

[v8r]

tip up for me. Easier to deploy and more natural feeling.Seems safer when the spine is at the back of the pocket. Tip up does not seem as likely to get opened up partially when keys are retrieved from the pocket like tip down does (been there done that). Everyone will have one carry option that is perfect for them and others will not.While being Tip down only is not a deal breaker for me, the design has to be rounded and smooth so i don't gouge my hand every time I put it in my pocket to get keys etc.This is why I have a D2 Para that is nearly pristine that I don't ever carry.Love the steel and knife, but the clip is on the wrong end, and i feel like my knuckles are getting drug across 60 grit sandpaper every time i go for my keys.

[Evil D]

One of the things that pushed me to tip up was i used to carry some assisted open knives and with tip down they will open in your pocket if there isn't some kind of safety lock engaged...which to me just ruins the whole point of having an assisted open in the first place. An assisted open that's carried tip up will never open because the blade is sitting against the side of your pocket. Of course that's not much of an issue with Spydercos but it was enough to influence how i carry and it just became standard for me. I can see how tip down and the drop method would be better for larger knives that have a heavier handle and would drop open easier. Sitting here playing with my Delica, i have to put a heavy snap on it to drop it open.

[sesshin]

Tip up is preferable but tip down isn't a dealbreaker if I like the knife and that's the only option. Realistically speaking its probably only a half a second difference deployment time so not that big of an issue to me.

[ChrisM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOzZ4xTjh4I I did a video using different opening aids like holes, studs, etc. Tip up and tip down. I can do either nearly the same speed. I prefer tip down.

[fret]

I like "tip up" . I carry a Delica all the time. I reach into my right front pocket and pull it out and use my thumb and index finger in the hole and open the knife. I don't really hold the handle , I just use the hole and my thumb and index finger to open it and the handle is in my hand by the time it is open. Hard to explain but no blade flicking needed. I have the frn clip and love it. :cool:

[THG]

tip up keeps the blade spine against the pocket, protecting my poor phone!

True, tip-up is safer (as long as you're carrying it correctly, e.g. you're right-handed, your clip is mounted as such, and you have the knife clipped to the right side of the right pocket such that the spine of the blade is against the seam of the pocket.)

[SolidState]

I only carry tip up now because I've had tip-down knives (non-spydie) open in my pocket because my keys or other things hooked the opening mechanism oddly. I liked carrying the knives tip down just fine, until I got stabbed in the leg. Then I thought twice, carried tip down for a few more months and got stabbed again. The third time isn't coming, the second one was in a climbing situation. There's nothing like being stabbed in the leg by your own knife when you're thirty feet up a wall.

[SteelDragon]

STR can fix that Para for you or I would be willing to take it off your hands

tip up for me. Easier to deploy and more natural feeling.Seems safer when the spine is at the back of the pocket. Tip up does not seem as likely to get opened up partially when keys are retrieved from the pocket like tip down does (been there done that). Everyone will have one carry option that is perfect for them and others will not.While being Tip down only is not a deal breaker for me, the design has to be rounded and smooth so i don't gouge my hand every time I put it in my pocket to get keys etc.This is why I have a D2 Para that is nearly pristine that I don't ever carry.Love the steel and knife, but the clip is on the wrong end, and i feel like my knuckles are getting drug across 60 grit sandpaper every time i go for my keys.

[angusW]

I really don't have a preference. I find I can adapt to either tip up or down in just a few minutes of whatever knife I'm carrying. I do prefer a knife that sticks out a bit. No low carry for me.

[defenestrate]

I prefer tip-up, but almost all of my midlocks (lockbacks)open inertially into a backhanded grip well that way, so that's how I prefer it. My Manix2 is tip-up but I do a little trick with the CBBL and so I open it into a standard hammer, filipino, or saber style grip instead of gripping it in reverse upon opening like all my FRN midlocks.

[tanrichguy]

Thanks for all the replies I did not expect such a vigorous debate :)
for EDC I don't flick the blade out with force-just thumb action to slowly lock blade open. More sheeple friendly this way. I do practice quick deployment though JIC.
the reason I started all this is my new Ayoob. It is tip down only (which I'm not used to), and is the most single purpose "tactical" knife I own. If I carry it (big if) I want to make sure I can get it out of pocket and open reliably and quickly.

[stonyman]

You know, I really want to make a big deal out of this, but I can't. :o It just depends how I feel about the folder in question. For example, my typical duty folders these days, I affectionately call the twins are carried tip down. Police 3's. I tried them in tip up fashion, and the natural felt unnatural. :rolleyes: so now with tip down, they can be grabbed straight out of the pocket and thumb on hole rotate knife straight down whalah!!! Knife opens. Simple and fast, fumble free. Honestly, they are broken in well now that I can keep the pivot pointing up and place my thumb in hole an flick the blade open without the downward drop out of the pocket.

I guess I am bias to a point because I train a **** of a lot with tools and their usages. I also know the inherent draw backs of folders.....they start off broken and they must be fixed before you can use the blades. Takes a bit more familiarization! Hint Hint? whichever you chose make it work and enjoy your Spydies....tip up or down! :cool:

[TimmyBoston]

I won't buy a knife if I have to carry it tip down.

[FarmerSteve]

I'll add that it depends on the knife. For something small (say Delica or smaller), tip-up can work faster. But for something bigger, you can't really do that "have your thumb on the hole as you take it out" thing, so you end up having to rearrange your grip anyway (worse than tip-down, which only requires a slight rotation in any case.) Also, if you have your thumb on the hole as you're taking the knife out of your pocket, you're putting force against the pocket, so it doesn't come off as easily. And the worst case is the deep-carry clip, like the Caly, where there's nothing to grip onto on the outside of the pocket, and putting the thumb on the hole puts force against the pocket making it a fight to remove.

I've been saying I'm going to make a video to demonstrate this for a while, but I never got around to doing it. Maybe I'll put that on my to-do list for tomorrow.

what he said.

[h3n4]

Both tip up and down work for me, but I prefer tip down, because that keeps the pivots away from pocket lint and dust. I hate it when my knife won't lock because something's stuck between lock surfaces. If possible, I set the clip so that the spine rests against the edge of the pocket.

-Henri

[THG]

what he said.

Awesome. As a tip-down-er, I don't usually get too many fans lol

[Tennessee_Tux]

Thanks for starting the poll, Aaron! Tip down for me. Just seems second nature to reach in (shallow) and extract your favorite arachnid with your thumb in the spyderhole and with your finger(s) on/near clip for indexing. I know most everyone extracts their knives by indexing the spyderhole as a first step, so why would you want to have to dig deeper (even if its just a couple of inches) with a tip up/hole down carry to get a solid purchase on your draw? Plus, IMHO, a seated draw, or a draw from a tight pair of pants would be better accomplished with the spyderhole as close to the top of your pocket as possible. In addition, since most of my favoritie EDC's have quite pointy afts (Caly jr., Delica) but well rounded fore ends, it is less painful to my appendix when I have to bend way over. But since I'm sure most of you tip-up guys have washboard abs that is probably not an issue for you, like it is for me and my "dunlop." Sorry for the longwinded post, but it would have been longer if it weren't so hard to type while jogging on a treadmill... Ron.

[marcus1]

I'm not sure why people are arguing tip up/tip down is easier or not... it all boils down to practice and preference due to what you are use to... I started with an original Endura so only ever had one option for carry for years... so guess what, I now prefer tip up right hand pocket. I'm very fast at drawing and snapping open due to practice/years of carrying that way. Any other way, not mater what technical superiority there may be, I am slower at.

[Lord vader]

I prefer tip down,but will carry tip up only because that particular knife can`t be carried tip down.I have carried without the clip if the knife is small enough.