Spyderco Forums

I've developed a real affinity for the wire clip. For a long time I thought and then told myself it didn't matter which clip but for me, that's just not true. It does matter. The end of the hourglass clip on my beloved Delicas creates a hot spot on the first knuckle of my hand and then when I scratched my car with it in a way a wire clipped never would have done, that was the last straw.

A lot of folks don't like the way the coating wears. Others find them too conspicuous. Those things never bothered me but it does others.

I's a little hard to understand the clip choices as you see both kinds on light and heavy knives. I do know that it seems every M2LW G10 model has the hourglass clip and as I said, these days that's a deal breaker for me.

Anyway, Uncle Sal and The Spydercoians are so great about listening to their customers I thought I'd toss up a poll and see what other folks think.

What say you all?

I like both for different reasons, but the one thing I REALLY like about the wireclip is that there are two factory options, deep carry (Sage style) and regular (Manix2 LW style). Heck, more than two if you count length. I really wish the hourglass had a factory deep carry option for people to swap out as desired. I like some aftermarket deep carry clips well enough, but it adds $20-30 per knife and rarely looks as good as the factory option with my favorite bug on it.

Creating and adopting a universal platform would be my preference. For example, the mount for the wireclip could easily hold an hourglass style clip with a single bolt and tabs on the back that sit in the wire recesses.

I voted wireclip by the way.

I liked the wire clips. Less unsightly holes on the scales.

I prefer the hour-glass clip, because I prefer bigger knives, on which wire clips seem out of all proportion. I will say that the hour-glass clip on my Tatanka does look ridiculous...

ETA: Farnorthdan (below) reminds me to say I also prefer bare-metal clips. My recently-arrived Police4 and 52100 PM2 are each painted and are already showing wear...

I voted either. I definitely see advantages and disadvantages to both. My honest preference would be that both the wire and hourglass clip were made shorter. For example if the shorter clip on my Navigator, I would really like to try it out on some of my larger knives. In the same line of thinking, I like the shorter clip that comes on the Dragonfly versus the regular length of the Caly

If kept stock I prefer the hourglass but not the painted, they chip too easily, I must admit though,, been replacing most of my regulars with deep carry.

I prefer no clip at all, and no provision for mounting one. Omitting those makes for a much cleaner looking handle.

abbazaba wrote:I really wish the hourglass had a factory deep carry option for people to swap out as desired.

I agree with this. I think both types have their place, and I with there was a deep carry option for both. I guess I'd give the wire clip a slight edge, but I voted for down the middle. I prefer to keep stock clips on my knives.

Less potential for car scratches, less of a hot spot creator, and deeper carry, all lead me to prefer the wire clip ... by a very large margin!

Hated the wire clips for a while. The more I carried wire clips, they began to grow on me. I actually prefer them now on the smaller, lightweight knives. Still like the hourglass clip on my larger knives.

The Deacon wrote:I prefer no clip at all, and no provision for mounting one. Omitting those makes for a much cleaner looking handle.

It does make for a nice aesthetic. There are a few models I wouldn't mind like that with some premium handles.

Hourglass all the way, but the wire does suit the little'uns.

I certainly don't mind the hourglass clips and I like flying the bug but I much prefer the subtle look of the wire clips.

I prefer hourglass to wire clips, but my favorite clips are the barrel clips from the Pacific Salt / Delica 3. One screw instead of three, you can swap carry sides with any two coins, and they never come loose for me. Hourglass and wire clips with their small torx screws sometimes do.

Wire clips have the best ergonomics while using the knife, but hourglass / barrel clips have always felt stronger and more secure for me.

I'm more inclined to buy a small, light knife like a UKPK with a wire clip than I am a big, heavy folder like a Manix XL. I almost exclusively carry bigger knives though.

Neither type of clip is a deal breaker for me, I have used all of them, but if I could have my choice I would put Endura 3 style barrel clips on everything.

Though one more point in favor of hourglass clips is they offer four way mounting. I rarely ever utilize tip up, but it's good for the general market to offer options.

Can't say I've ever scratched a car with any clip. I find it pretty easy not to rub up against them.

Couldn't care less about deep carry, and in fact I prefer a bit sticking out above the clip. Especially when carrying IWB.

Wire clip. It’s just awesome.

The lack of a wire clip on certain models, is definitely keeping them on my wishlist, and not in my hands.

I just love the ease of dismantling and swapping the Salt clips, a common flathead will do. They're sturdy enough and have never come loose on me on any of my 9 Salts.
It has the best mounting system, excellent retention and comfort for me, these are the best in my view.

Can't really vote because it depends on the knife. I like wire clips on light knives and hourglass clips on heavy knives. There are even some in the middle like the Sliverax that I wouldn't care either way and think both work well. If anything I might prefer knives with wire clips slightly more because they only come in tip up orientation which reduces the amount of holes drilled all over the knife and makes the pivot area much more pleasing to look at.

Wire clip 100%

If they did a PM2 with wire clip, id literally go insane from excitement

I didn't vote.
For me all depends on the model. Low riding wire clip is better for some, for others I prefer solid clip. And there are knives, I wish were made without clip at all.