Badly bent clip

[Bill1170]

I’ve been carrying my Caribbean in my rear pocket until recently. However, a few days ago the pocket clip snagged on something and bent so it was sticking out about 90 degrees from the handle scale. I pushed it back towards flat and it cracked at one of the side screw holes.

In my years of carrying clipped Spydercos this is the first time I’ve bent a clip out from the handle. And what a bend it was! Two things surprised me. First, I didn’t feel the event at the time it happened, which makes me believe it didn’t take extreme force to effect the bend. Second, the titanium cracking when I bent it back partway (so I could get it into my pocket). I guess I just figured the clip would not be so brittle as it was. I don’t have much experience with titanium spring-tempered clips.

I had a spare hourglass clip in raw stainless that is now on the knife. This clip feels stiffer than the one I bent. If I ever find a corrosion issue I’ll order a new titanium clip, but I don’t anticipate any problems with the stainless clip.

[blueblur]

For the longest time I never bent a Spyderco clip and really feel a lot of thought went into their spoon clip. I managed to bend one, one time and it was only enough to keep the clip from touching the handle so it was an easy fix to remove, bend back and install. I don’t carry my frn salts often so I don’t have much experience with the ti clips but I’d imagine bending anything 90 degrees and back again will cause some permanent damage.

[The Mastiff]

My guess is it is designed to bend before the screws holding it in are destroyed. It's easier to replace clips than stripped screws etc. Call it a design feature. :)

Joe

[JuPaul]

I've only bent one clip: on a delica when I caught it on my seatbelt somehow. Luckily I was able to bend it back without a problem.

[Pokey]

For the longest time I never bent a Spyderco clip and really feel a lot of thought went into their spoon clip. I managed to bend one, one time and it was only enough to keep the clip from touching the handle so it was an easy fix to remove, bend back and install. I don’t carry my frn salts often so I don’t have much experience with the ti clips but I’d imagine bending anything 90 degrees and back again will cause some permanent damage.

Yeah, once the metal gets bent 90°and back it "work hardens" at the bend. (plastics, too) Any more bending and it'll probably snap off.

[Bill1170]

I agree that an extreme bend such as mine will cause damage. What surprised me was that simply pushing it back towards the scale snapped part of the metal. It was less tolerant than I expected. Again, I have had no prior experience with bending clips, so nothing concrete to go on besides my experience with metals in general.

[Pokey]

I agree that an extreme bend such as mine will cause damage. What surprised me was that simply pushing it back towards the scale snapped part of the metal. It was less tolerant than I expected. Again, I have had no prior experience with bending clips, so nothing concrete to go on besides my experience with metals in general.

Bill1170,

I sent you an email regarding your clip. I don’t know if your email notification is switched on or not.

[Bill1170]

I agree that an extreme bend such as mine will cause damage. What surprised me was that simply pushing it back towards the scale snapped part of the metal. It was less tolerant than I expected. Again, I have had no prior experience with bending clips, so nothing concrete to go on besides my experience with metals in general.

Bill1170,

I sent you an email regarding your clip. I don’t know if your email notification is switched on or not.

Hi Pokey,

I don’t see any private messages from you. Nor do I see any emails. What am I missing?

Edited to add: I checked and emails are permitted on my Spyderco Forum account. Maybe my spam filter caught it on my email client? Maybe send me a PM via this site?

[Pokey]

[/quote]
Hi Pokey,

I don’t see any private messages from you. Nor do I see any emails. What am I missing?

Edited to add: I checked and emails are permitted on my Spyderco Forum account. Maybe my spam filter caught it on my email client? Maybe send me a PM via this site?
[/quote]

I got your email and sent a test IM via my laptop. (versus the trusty (?) iFone)

[Takuan]

Sorry to hear about your clip bending. However, this is an excellent opportunity to upgrade that clip! The Caribbean is one of my very favorite Spyderco knives. It’s my first choice for a folder when I go camping, hiking, or fishing. The only thing I didn’t originally like about it was the factory clip, so I replaced it with an after-market clip (a deep-pocket clip in black-coated titanium). The original hourglass clip dug into the palm of my hand when I held the the knife in a hammer grip while making push cuts in wood or other media. I also didn’t like that it was gray (which didn’t fit the black and yellow color scheme of the knife) and that it left about an inch of the bright, yellow-striped handle sticking out of my pocket (which drew unnecessary attention). With the replacement clip, the Caribbean has been perfect. No disrespect to those who love the hourglass clip, but it’s not my cup of tea.