Clips - stainless vs titanium

[pantagana23]

I've been scrolling through materials comparison this evening, as I've bought an MXG Gear deep carry titanium clip for my Delica.

Comparing steinless steel to titanium, I've always considered titanium to be a better metal in all areas, without even checking (must be all those action movies :D).

So this evening I come up to the following article:

https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/meta ... -and-uses/

In there it says that stainless steel has multiples of tensile yield strength.

If I translated this correctly, this would mean that any SS clip would take a lot more force before going into plastic deformation, which would make titanium ones very gentle.

What are your toughts and experiences on this?
What do you use (especially those who have the option to compare)?

[Oloung1]

If I translated this correctly, this would mean that any SS clip would take a lot more force before going into plastic deformation, which would make titanium ones very gentle.

What are your toughts and experiences on this?
What do you use (especially those who have the option to compare)?

The very first thing that I thought of when reading the article were the titanium bugout lock bars wearing down on the steel tang.

I have a few MXG clips as well as steel aftermarket clips. Retention on the steel clips are more rigid while the titanium feels more bendy. I like deep carry clips and prefer the TI Retention so the MXGs work for me.

[Cambertree]

I have a lot of deep carry Ti Lynch and MXG clips, and agree with Oloung1’s assessment.

I use them more for the deep carry design than the material, not that I have any real complaints about Ti.

I have had to retighten some of them after long use.

If you need to do that, put them on facing the opposite way, secured with two screws and gently bend them down.

[JD Spydo]

When it comes right down to "Function">> I've got to admit that there probably wouldn't be a dime's worth of difference whether the pocket clip is made from either metal. But I'll admit that I'm kind of a sucker for anything made with Titanium.

If I had my choice I would go with Titanium any day of the week. But to be honest I doubt if there is much functional difference at all.

[JD Spydo]

After thinking this one over for a few minutes I got to thinking about some of the newer stainless steel alloys. And from what I've been hearing you could probably find a stainless material that might be more wear resistant than most titanium alloys would be >> now I'm basing that on what a machinist friend told me recently. But my jury hasn't fully convened yet.

Again like I stated in my earlier post I'm all about ultimate function. Whatever Works has been my philosophy for decades now and it seems to pay off in the long run. In all the years I've been carrying Spyderco folders I've only ever had one pocket clip ever fail on me. But in this case I truly believe I literally wore the thing out.

And it was on my Stainless RESCUE model. I just simply got another one from Spyderco and replaced it. And I put many, many days of use on that folder too. And it was one of the "barrel bolt" type of clips for whatever that is worth.

[Evil D]

Titanium is great for the cool factor and rust resistance (especially cool on a titanium frame lock) but in most cases I think steel is better, it has a better spring to it which works great for pocket clips. It also helps that they're cheaper so when you do manage to break it, they're easier to replace.

That said, the titanium clip on my Caribbean has worked flawlessly for a little over a year of EDC now.

[vivi]

Never had issues with the Ti clips on my salts.

[Abyss_Fish]

Meh. If I manage to goof a clip up I'd rather have the strength of Ti. If I have to bend back a thin piece of metal 90 degrees I'd rather bend Ti. Since it's less likely to snap.

However, I've never really had trouble with either metal or Ti clips bending. I've got a Lynch NW key hanger that I've used almost every day for about a year, no change in tension. In the end, much like most steel discussions, it's all minutia.

[curlyhairedboy]

a steel clip will resist bending much more than a titanium one, but where a titanium one will get completely bend, a steel clip will snap. depends on your use case. I find that deep carry clips are more vulnerable to snagging because of the 'loop' at the top, so for those, Titanium works well in my experience.