Black Pocket Clips....

[azrida21]

I've noticed that the black clip doesn't hold up to well and it easily scratches and chips off. I just barely had my pacific salt 2 days and already the black is chipping off. How does everybody else's hold up? What do you do to keep it looking good?

[Peter1960]

All my H-1 knives (Salt, Pacific Salt, Tasman Salt) are sitting in the shelf as save queens, so I've no glue how well the black coating holds. Some time ago I bought a Standard with black clip and noticed a wack holding of the black, same with my old Delica 3 clip.

On the other hand the black clips on my Military + Para-Military hold the black coating much better.

In general I assume a difference coating quality whether the clip is on Spydies of US or Japan provenience. Furthermore the H-1 knives have Ti-clips (except knives from first production date) and not the usual clip steel.

If you use your Pacific Salt as EDC you have to life with scratches and so on - IMO, or you remove the black and life with a blank clip or you invest in a clip with TiNi-coating.

Maybe others chime in with better ideas.

[Murdoc]

Hi azrida,

this is a commom problem and there's nothing you can do about it. You may want to do a forums search and find that there are plenty posts about this issue. Bottom line: after a few days of EDC, your clip will start to lose the paint; it is worst on the new hourglass clips like on the Enduras, Delicas etc., but the other clips aren't "chipping free" either. That is basically the only serious issue that I have with the Spyderco quality. I just don't like that fact and hope they will solve that problem one day. (Sorry for the rant)

If you want to have a nice clean look again, there's only one way:

strip it! Soaking in Acetone and rubbing it off with scouring pad works, or do it like that.

You can leave it http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t194 ... 4Clip3.jpg[/img]]like that

or

polish it with metal polish after that, so you get a really nice shiny clip (like on the D4W http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t194 ... MG7457.jpg[/img]]here). Bad pic, but you get the idea.

It looks nicer without the paint and polished anyway :) ... at least better than with chipped paint

Dennis

[Sherpa]

Call me crazy but I like when those clips start to show some wear and tear.

I've been called that before MUAHAHAHA!

[JBE]

Many are resorting to stripping the black coating off of their clips using acetone or some other paint remover. Some even swap out their black clips for polished ones if one is available that will fit. I've heard of people touching up their clips with black permanent markers if there's not much of the paint missing.

One thing I have noticed is that the paint seems to be holding up better on the ti clip of my Salt. Not sure why this is or if I'm just the exception here.

[Metalbuff]

Sandblast/sand the black off, gunkote it. Nuff said :D

[Majidoc]

It does not bother me.

[J Smith]

I strip mine.Just beadblasted a Manix and Military clip.
I will say that the paint on the manix clip blasted off fast,the paint on the clip of the camo Military took a good bit of blasting to get the paint off.

[gordonk]

I tend to strip mine as well. The one on my Tasman Salt has held up surprisingly well for a couple of weeks of pocket use. I'm going to leave that one alone to see how long it takes for it to start wearing off. On my Police 3/SE, but I stripped that one the other nite - acetone and scouring pad. I have more than few that I haven't stripped and actually don't mind it - gives 'em a bit of "character" :)

[azrida21]

Thanks everybody for your input!

[spyderHS08]

I stripped my salt 1 as well. looks great, its a nice dark titanium color since its not the shiny clip like it would be if i stripped my endura. i also left the two big screws i guess thats wat theyre called :p at the top of the clip black. i think it looks pretty cool this way, any way good luck with yours!!

[Grendelspyce]

My only problem with stripping is that the shinier "silver" metal catches the light and thereby makes the knife more noticeable, something I definitely want to avoid (some of you may remember my cousin got arrested in New York City last year because some undercover cops saw his Spydey clip).

I guess touching up the chipping up with a black marker is the best we can hope for.

[mserr]

I've found the easiest way the clip gets scratched is when walking through doors or sitting down. Sometimes you might walk into a room and your side your carrying the knife with the clip might hit the door frame, or when you're sitting down in a metal framed chair or something. Thats when I'm most careful. I also wipe the clip and blade down with a silicon gun cloth every night. So far the clip on my endura is perfect still. The only part I could see it being inevitable of scratching is the underside of the clip that gets the most friction from going in and out of your pocket.

[wescobts]

It's kind of like when you wear a leather jacket and it becomes distressed, far better looking. My native is scratched and the paint is chipping off, and it's quite becoming. :D

[Water Bug]

I find that the wearing of the black paint from the clip makes the knife look really cool. It shows the knife gets carried and used.

[RICHAR]

As pointed out a shiney clip can draw attention, but its like a gun carried often, the worn blue adds character.

[LowSpeedHighDrag]

My endura coating went away in days, my Millie coating has stayed pretty strong. Im going to strip them all soon though.

[brj]

Call me crazy but I like when those clips start to show some wear and tear.

yeah, me too
after all, it does show the sheer amount of love :p my knives get

but overall :spyder: clips seem to hold up pretty well; i mean, on my s30v millie, which is by far my most carried knife, I have only some spots/taints from the times I carry reversed IWB (clip inside, in contact with the skin)

[Simple Man]

I stripped my G-10 E4 clip as per BuffaloBill's process and it turned out real nice.

http://spyderco.com/forums/showpost.php ... stcount=11

I wholeheartedly agree with liking the weathered and worn look, but I also think the stripped clip blends better with the rest of the bare metal and FG G-10 scales than the black did. (I still have another black clip in reserve to go back to if "need" be.) :D

[philthygeezer]

Picky! IMO the wearing adds character! Also it's a bit more discreet than a solid black or chrome...