LEFTIES -- Most Lefty-specific EDC choice in current catalog?

[Nate]

I'd have to agree with Ran that the Caly 3.5 is pretty **** hard to beat, lefty or not. Only potential downside I see is the pinned construction, but you can still take the blade out for cleaning if needed. For me, it's a non-issue. I actually carry the Chap or UK more, but only b/c I work in an office.

David, the South Fork is awesome. Yeah, it's still brand new, but I have several production blades this size and the handle blows them all away.

And they're Green! :D

[InternetHateMachine]

I find the comp lock on the PM2 to be very lefty friendly. To be honest I think it might be easier to open left handed than right.

I tried a CF Sage 3 with bolt lock and the CF caly 3.5. Ended up going with the caly 3.5 since the bolt lock just didn't feel right for me, and I kinda like the look of the back lock with CF.

[bearfacedkiller]

Just to be a smart ***. The swick is a very ambidexterous edc knife. I have a thing for small fixed blades though.

A more serious suggestion would be the sage3. It is smooth as butter and definately ambidexterous. Really any backlock or the sage3 or the manix would work well.

I'm right handed so I can't say for sure.

[xceptnl]

I am a right handed user, but often carry a second blade on the left side. The WIDE selection of ambi knives that Spyderco offers never leaves me without choices. I mostly carry mid-locks on that side, but can manipulate both the CBBL, Comp Lock, and Liner lock with my left hand. This is an obvious feat to those who use knives off hand. I too (because I love the military) have been searching for a left hand Military (despite it being too large for the OP). I would say almost 40% of my collection are mid-locks so the ambi knives are out there.

[wquiles]

I have shown my video before - the regular Milie is my EDC, and I am a lefty:
[video=youtube;RZAc1rs3EdY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZAc1rs3EdY[/video]


The other knife that I use is my PM2 - that is also (to me) very easy to use as a lefty.

[The Deacon]

Some left handed users, as well as some right handed ones, seem unable to grasp the concept that, although we southpaws have all learned to cope and can adapt to **** near anything, some of use have simply decided that we no longer have to prove our ability to do so, at least when it's not absolutely necessary. Spyderco has, IMHO, done an excellent job of making it unnecessary for us to do parlor tricks, unless we feel like it.

[shu]

That being said, there are some lefties - as well as a few righties - that consider the compression lock more sinister than dexter... I being one.

[The Deacon]

That being said, there are some lefties - as well as a few righties - that consider the compression lock more sinister than dexter... I being one.

True, but there were more right handed users who complained that the Gunting, which had its compression lock on the opposite side, was wrong handed than right handed users with the same complaint about the Vesuvius and Lil Temp. Which is probably why every compression lock knife since then has used the Vesuvius' layout.

[Sully]

Some left handed users, as well as some right handed ones, seem unable to grasp the concept that, although we southpaws have all learned to cope and can adapt to **** near anything, some of use have simply decided that we no longer have to prove our ability to do so, at least when it's not absolutely necessary. Spyderco has, IMHO, done an excellent job of making it unnecessary for us to do parlor tricks, unless we feel like it.

That's what I was trying to get at. The Deacon gets it. Even beyond ease of function, just having something made specifically for our kind, Southpaws, makes it even more desirable. !00% ambidextrous is the next best thing.

[The Deacon]

That's what I was trying to get at. The Deacon gets it. Even beyond ease of function, just having something made specifically for our kind, Southpaws, makes it even more desirable. !00% ambidextrous is the next best thing.

Although I'd argue that, where tools like pocket knives that we use every day are concerned, ambidextrous is better. That's because, regardless of whether you are left or right handed, accidents and other circumstances can force you to use your other hand. That's also why I prefer back pocket carry. A knife carried that way is much easier to retrieve "wrong handed" if the need to do so should ever arise.

[jnichols2]

I get along just fine left handed with all my spydies. Somewhere over the years you just got used to it. I normally just use two hands to close it, except for the Manix XL, which closes nicely left handed.

Strangely; my Military is right handed. I found out in Iraq that a right handed folder is very accessible to a lefty when worn on the belt. The Military is a little big for the pocket, and better worn on the belt. So I ordered the right hand model. Any place belt carry is not appropriate is for the Caly or Sage.

Knives aren't so bad. You haven't lived till you shot a 1960s M16 left handed with no brass deflector.

[thombrogan]

Big fan of the Compression Lock on the Yojimbo 2 and Para Military 2, but it's only super-lefty friendly for some lefties. Caly3 and Stretch are comfy/cozy in use.

[LC Kid]

Hi Folks!


In my book, the best lock design for both right or left handed is the good old Back Lock. :) It work as a perfect neutral for either one.

Dedicated hand knives, as the left Mili, are really good and work beautiful, but with a proper Back Lock you don't need a dedicated lefty because it's perfectly ambidextrous.

[DougC-3]

I know you've already explained that you are beyond most work-around type considerations now and are mainly looking for thorough-going, dedicated left-handed knives, which is certainly an honorable pursuit but I'd like to add a couple more comments, since we lefties don't get many special threads, and I'm sure others will be reading this too :) :

Being fed up with a lefty-unfriendly, non-Spyderco, linerlock knife (no lock access cutout at all, nor hole in blade) was what caused me to buy my first spydie, a Manix2, less than a year ago. Not too long afterward I got the left hand millie and a little later the righty cruwear millie, which I came to like more than the lefty version. Now it's second nature for me to close it as shown in wquiles' video above, except that it's quicker in real life. I close my Tenacious and other linerlocks the same way -- depress the lock with index finger, the blade drops by gravity (or push it with thumb), close with thumb hole or fingers. I've actually come to prefer the clip placement of the cru millie over the lefty millie, and it seems just as easy to draw and deploy as well.

One thing I have learned is that placement of the clip and lock access cutouts can affect comfort while holding and using the knife, and has made me favor or disfavor some knives without really realizing why at first. But I haven't yet associated this with handedness of the knives, except that it may be one reason why I favored my righty millie. I suspect that some serious knife users probably place their clips more for cutting comfort than ease of deployment.

When I got my first compression lock, a Paramilitary2, to close it, I held it in my left fingertips and pressed the lock with my thumb nail. This worked pretty well, but it squirted out a couple of times and I thought, I'd better not hold it over the edge of a boat when I do that :eek: but soon I realized it was much easier to just wrap my fingertips on around to the front of the knife and grasp it safely, depress the lock with my thumb tip, the blade drops by gravity or push it with index finger, and close with thumb hole or fingers. To me this is as good or better than right handed closing with the para2 and Yojimbo2.

As for the placement of screws and pivots, it never occurred to me that anyone would care which way they pointed. I would have thought one would just turn the knife over if necessary :) In fact when I finally noticed that Spyderco had gone to the trouble to stamp the logo and metal info on opposite sides for the lefty millie, I was sort of stupified. It seemed like an extreme show of respect for lefties, maybe because I frequently look at both sides of the blade and never noticed or took the placement personally.

I've gone on to buy 24 spydies, trying to sample a wide variety of types and materials and have had a huge time in the process. So far I haven't run into any handedness problems, but there are one or two I'd like to learn more about, or at least try in hand, before buying.

[cckw]

I am hoping that Sal will feel charitable and invest in doing a left handed Domino or Southard. Better yet a slight variation of one of them with a super steel so the righties can know how it feels :)

They know what the market is on a left hand version and I can probably guess how attractive it looks in a business meeting, that is why I used the term charitable. But he/they have done other things knowing it would a be limited return on investment.

[Evil D]

Better yet a slight variation of one of them with a super steel so the righties can know how it feels :)

I think before that ever happens you'll continue to see ambidextrous knives getting sprints and even further down the road you'll see ambidextrous lock designs being created. It's just smart business. Knives get discontinued because of poor sales, the lefty Military died off because it wasn't selling, so I can't see them risking a dedicated lefty sprint. It's not just the sprint part, it's developing new tooling to create a knife backwards from scratch. That means investment, which means you have to churn out enough profit to offset that investment and at least break even. If anything, if enough people asked for it you might someday see a lefty Military sprint since they have the tooling for that.

[JNewell]

Agreed, especially when (as has been discussed above) there are so many excellent and clearly ambidextrous knives in the catalog: CBL, BBL, lockbacks and bolt action locks are all completely suitable for the requirement.

[billy blade]

Being left handed I have no problem with back locks, CBL, BBL, Comp lock or most frame locks as long as the hole is not covered up for left hand use. I also need a ambidextrous clip. I have learned how to adapt in the right hand world somewhat. I'm grateful that Spyderco offers so many left hand friendly options. I am even more appreciative when they offer a dedicated left hand model. Regardless of the model if they decide to make another LH version I will buy it to support their efforts and thoughtfulness in catering to a small minority of the population

[DougC-3]

Thanks for starting the great thread, Sully -- it's very informative, just what a lot of us lefties "wanted to know but were afraid to ask."

I was about to say, well, at least you've got a nice finite goal for filling a collection (totally left-handed Spydercos)... then I thought of Paul's collection :eek: ... doh!

About flipping the pivot screw on Calies, yes it works fine in my experience at least. I had my Caly 3.5 apart, reassembled it based on what I thought was the screw head impression on the scale, adjusted it, and it worked perfectly.... Then I checked some images and realized I had it wrong. Never got around to correcting it, and it still works smooth as butter, if you'll pardon the hackneyed phrase. (And I think the pivot just forms a cylinder that reaches all the way across, so, if that's true, I think it wouldn't make any difference.)

And about the Left Hand Military, I think it was listed somewhere as discontinued, but IIRC Sal said a couple of months ago that it is not permanently discontinued, but just produced on an intermittent basis. And I've learned that What Sal Says takes precedence over various wording or interpretations on the website, hearsay, etc.

[Sully]

I have learned how to adapt in the right hand world somewhat. I'm grateful that Spyderco offers so many left hand friendly options. I am even more appreciative when they offer a dedicated left hand model. Regardless of the model if they decide to make another LH version I will buy it to support their efforts and thoughtfulness in catering to a small minority of the population

I totally agree with Billy Blade. I will definitely try to support any forthcoming LH-specific version. Happily.