Left handed para

[BenDun]

Being a lefty I've leavened to use knives made for right handers. However as much as I love my para 2 I find that the compression lock is the only lock mechanism that I can't close one handed in my left hand. I know it's a long shot but with the left handed Millie(witch is the knife that got me into spyderco knives) I figured a lefty para 2 might be a possibility. Until then I'll just keep opening and closing with my right hand and cutting with my left. The para 2 is perfect in everyway other than its lack of being ambidextrous

[mikeh99]

Maybe you should take the time to practice using your left hand only. I know there have been others here who are lefties and are having problems with the PM2. I'm a leftie. In fact I have a neurological problem with my left hand. But, with very little practice, I can use the PM2 with no difficulty. The LH Millie is easier but the PM2 is really fine too. YMMV but keep trying. It is the cross we have to bear for being right brained.

[Donut]

I was reading a post a while back on how people operate the compression lock, and for a while I was under the impression that it would be easier to operate for left handers.

If you keep your normal grip, you can press the lock release easily with the side of your thumb. It's pretty similar to the back lock, you press the release then swing the blade down until the choil hits your forefinger, then press on the spine. If you do it right handed you have to reach your thumb over the back of the knife before you can press the release.

When I asked for an opposite grip version to be easier for right handers to close, I was offered the reasoning that you lose the option to safely do the pinch close left handed because you won't have fingers on both sides of the blade.

[Donut]

The Gunting from what I read has an opposite sided compression lock because the maker thought it would be easier for a right handed person to operate.

[The Deacon]

The Gunting from what I read has an opposite sided compression lock because the maker thought it would be easier for a right handed person to operate.

That is true. What you're leaving out is that a number of right handed users disagreed and complained that the lock was wrong handed. The compression lock was in it's infancy at that time. Given that 90% of knife buyers are right handed, if there had been more complaints by right handed users about the Vesuvius being wrong handed than about the Gunting being wrong handed, it's a pretty safe bet that all the current compression locks would be like the Gunting's. Given the SD nature of the Gunting, I'm fairly sure Bram Frank was thinking in terms of "more difficult for a right handed user to close accidentally" than "easier for a right handed user to close intentionally". However, even on an SD platform, most users seemed to favor "easier of use" over "potentially safer".

[yablanowitz]

The strange part to me is that even though I'm right handed, I find the compression lock far easier to operate with my left hand. When I bought my Para 2, I set the clip for left hand tip down and carried it on my off side. I usually drew and opened it with my left hand, transferred it to my right to cut, then transferred it back to my left to close. I'd put my left index finger in the Spyderhole, press the locking tab with my thumb and rotate the blade closed in much the same manner as a backlock. I finally just stopped carrying it and replaced it with a Chapparal. I've tried to like the compression lock, but I have failed so far.

[ourgon]

I'm right handed and I don't have any problems with closing PM2 very fast. So maybe with knives I'm ambidextrous. :eek:

My video.

[video=youtube;mG1NMLLPAJA]https://youtu.be/mG1NMLLPAJA[/video]

[Sully]

A Lefty Para 2 is a great idea!

So many Spyderco fans are lefties, yet we find a way to adapt, usually. Of course the midlocks are a very viable option ... but it would be so sweet to have a true lefty option (again) from Spyderco. Yes, naysayers, the profit margin might not be huge for an admittedly niche market, but Sal and crew often don't exactly seem adverse to putting loyal customers before almighty profits. Hoping it happens again for us lefties. And soon. :)

[Donut]

Check out the comments in the thread I started about swapping the lock for the Para. The left handed users seemed to disagree with me.

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... be-swapped

Though, not many left handed users commented at all.

[Blerv]

I can open and close the compression lock with both hands fairly easily. My left hand is about as coordinated as a retiree learning to tango on a cruise ship, so...

[angusW]

It's funny but when I received my first Para-Military 2 I thought the lock was made for the left hand. With a bit of practice I can now easily swing the blade in all the way into the handle without the need to let the choil hit my finger first.

[bakergh]

I find the compression lock way easier to close with my left hand than a right-handed liner lock. It just took some time to get used to.

[JNewell]

I'm left dominant and find the Para2 difficult to unlock with my left hand. I may not be the best test case, though, because I have severe arthritis in my thumb and a couple of fingers that have bone and nerve damage from some "industrial" accidents.