Why do people like tip down carry?

SnowCrash · #1

I simply fail to see any advantage to tip down carry, unless you're afraid the knife will open on your hand or something inside your pocket. It adds a whole new motion just to get the knife open, you have to pull it out and then shift the bottom to your palm and THEN flip it open with your thumb. Plus you can't zip tie wave tip down carry....

this all came up because I just ordered a civilian and was hoping to wave it, but then realized it's tip down carry only....now I have to find a sheath or something in order to be able to use it quickly in emergencies :rolleyes:

yablanowitz · #2

Grasp the blade by the Spyderhole, draw the knife from the pocket, flick the handle down and it's open. For me, it's faster than tip up. And yes, I have had tip up knives open in my pockets several times.

wsdavies · #3

Nice

yablanowitz wrote:Grasp the blade by the Spyderhole, draw the knife from the pocket, flick the handle down and it's open. For me, it's faster than tip up. And yes, I have had tip up knives open in my pockets several times.

MtnMan · #4

This says it all.

yablanowitz wrote:Grasp the blade by the Spyderhole, draw the knife from the pocket, flick the handle down and it's open. For me, it's faster than tip up. And yes, I have had tip up knives open in my pockets several times.

I don't see why anyone would prefer carrying tip up. I honestly don't see any advantage.

Donut · #5

With tip down if you are wearing a ring on your finger, you will either scratch the blade or the ring or both.

I prefer tip up, I like to get a full on grip of the knife as I pull it open and deploy the blade. I rarely drop to open.

I think it is just a matter of preference. Whether toilet paper rolls over the top or off the bottom, you will still get the same outcome.

Joe Talmadge · #6

The advantage of tip-up is, you can pull and open the knife without ever pinch-gripping. Tip-down, every opening always involves a pinch grip. For any use which involves stress opening, tip-up is the way to go, as anyone who has ever thrown their knife across the room on a fast pinch-grip opening (admit it, that includes 100% of us) can attest.

The possibility of tip-up carry resulting in opening in the pocket is a very realistic concern. While I strongly favor tip-up, I only like carrying that way for knives that have a lock that provide a strong positive closing bias -- lockback being the best, something like a ball lock being not too far behind, and an integral/liner/compression lock only being acceptable if the ball-detent mechanism is really well executed.

chuck_roxas45 · #7

I find that tip down on longer knives like the military, endura, chinook puts my thumb near the thumb hole as soon as it's out of my pocket without having to shift my grip.

SQSAR · #8

Good points Joe. I would add that no matter what configuration you chose to carry, that you practice deploying it to build muscle memory. I've recently added a Shabaria to my stable, and was kind of bummed that it can only be carried tip-down. All my others are set for tip-up carry. It would be no problem to drill and tap for a tip-up carry, but I'm kind of reluctant to make that mod (for aesthetic reasons) especially since the way it rides as it came from the factory is very low and discreet. There's always a catch-22 isn't there.

Rev. Chuck · #9

I always carried tip up, until I got my Military, now I am getting used to tip down carry, I really don't see any disadvantage in any of the two, with tip down I use the Spyder drop, tip up I flick them open.

HotSoup · #10

Spydie-drop. The. Military.

'Nuff said :)

MCM · #11

"Why do people like tip down carry?"

I have no idea. :confused:

Spydesense · #12

The pocket clip on my Civilian can be moved for tip up or tip down carry... right hand only though. I usually like tip up better, so I moved the clip to carry that way. I ended up changing back to tip down... it just seems to work better. Like Joe and Chuck said, I guess it is because the knife is so long, if it is tip up, your hand is too far away from the hole when the knife is pulled out of the pocket. Therefor, you have to "inch" the knife up to be able to get thumb in hole. If it is tip down, your thumb is already close to the hole when retrieved from pocket. Kinda hard to explain, but that's my theory.

THG · #13

Tip-up is SLOWER. It is. Spyderdrop or no Spyderdrop. It's also more difficult to get the knife out of the pocket.

Also, tip-DOWN is LESS SAFE. How can a knife carried tip-up open up if it's against the seam of the pocket? It can't. On the other hand, a knife carried tip-DOWN has the blade's path pointing toward the INSIDE of the pocket, so there's a chance that it can open up when your hand is on it's way up out of the pocket (don't ask how; we never understand how these freak accidents happen lol)

I think that most people believe in myths where exactly the opposite is true when it comes to tip-up/down carry.

MCM · #14

I like tip up as the blade is against the outside seam of my pocket.

Also as it comes up, my thumb is where it needs to be.

Tip up allows deeper carry for me. (I move/change clips often)

Its not just me........

chuck_roxas45 · #15

Well, whatever works for you...

Leatherneck · #16

There is no right or wrong obviously only what works for each person. I've come to like tip down on the larger knives and tip up on on smaller knives especially lock backs. On most days I am not worried about getting the jump on Zombies. :D

jabba359 · #17

Guess I'm a mess when it comes to this question. Got a Khukuri tip-up in the front right pocket, Millie tip-down in the front left, and my Ladybug clipless (of course!) in my change pocket. Since most of my knives are tip-up, I've gotten used to pulling them out and opening them that way. The tip-down always goes in the left pocket and I've gotten used to pulling them out that way on that side as well. Either way, the spine of the blade always sits against the back seam of the pocket, so no trouble with accidental openings here. Speed has never been an issue, as I have no need to have my knife out and open where a fraction of a second makes any sort of difference.

JLS · #18

Initially, I was a big fan of tip up, but this was on smaller knives. After I started carrying a Military, I too realized that it was very fast and consistent.

Since then, I prefer my knives to be tip-down for consistency. Whatever knife I have on me is drawn and opened the same way, from the Cricket to the Resilience and everything in between. It also doesn't hurt that my favorite knives are all tip-down only.

I think Sal covered this well when he says (I'm paraphrasing), "Not good or bad, just different."

Joe Talmadge · #19

THG wrote:Tip-up is SLOWER. It is. Spyderdrop or no Spyderdrop. It's also more difficult to get the knife out of the pocket.

You mean, for you. For me, a fast, *reliable* opening, tip-up is faster -- grab and thumb open with no pinch grip.

Also, tip-DOWN is LESS SAFE. How can a knife carried tip-up open up if it's against the seam of the pocket? It can't. On the other hand, a knife carried tip-DOWN has the blade's path pointing toward the INSIDE of the pocket, so there's a chance that it can open up when your hand is on it's way up out of the pocket (don't ask how; we never understand how these freak accidents happen lol)

Well, the thing about this one is, people have been talking on the internet about knives that open in the pocket and cause an injury (or almost cause one) for years. In 20 years, I'm not sure I've seen many tip-down stories, there are lots of tip-up opening stories. Unlike the speed-of-opening topic, which is subjective, I think the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt evidence is for tip-down safety. Not saying a tip-down opening has never happened, but it appears to be a really rare beast.

The Mentaculous · #20

I think tip down works a lot better for large folders. I like tip up for my average edc, but for something the size of the military, police or even endura, I think tip down is the faster and more consistent opening