Tip down carry

[FlexxxStrops]

How do you guys carry tip down knives like the Spyderco military?

I've seen a few guys have problem with them opening up on them and cutting pockets and hands.

I personally have never had a problem and carry mine in my right pocket, but it does make me feel better
with say the para 2 tip up right carry.

[Evil D]

I had a Para 2 open and stab through my pocket about 1/4 inch and stab the crap out of my hand, but I believe it was a freak accident and would be hard to duplicate. If nothing else just being aware that it could bounce open is enough to feel your pocket before sticking your hand in it. Besides, the blade will still be facing down if it opens in your pocket so getting cut that way will take a lot of carelessness. I think it's much safer than carrying tip up if the spine isn't clipped against the side of your pocket..that's just asking to get laid open.

[jabba359]

I carry my tip-down knives in my left pocket so that the spine of the blade is against the rear seam of my pocket. That way there is no room for it to open while in my pocket.

[FlexxxStrops]

I carry my tip-down knives in my left pocket so that the spine of the blade is against the rear seam of my pocket. That way there is no room for it to open while in my pocket.

That's actually what I been doing lately or in the back pocket of my jeans (back right pocket against the seam)

[The Deacon]

A knife carried tip down has little reason to open accidentally in your pocket since it's working with both gravity and whatever blade retention the manufacturer provided. A knife carried tip up is fighting gravity. Few things ever win that fight, so there's more risk of a knife being carried that way opening unintentionally in your pocket. That's especially true for knives with the relatively weak blade retention most ball detent locks provide unless the pivot it tightened enough to turn them into de facto locking friction folders.

[Ray Allen]

Guess I have been lucky. In over 50 years now of carrying knives of all manor, I have only had one, a Valmatic double action open in my pocket and that was due to the lock release for the auto being out of tune. Fired open as far as it could in fact. These days I will only carry tip up do to personal preferences.
Best...

[Surfingringo]

When I'm back in the u.s. visiting and wearing jeans and pants on a daily basis I always carry the military in right rear pocket. Down here I am almost always in boardshorts so I carry iwb and hope for the best. :rolleyes:

[zhyla]

I've only ever had a tip-up blade blade get me, but that was a pretty freak thing. I think the knife was pulled open slightly while my pants were on the floor (I probably stepped on them) and when I pulled them on the morning I got a nice Manix 2 stab/scrape up the side of my leg.

I think gravity has little to do with it. A slightly open tip-down knife could wreak havoc if you crouched or sat just right.

[bornagainprimative]

I carry tip down on my para but carry it to the far right of my right back pocket. Does fantastic there

[yablanowitz]

All of the knives I've had come open in my pocket and cut me have been tip up. The closest I've come on a tip down was a right hand tip down clipped in the front corner of my left back pocket with the blade spine against my wallet. The friction of the leather was sufficient to overcome the detent, so when I pulled out my wallet while sitting down, the knife came with it, blade buried a third of its length in the wallet. As for tip up, I've had a Dodo, a Salsa (twice), a D'Allara drop point and a couple of others draw blood.

[paladin]

tip down for me...

I also tighten the pivot, if adjustable, to the point that it takes a bit more force to open...

If the pivot is riveted, I never lube it, and seldomly clean it only when very nasty-- it makes for a good closing detent that stays closed, opening is not silky smooth but then again I've never had my Caly Jr. open in an unwanted, comprimising position-- and I carry it everyday...

Good luck with this thread, it will get interesting probably...I'll get the popcorn popper ready :p

[Evil D]

All good points about tip up, but ideally you should be clipping with the spine against the side of your pocket so it should never come open. If you clip it otherwise then you're asking for it. If you're not going to clip it against the side you probably should carry tip down.

[gbelleh]

Yeah, whether tip-up or tip-down, I always keep the blade firmly against a pocket seam. This requires carrying in different pockets depending on the clip position, but I've never come close to having an accidental opening carrying this way.

[yablanowitz]

All good points about tip up, but ideally you should be clipping with the spine against the side of your pocket so it should never come open. If you clip it otherwise then you're asking for it. If you're not going to clip it against the side you probably should carry tip down.

I suppose that works for some people. Frankly, I've never found a pocket clip strong enough to keep a knife exactly where I put it 100% of the time, especially when I'm crawling under things, twisting and turning to get into tight spaces, or just hopping off a loading dock or out of the bed of a pickup.

[Evil D]

All good points about tip up, but ideally you should be clipping with the spine against the side of your pocket so it should never come open. If you clip it otherwise then you're asking for it. If you're not going to clip it against the side you probably should carry tip down.

I suppose that works for some people. Frankly, I've never found a pocket clip strong enough to keep a knife exactly where I put it 100% of the time, especially when I'm crawling under things, twisting and turning to get into tight spaces, or just hopping off a loading dock or out of the bed of a pickup.

This is true and I have had that happen, but if you just remember to stick your hand in your pocket on the spine side of the knife you still won't get cut. Seems to me all those activities could also just as easily move the same knife clipped tip down and could also bounce the blade open for either carry option so at some point we also have to just be aware and use common sense.

[bearfacedkiller]

I prefer tip down in either my right front pocket, inside the waistband, or in my right rear pocket. Either way it works out I favor a tip down right handed configuration and do not worry about my knives opening. I also keep them tuned up so they are slick as snot and still don't worry.

[rodloos]

The blade detent on all of my Military models is strong enough I've never felt that they would self-open. Plus gravity will pull the blade closed rather than open, and I'm not active enough doing jumping-jacks or anything that would bounce the blade open.

The only knife I had come open was a ZT assisted-opener which was in my pocket when I dropped my shorts on the floor while changing, and the assisted-opener lever was what landed on the floor. I came close to getting cut with that one.

While at work I usually don't even clip knives to my pockets, but carry them down in the pocket just so I don't raise any eyebrows. Company policy is no weapons, and while I consider my knives to be tools, not weapons, I also don't want to give anyone reason to complain or draw attention. When I have a Military in my back pocket that way, it's usually tip-up, but of course since it's not clipped the position changes around. I've thought about modifying my rear pocket to have a built-in sheath for the knife :).

[xceptnl]

As many others have stated, the safest way to prevent tip up or down from opening is to keep the spine positioned against the seam of the pocket. I exercise this practice for ever tip down (or tip up) model I carry. The Military for me usually is in the right rear pocket. Others like my Caly Jr.s just ride front left pockets, even if the deployment is odd. The only folder that has ever opened on me was my Southard in the right rear pocket, the seam forced pressure against the flipper and soon overcame the detent. Sliced my jeans and couch, but I was no worse.

[Evil D]

Well, I suppose I'll repost these. This incident was not a fluke though, this knife in particular was evil, plain and simple. I promise this is in no way staged or made up, and I still have no idea how it happened but it got me good. All I can figure is somewhere the blade "waved" open when sliding it into my pocket. I never felt it open, I only felt my hand get stabbed as it brushed my leg.

[yablanowitz]

All good points about tip up, but ideally you should be clipping with the spine against the side of your pocket so it should never come open. If you clip it otherwise then you're asking for it. If you're not going to clip it against the side you probably should carry tip down.

I suppose that works for some people. Frankly, I've never found a pocket clip strong enough to keep a knife exactly where I put it 100% of the time, especially when I'm crawling under things, twisting and turning to get into tight spaces, or just hopping off a loading dock or out of the bed of a pickup.

This is true and I have had that happen, but if you just remember to stick your hand in your pocket on the spine side of the knife you still won't get cut. Seems to me all those activities could also just as easily move the same knife clipped tip down and could also bounce the blade open for either carry option so at some point we also have to just be aware and use common sense.

As I said, clipped against the side of the pocket is fine as long as the knife stays put, but it doesn't always. I've found the Military that started clipped in the front corner of my right back pocket in the middle of the pocket after something snagged the clip too many times to count. Thankfully, it's tip down so it didn't matter. The D'Allara on the other hand is tip up, and when it walked away from the corner of my jacket pocket where I had it clipped spine to seam, the heavy blade, weak closing bias of the ball bearing lock and shock of landing from the pickup combined to leave a razor sharp blade exposed in my pocket. I wasn't reaching into the pocket where the knife was when it got me, I was reaching inside the jacket to get my pen from my shirt pocket, but the blade had gone through the lining of the jacket and was laying in ambush for me.

I know there are many advocates of tip-up carry, but I'll never be one of them. Tip-up only is not a total deal-breaker for me, but it's one strike against the knife for me.