I did want to share with you guys a new fix to remedy the notorious pocket-snagging issue associated with the stock wire clip on the Slysz Bowie. Many reviews on the interweb do a fantastic job of describing how spectacular this knife is (and it really is!), but universally comment on how with the wire clip’s contact point on the scales (being nearly on top of the RIL lockbar cutout/depression) prevents drawing the knife smoothly and quickly out of the pocket.
One solution to this problem that gull wing, gbelleh and others figured out months ago was to swap the clip found on the lightweight S110V Manix 2 onto the Bowie. This dropped the contact points of the clip on the Bowie scales further down, making it much easier to draw the knife from the pocket. They also posted how to quickly and easily match the matte stonewashed finish of the stock Bowie clip using a 2 minute ferric chloride bath. Here are the threads:
viewtopic.php?t=66754" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
viewtopic.php?t=66793" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
While a great fix, I didn’t like the fact that this meant that the knife was no longer deep pocket carry, a feature I basically insist upon in my EDC knives. In thinking about this issue a bit more, I remembered the pass around we had back with GoldenSpydie’s Foundry. One of the things that I noticed immediately about the Foundry was the very stout and long wire clip it had. Here’s a pic of the Foundry clip against a Caly 3.5 clip (and the thread it’s in), you can see the length difference:
http://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtop ... =2&t=64674" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
So, you can see where this is going...
I called Spyderco for a replacement Foundry clip and received it last week, and the bottle of ferric chloride I bought from Amazon arrived today! After a 2 minute bath in the drink, the shiny Foundry clip now looks pretty much exactly like the color of the stock Slysz Bowie’s (and Techno’s) clip. The clip’s contact points are further down, so drawing the knife is smooth as butter now, and it retains its (very important to me) deep carry feature. This longer clip does have a slight bit more flex than the stock clip, given that it’s longer, but it’s in no way flimsy or weak. It’s solid and has a strong spring to it, holding the knife tightly and securely in your pocket. And the best thing is it’s a stock Spyderco clip, so I have faith that it will work and fit perfectly.
Again, my many thanks to Kristi for all her help with this fix, and also gull wing and gbelleh for the inspirational/motivational threads on their clip fix for the Slysz Bowie. If you do decide to call Spyderco for one of these, make sure to get the longer clip especially for the C160 Foundry (Kristi mentioned they didn’t have them on hand at the SFO and had to call the factory for one). For me, the Slysz Bowie is now one step closer to being nearly perfect! Cheers, Radioactive :)
