Spyderco Forums

In a store I caught my pocket clip on plastic wrap around a rug and pulled the clip out pretty far. I need to take the clip off and bend it back. If someone has a clip that is off of a military could they please measure it for me- with the attachment end bearing flat on a table and the clip end sticking off, how far does the inside surface of the clip extend past the imaginary surface of the table? IOW if I start bending my clip it would be better to rely on help from people that have spare clips than relying on my own trial and error.

I'll see if I can dig up my extra clip, I picked it up from Spyderco for around 10-$12 bucks from Spyderco if your interested in a replacement.

Well, I don't know if I follow what you're asking for, but if you're trying to bend the clip back, here's my advice. 1) If you have access to some kind of heat source like a propane torch, I'd recommend heating it up a little before you bend it. I snapped a Delica clip in half trying to bend it back in place while cold. 2) as far as bending it back to the right shape, I'd bend it just slightly past where that imaginary surface would be. This will just give the clip extra tension later when you put it on the knife.

Evil D wrote:I'd bend it just slightly past where that imaginary surface would be. This will just give the clip extra tension later when you put it on the knife.

What I'm trying to do is take the trial and error out of it. I could probably get a new clip from Spyderco but seems easier to just straighten the one that I have.

My daughter bent the clip on her Tenacious sometime back. I straightened it for her and reassembled but then it had too much tension and was hard to pull out of a pocket. It took a lot of effort to bend the clip just a tiny bit so the tension was better.

You can pretty much eyeball it and get it close enough. One thing you can do to help is find a known flat surface and lay the clip flat on it after you bend it. Then look at the mounting area of the clip from the side where the screws go, and see if you can see light underneath it. So, if you see a lot of light under the side that has the clip portion, then you've bent it too far inward. If you see light on the other end where the screws go, it's bent too far outward. Ideally you would bend it so that the mounting pad area and the bottom of the "U" shape in the clip are both laying flat and you can't see light under the mounting pad at all.

Hope that makes sense. Another thing you can do if you find the clip is too strong is fold up a piece of paper and wedge it under the clip for a while. That can help reduce tension some.

I mostly stopped using the clipped-in-pocket carry method for Spyderco knives after bending several clips, and losing more than one whole knife. Long ago, I managed to bend the clip of my Mili, damage one or more of the mounting screw holes, and damage the paint of a car, in one episode, so my Mili is now clipless. (I seem to be a perfect storm of too active*, and, I reckon, a bit too clumsy.) "Pocket knife," for me, now mostly means carried completly within a pocket, and/or in a purpose-built sheath. A pocket within a larger pocket, as is the case with some cargo pants, works well for clipped-in carry.

One exception is my Assist. As a piece of emergency equipment, I want it to be readily accessible. The wire clip seems less prone to bending than the traditional sheet-metal clip. Plus, I normally carry a pistol, so the holster largely shields the clipped-in knife.

I recently relapsed, and started carrying my Civilian clipped into my left front pocket. Well, within a few weeks, the seam of a vest caught on the clip, so that my movement pulled the Civi out of the pocket, and the knife then hit the pavement. Lesson re-learned!

*Canoeing, kayaking, cycling, trail running, canine SAR volunteering, trail running, mild off-road Jeep operation, police patrol, and dabbling in wilderness photography are among the things I do, or have done, that seem a bit too much for a pocket clip to be a secure method of carrying a knife.

About 35 years of carrying knives I have not once caught a clip on anything.

Lucky I guess.

HarleyXJGuy wrote:About 35 years of carrying knives I have not once caught a clip on anything.

Lucky I guess.

There ya go.. Now ya jinxed yourself!! :D Bent a few and straightened them out.. I usually take them off and rebend them to be a little tighter.. John :)

Never tried to bend a spyderco pocket clip. I'd just order another from Spyderco directly. They aren't that expensive and I tend to order them in batches when I want to switch out silver ones for black ones or vice versa. I've never accidentally bent one (KoW), but up if I do I have the stock ones I can put back on. Luckily many designs use the same clip, so one or two spares can cover many knives.

jmh58 wrote:

HarleyXJGuy wrote:About 35 years of carrying knives I have not once caught a clip on anything.

Lucky I guess.

There ya go.. Now ya jinxed yourself!! :D Bent a few and straightened them out.. I usually take them off and rebend them to be a little tighter.. John :)

Yeah probably did lol.

I am the opposite as all of mine have been to tight.

RexGig0 wrote:*Canoeing, kayaking, cycling, trail running, canine SAR volunteering, trail running, mild off-road Jeep operation, police patrol, and dabbling in wilderness photography are among the things I do, or have done, that seem a bit too much for a pocket clip to be a secure method of carrying a knife.

I did an 800 mile bike tour through mountains with a Para 2 clipped to my pocket

Just gotta be aware of what's on you and what you're near. Clips can snag, but only if you let them.

For the military the way i bend them back is unscrew the clip. Then flip it and screw it back onto the knife with the last 2 holes so it can't move. Then i bend it back to level with the knife scale and then bend it just a little past. Then unscrew and reinstall properly. Works with a good bit of the clips if the holes line up right. Option B. Stick a screw driver under the clip and bend it down over the screw driver carefully of course. They remove the screwdriver and TADA!!! Only use option B on a beater knife like an S90V CF millie or M390 CF millie as it can scratch the scale material. Both of these methods work for me.

VashHash wrote:For the military the way i bend them back is unscrew the clip. Then flip it and screw it back onto the knife with the last 2 holes so it can't move. Then i bend it back to level with the knife scale and then bend it just a little past. Then unscrew and reinstall properly. Works with a good bit of the clips if the holes line up right. Option B. Stick a screw driver under the clip and bend it down over the screw driver carefully of course. They remove the screwdriver and TADA!!! Only use option B on a beater knife like an S90V CF millie or M390 CF millie as it can scratch the scale material. Both of these methods work for me.

Beater S90V and M390 Millie?!

Umm no such thing.

HarleyXJGuy wrote:

VashHash wrote:For the military the way i bend them back is unscrew the clip. Then flip it and screw it back onto the knife with the last 2 holes so it can't move. Then i bend it back to level with the knife scale and then bend it just a little past. Then unscrew and reinstall properly. Works with a good bit of the clips if the holes line up right. Option B. Stick a screw driver under the clip and bend it down over the screw driver carefully of course. They remove the screwdriver and TADA!!! Only use option B on a beater knife like an S90V CF millie or M390 CF millie as it can scratch the scale material. Both of these methods work for me.

Beater S90V and M390 Millie?!

Umm no such thing.

You sure about that?

VashHash wrote:

HarleyXJGuy wrote:

VashHash wrote:For the military the way i bend them back is unscrew the clip. Then flip it and screw it back onto the knife with the last 2 holes so it can't move. Then i bend it back to level with the knife scale and then bend it just a little past. Then unscrew and reinstall properly. Works with a good bit of the clips if the holes line up right. Option B. Stick a screw driver under the clip and bend it down over the screw driver carefully of course. They remove the screwdriver and TADA!!! Only use option B on a beater knife like an S90V CF millie or M390 CF millie as it can scratch the scale material. Both of these methods work for me.

Beater S90V and M390 Millie?!

Umm no such thing.

You sure about that?

Are you trying to make me a sad panda?

HarleyXJGuy wrote:

VashHash wrote:

HarleyXJGuy wrote:

VashHash wrote:For the military the way i bend them back is unscrew the clip. Then flip it and screw it back onto the knife with the last 2 holes so it can't move. Then i bend it back to level with the knife scale and then bend it just a little past. Then unscrew and reinstall properly. Works with a good bit of the clips if the holes line up right. Option B. Stick a screw driver under the clip and bend it down over the screw driver carefully of course. They remove the screwdriver and TADA!!! Only use option B on a beater knife like an S90V CF millie or M390 CF millie as it can scratch the scale material. Both of these methods work for me.

Beater S90V and M390 Millie?!

Umm no such thing.

You sure about that?

Are you trying to make me a sad panda?

Look I'm just helping people get their clips fixed