Spyderco Forums

I know this is a popular knife, partly because it's so small. But for that same reason, I would worry about losing it. Putting it on my keychain would fix that problem, but it's a bit large for that purpose (I'm deciding between the Dragonfly and a Ladybug). The Dragonfly is an "in-between" size, so it's not obvious to me which carry methods work best.

I thought it would be helpful to see how other people carry it. The Dragonfly is a very cool looking design (the closed knife reminds me of a fox curled-up, with it's nose tucked into its tail), so I don't want to automatically exclude it without considering my options.

Looking forward to your poll results and feedback!

when i carried my df2 salt, it was always clipped to my pocket, but only to work and only because of blade length restrictions. it's a great knife, but i find it too small to reliably stay clipped in place. i did have it pull out and fall to the ground multiple times while removing other things from my pocket.
if you're set on a dragonfly, it will probably be fine, but check it frequently. if you wear jeans, the watch/coin/5th pocket is a great place to secure a df2. otherwise, i would suggest putting it in your pocket (not clipped) or in a edc bag.
since that is my recommendation, i'd probably suggest a ladybug salt hawkbill with serrations for the bottom of your pocket instead. the blade isn't that much smaller, even though the knife itself is. and, if you really want a keychain knife also, a sak rambler is a much more useful (and cheaper) knife for that application.

I didn't make a selection in the poll because I have one without the clip that I drop in my pocket and a few others with the clip that I clip to my pocket. I'm sure I carried IWB a few times too when wearing work out shorts or sweat pants

dragonfly zdp-189 “pocket lightsaber,” left front pocket - no clip w/ snake knot lanyard - carried for about 5 years as a secondary / personal / food blade. oh, btw it never ran away or got lost.
then i found the chaparral! so my dragonfly now lives in my daily backpack.
my primary blade gets used for work and gets all sorts of gunk on it & ya don’t want to eat if ya cut ur sandwich @ lunch - lol

Dragonfly goes in the bottom a a front pocket when I'm wearing light shorts. I consider it a out the lower size limit for usability. It fits the bill when a larger knife would be cumbersome. It's a very cool design, though. I love the way it's simple and fits together so elegantly.

I also have a Ladybug that gets carried only when I'm wearing minimalist clothing, like on an epic ride. It's rather small for most jobs, but is better than nothing. If you're trying to decide, I think the Dragonfly is the more useful.

Clipped. Perfect for the "watch" pocket on jeans.

When I did carry one a lot I carried it like any other folder in my right front pocket. Now I carry one in my EDC bag.

Loose in a pocket, with no clip and a short piece of cord (not really a "lanyard"; just a loop with a knot at the end) to help extend the handle a bit and make it easier to fish out of the pocket.

But the Dragonfly is never my only knife. I carry a SE Dragonfly to go with a larger PE knife clipped in a pocket. (Usually, but not always, a PM2.)

When I carry it (it was replaced by the Rhino, then by a GEC traditional) it is loose in a cargo pocket. It always felt like I was going to lose it when it was clipped to a pocket.

One more for clipped into jean’s watch pockets. I thought I’d lost my fairly new K-390 until I pulled some clean pants from the closet before coming to work tonight. There it was, still clipped in the watchpocket after a trip through the washer and dryer.

Since we could only choose one option, I picked loose in the pocket since I often carry a Dragonfly around the house in sweatpants. But I also carry my hawkbill dragonfly whenever I go for a walk/jog/bike ride in the city, usually in the pocket of my running belt or camelback.

My Bug is attached to my keys. I never thought of doing that with my Dragonfly.

Clip removed these days. I find it’s small size makes the pocket clip unnecessary. This discovery bumped the dragonfly up to one of my most carried and favorite designs.

Either loose in front pocket or loose in 5th pocket as a secondary. Former with shorts in the summer, latter with long pants.

My only exception to the clip removed is my SE salt which I will sometimes carry in the waistband while running or clip to a life vest when kayaking.

Awesome model.

RocketJ wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 04, 2020 6:06 pm

One more for clipped into jean’s watch pockets. I thought I’d lost my fairly new K-390 until I pulled some clean pants from the closet before coming to work tonight. There it was, still clipped in the watchpocket after a trip through the washer and dryer.

Yikes! Any rust?

It’s been the Knife I’ve carried 95% of the time... for a decade now.

Watch/5th pocket unless my pants don’t have one in which case it’s clipped right front (keys pocket).

It’s the perfect watch/5th pocket knife And it’s my primary. I don’t carry a second knife. Still waiting for the real edc job it can’t handle.

The couple of weeks I tried one out I carried it loose in my front left pocket with a Millie clipped to my right pocket.

They Dfly to me is my ultralight weight carry. So I clip it to my waist band on my right hip of my board shorts/mesh shorts.

Loose in front pocket, no clip, no lanyard

I like to carry the Dragonfly clipless with a small paracord fob in my coin pocket but will often just drop it into whatever pocket is most convenient at the time. Without a coin pocket, I still prefer no clip so definitely just loose in pocket.

So, the butler did it loose in the pocket with a paracord fob. :cool:

Clipped front pocket, almost always. Occasionally loose in front pocket, when wearing dress pants, still with clip on, never with a lanyard.