Am I The Only One Who Can't Stand Thumb Studs?

[James Starr]

I'm old, had my own knife in my hand since I was 15. Studs were probably one of the best Inovations to come along back then. Chris Reeve knives made a whole lota mulla using studs and thier customers don't seem to mind. I actually will purchase a thumb stud knife over a flipper any day.
Flippers make the user hold the knife very unaturaly to open and how many times has a flipper been impeded by to much pressure on the lock bar. Anyway, think I might start a thread "Am I the only one who hates clips on knives" .

Yes. I actually do find flippers a little awkward too. I do think thumb studs are a good way to open a knife and they have a good fidget factor. I like opening a knife with studs. I just don't like using a knife with studs. I find it difficult to get a good purchase with a pinch grip, they can impede the cutting path and they make sharpening tricky. If I just wanted to open my knife, I wouldn't have an issue. As far as clips, yes, start that thread. I do not like the way they interfere with my purchase on the handle. I think they can be uncomfortable. Furthermore, I don't find them very necessary. Maybe I just don't like anything... Be careful though. Don't elaborate or your thread will have smart asses suggesting that you use google to look for knives without clips.

 

[James Starr]

You could always go the balisong or automatic route. I do agree that with thumb studs placement is everything. I've handled some that are so poorly placed that it's almost impossible to extend my thumb properly to open the knife. Usually those are too close to the pivot. Somebody with smaller/larger hands than mine may find that perfect for them- and no, I have normal sized hands, not insanely huge or tiny ones.

EDIT: lest I forget, the really small stud that doesn't protrude enough past the scale to be of any use without being double jointed in your hands- those are the worst. If it's too small and too close to the scale they may as well have not bothered. it shouldn't take two hands to open a knife with a thumbstud.

Yep. I don't mind them for opening a knife. I just don't like using a knife with thumb studs. I think some companies try to put them too far back to put them out of the cutting path, but then they make them very difficult to use deploying the knife.

 

[marchone]

I am not a fan of thumb studs for all of the reasons posited above but also because a stroke left me with a residual deficit in my right hand.

 

[Jaygti]

I don’t like them from an aesthetic point of view, same with holes as well.

but they are good to fiddle with when your bored, and they are effective.
The only knife I had with one , I’ve given to my son. He likes it

 

[James Starr]

I am not a fan of thumb studs for all of the reasons posited above but also because a stroke left me with a residual deficit in my right hand.

I'm sorry to hear about the stroke. I hope you can learn to live with that. I have an issue with pain from a herniated disc. I know that's not the same, but I couldn't imagine having to live with the pain a year ago. Now it's just something I deal with. Copious amounts of opiates help, but I'd rather it were different. I hope you get there if you aren't already.

 

[James Starr]

I don’t like them from an aesthetic point of view, same with holes as well.

but they are good to fiddle with when your bored, and they are effective.
The only knife I had with one , I’ve given to my son. He likes it

I don't think most people mind studs at all, so I'm sure your son is thrilled.

 

[marchone]

I'm sorry to hear about the stroke. I hope you can learn to live with that. I have an issue with pain from a herniated disc. I know that's not the same, but I couldn't imagine having to live with the pain a year ago. Now it's just something I deal with. Copious amounts of opiates help, but I'd rather it were different. I hope you get there if you aren't already.

Thanks, I'm 99% recovered. Thankfully I never had any pain. The only residual deficit is in my first three right hand fingertips. On the other hand (pun intended) I can snick open any flipper with my left hand, too. Thumb studs are impossible. They have have always been a nuisance for me to open and now it's just a bit worse.

 

[unwisefool]

What's google? Yes, I've found some other knives without studs, but they seem to be the exceptions that make the rule. Have you tried reading? I asked if anyone else disliked thumb studs, not help me find a knife without thumb studs. But thanks for the "help" smart ass... If anyone has any actual suggestions, I do appreciate them, but don't feel obliged. I'm really more curious to see if anyone else dislikes thumb studs. I can see that there are a few who do so far, and I appreciate the replies.

Ahem, you said:

My buying options are so limited that I want to cry

I don't want you to cry, lil buddy. I found many knives without studs when I used the ole google interwebs, so I figured you had not explored that possibility. So you are quite welcome for the help!

P.S. if you are looking for knives without clips, I'd try a Bing search. You can thank me later

 

[000Robert]

I find thumb Studs annoying as hell! They make using a pinch grip difficult, they make sharpening challenging and they look like warts! Yet it is difficult to find a good folding knife without them. Even flippers usually have redundant thumb warts. There are so many otherwise great knives that I won't even consider buying because they have thumb warts. My buying options are so limited that I want to cry, and I'm not even a millennial! They best option that I have found is the Civivi Elementum. I love the Elementum in S35VN, but I like to switch up my edc sometimes, and the only other option I own is a $20 Effinggrow in D2. By the by, it is the best $20 knife I've seen, for what it's worth, but it's still a $20 knife. I do also have a Gerber Gator in 154CM, but it's not exactly an EDC option. It is a really great knife for what it is though. If any knife makers are reading this, please help me spend my money!

No, you ain't. I hate thumbstuds, thumbholes, and flippers. That pretty much leaves me fixed blades, auto's, and lock-backs.
Why do you think that your Gator isn't a good EDC? My Gator in 154CM was my EDC for many years and still has a razor sharp factory edge on it. It will take a step back when my DEK1 gets here.

 

[Henry Beige]

I cannot recall ever having been annoyed by a thumb stud. Things that annoy me:
1. “Deploying” a knife rather than simply opening it.
2. Liner locks
3. An insistence on tip-up carry, not that it matters much. I find that tip-down allows for slightly quicker deployment, not that I would ever do that.

 

[dirc]

lol - deploy always made me laugh... perhaps they overheard actual military people talk about deploying to a battlefield/theatre and think it sounds cool to use for a knife?

I own a bunch of different opening mechanisms on knives, my kizer corto with thumbstuds is out of the cutting path & easy for me to open

I do have to say, pinch grip is something I hardly ever use with a folder... I'm curious what types of cutting you find it useful for?

 

[James Starr]

Thanks, I'm 99% recovered. Thankfully I never had any pain. The only residual deficit is in my first three right hand fingertips. On the other hand (pun intended) I can snick open any flipper with my left hand, too. Thumb studs are impossible. They have have always been a nuisance for me to open and now it's just a bit worse.

Cool. Sounds like you're doing well. I have a little neuropathy in my left little finger, but no loss of strength. Just a little numbness. Pain behind my left shoulder blade sucks sometimes, but it's well managed with meds. I had surgery. It used to be my right shoulder and pinky. Surgery was a success, but the left side herniated immediately after the surgery. Oh well... It's funny how my perception of pain changes, and pretty quickly too. But I digress. I hated thumb studs way before I slipped my disc at the gym.

 

[Cscotttsss]

Nope, thumb studs are fine with me, along with spydie holes, and flippers.

fixed and agreed. lol

 

[James Starr]

No, you ain't. I hate thumbstuds, thumbholes, and flippers. That pretty much leaves me fixed blades, auto's, and lock-backs.
Why do you think that your Gator isn't a good EDC? My Gator in 154CM was my EDC for many years and still has a razor sharp factory edge on it. It will take a step back when my DEK1 gets here.

I love my Gator man. I have the drop point. I love the geometry and the steel for field dressing. I dressed an elk and an antelope in one hunt, and the blade was still very sharp. That entails unzipping the belly, removing the backstrap, prying joints and quartering. With a fifty dollar folder. TWICE! Gerber's treatment of 154CM is astonishingly good. But Gerber even makes 420 usable, so they have some serious metallurgy voodoo, period. The handle is super grippy, even covered in blood, and I love the ergonomics. A folder that dresses out two big game animals in one day without resharpening? And fifty bucks? Yeah, it's not just in my kill kit. It IS my kill kit!!! Super super in love with this knife. I'm from Louisiana, and yes, I've even dressed a gator with my gator. That said, it's too bulky for jeans and too heavy for suits, at least in my opinion. If I wore cargos on the daily, it would fine for edc. But I don't.

 

[James Starr]

lol - deploy always made me laugh... perhaps they overheard actual military people talk about deploying to a battlefield/theatre and think it sounds cool to use for a knife?

I own a bunch of different opening mechanisms on knives, my kizer corto with thumbstuds is out of the cutting path & easy for me to open

I do have to say, pinch grip is something I hardly ever use with a folder... I'm curious what types of cutting you find it useful for?

That is a good looking Kizer. Too bad it has thumb studs. As for when I might use a pinch grip, so removing a splinter or any other sort of fine tip work comes to mind. Or if I need to choke up and use the belly to, for example, scrape some tape residue off of something. But it's not just a pinch grip that is affected. I utilize the thumb stud portion of the blade for a lot of fine controlled cuts. Squeeze cuts, for example. The studs also interfere with my purchase on squeeze cuts. That's an issue, because I like my thumb, and I don't like bandaids. I can tell you don't do much carving... Or cooking... What do you do with your knife? Open and close it? Anything else? If you think I'm being snarky, let me explain that I don't like bullies! I do not tolerate bullying. I can tell you've never served your country, but I would have thought you might have had a job at some point. Maybe it's used more in a managerial role, but I'm still surprised you never even wondered what "deploy" means. Let me help you out with this definition from the Oxford English Dictionary: "to spread out, utilize, or arrange for a deliberate purpose deploy a sales force deploy a parachute." So, what is it about this word that confuses you?

 

[Alberta Ed]

I don't mind them. My Sebbie 21 is the only knife I have with a thumb stud, aside from my Emerson, if that little thingy (disk?) on top of the blade counts as one. If well placed they don't get in the way.

 

[James Starr]

I cannot recall ever having been annoyed by a thumb stud. Things that annoy me:
1. “Deploying” a knife rather than simply opening it.
2. Liner locks
3. An insistence on tip-up carry, not that it matters much. I find that tip-down allows for slightly quicker deployment, not that I would ever do that.

Look, it's fine to disagree with me. I invite spirited debate, and I take no offense to you opinions regarding knives. But please don't use this as an excuse to mock other users for their choice of verbiage, especially when there is nothing wrong with it. Is it hard to believe that people on a blade forum might, in fact, be active or retired military? Or that their rank and MOS might have required to them to speak in common military vernacular? And if they use that vernacular, especially when it is not specific to the military, it's fine. Don't be disrespectful. Please don't be a bully. People who made sacrifices to defend our freedom command your respect. Please be nice, even if it's not in your nature to do so. You owe them that. There is nothing wrong with the word "deploy."

 

[James Starr]

I don't mind them. My Sebbie 21 is the only knife I have with a thumb stud, aside from my Emerson, if that little thingy (disk?) on top of the blade counts as one. If well placed they don't get in the way.

Oh, that's what another user called a thumb disc. Duh. Of course. Now I feel dumb. And yeah, it seems most people do like thumb studs. That's fine. I was only curious to know if other people shared my dislike of them. Thanks for the reply.

 

[sgt1372]

There's probably thousands of production knives without thumb studs these days.

I own over 330 knives (mostly folders) and NONE of them has a thumbstud.

I don't have any conscious prejudice against them but maybe I hate them and just never realized it. LOL!

 

[unwisefool]

That is a good looking Kizer. Too bad it has thumb studs. As for when I might use a pinch grip, so removing a splinter or any other sort of fine tip work comes to mind. Or if I need to choke up and use the belly to, for example, scrape some tape residue off of something. But it's not just a pinch grip that is affected. I utilize the thumb stud portion of the blade for a lot of fine controlled cuts. Squeeze cuts, for example. The studs also interfere with my purchase on squeeze cuts. That's an issue, because I like my thumb, and I don't like bandaids. I can tell you don't do much carving... Or cooking... What do you do with your knife? Open and close it? Anything else? If you think I'm being snarky, let me explain that I don't like bullies! I do not tolerate bullying. I can tell you've never served your country, but I would have thought you might have had a job at some point. Maybe it's used more in a managerial role, but I'm still surprised you never even wondered what "deploy" means. Let me help you out with this definition from the Oxford English Dictionary: "to spread out, utilize, or arrange for a deliberate purpose deploy a sales force deploy a parachute." So, what is it about this word that confuses you?

Lighten up there a bit kiddo, if you think people are bullying you on this thread (they aren't) then report them to the mods, ignore them or just go along with flow and have some fun. It's an online knife forum, relax a bit.