Am I the only one who hates pocket clips?

T.L.E. Sharp said:
Have you tried swapping the clip to the other side? It takes just a tiny bit of extra movement to then flip the knife over after removing it from your pocket, but then the clip is on the same side as your fingertips rather than digging into your palm.

If you do this with a couple knives the little bit of rotation needed to orient the knife in your hand becomes second nature.
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Thanks for the reply and the decent suggestion. However, regardless of which side it is on, the downsides outweigh the benefits for me. I like lightweight knives with either FRN or G10 scales, particularly because of the nice grip they provide (especially with the texturing that nice knives have). Having a protruding, smooth, and metal pocket clip on one side (whatever side it is one) effectively negates that grip and texture on one side of the knife. The only benefit I see from a pocket clip for me is that it may speed up the process of taking it out of my pocket, if the pocket clip works correctly. If I were a knife fighter, the pocket clip may be clearly preferable. But I am not a knife fighter; I am an office worker who likes to spend some free time outdoors.
 
A clip can keep the blade closed by holding the blade between your pants. Particularly useful for flippers or knives with light detents.

Bigger knives I can't just throw in my pocket.

I carry keys and the clip keeps them from too much contact.

Another reason is most laws have something called concealed and carry and showing the clip isn't concealed. So it can keep you out of legal problems possibly (its written vague so take with a grain of salt).

I don't have very many knives that I can just throw into my pocket.
 
When I first started carrying a knife daily(12-14 years old if I had to guess), I hated clips. It wasn't until I got a knife that had a good clip that I really started to see the appeal. A lot of clips on Gerbers are just plain awful. Even if the knife is decent, the clip is almost guaranteed to be shit. Terrible retention, bends like "noodle", and most often placed in a terrible position.

My Tenacious was the first knife I actually liked the clip on, I mean I left some on some others before it, but after my Tenacious, I really learned to appreciate em'. I haven't gotten a knife since with a clip that I ended up removing.

I carry the odd traditional loose in my shorts or in my watch pocket without any issues, but most modern knives I own wouldn't carry nearly as well without the clip.
 
The clip gives my stubby fingers support when using flippers. I have something to grab onto.
 
Mo2 said:
A clip can keep the blade closed by holding the blade between your pants. Particularly useful for flippers or knives with light detents.

Bigger knives I can't just throw in my pocket.

I carry keys and the clip keeps them from too much contact.

Another reason is most laws have something called concealed and carry and showing the clip isn't concealed. So it can keep you out of legal problems possibly (its written vague so take with a grain of salt).

I don't have very many knives that I can just throw into my pocket.
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Here in California a folder has to be completely concealed, and technically a pocket clip keeps it from being such.
I'm not aware of anyone getting in trouble for this, but the technicality is there
 
rogatsby said:
If I were a knife fighter, the pocket clip may be clearly preferable. But I am not a knife fighter; I am an office worker who likes to spend some free time outdoors.
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Haha reminds me of a quote from a Douglas Adams book :
"His own greatest satisfaction still remained that of throwing himself into a muddy ditch and firing a machine gun for at least a minute, and he didn’t think that the British newspaper and publishing industry, even in its current state of unrest, was likely to afford him that pleasure, at least until some more Australians moved into it."

. . . you never know . . . the office environment is mercurial.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Here in California a folder has to be completely concealed, and technically a pocket clip keeps it from being such.
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hahahaha
Until this moment I was blissfully unaware of that fact.
That's preposterous.
It's like saying you can wear a bikini at the beach but if you expose your ankles we will fine you. :confused:
 
I personally don't care for them. They ruin the looks of an otherwise good looking knife and they don't feel good in the hand. Even worse is all the extra holes in the knife for four position carry. Having said that, I know they are popular and here to stay.
Younger people seem to like them more than old dinosaurs like me.
 
I rarely use a pocket clip, all my knives with clips are sheath carried.
Clipped to my pocket, they just get in the way of reaching for the traditional in my RFP.
Sometimes I'll take the clip off, it just depends on the knife.
I do position the clip for tip up, against the pocket seam, that way I don't notice it in use.
 
To the OP, I agree pretty well as to all that you said. I find clips generally a nuisance and fairly uncomfortable at best. However, with my old swollen arthritic and stiff hands, I need a clip for my ring and pinky finger to hold on to opening and closing a knife.

As an example, I recently bought a new Kizer knife and found that the "fluted or sunburst" design to be a potential pocket shredder, so I tried to bend the clip up a bit to make it looser and snap, broke the clip. I played with the knife for awhile (waiting for the new clip to come in on a slow boat from China) and I can't hold on to the slippery handle good enough. After dropping the knife on the floor with a fully opened blade a couple times, I now have an increased respect for the lowly and misunderstood pocket clip.
 
I won't carry a knife that's not secure in a sheath or clipped snugly .

A loose knife is more likely to accidentally open or be lost .

If needed for an emergency or SD , a clip makes the knife easy to locate and draw in a timely fashion .

In some places a visible pocket clip will make the knife "open carry" and legal vs catching a charge or confiscation .
 
rogatsby said:
When I carry a knife, usually the knife is the only thing in that one pocket. My phone goes in the other pocket, and my wallet is in my back pocket. Keys are generally non-existent for me personally, because everything is done through electronic keypads, fingerprint recognition, or cards (which are in my wallet).
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OT but do you own a car? A fob is required. I’d love to get rid of my keys and just have a folder in that pocket but getting into my old school style office requires 3 keys and I have a key to my mother’s home.
 
rogatsby said:
I've just started getting into pocket knives, and I have started off slow and cheap, with a Gerber, Kershaw, and Ka-Bar Folding Hunters (regular and mini).

I especially love the Doziers, as they are amazingly light, great for everyday use and just incredibly useful and durable.

The only problem I've had with all of these is the pocket clip. I get the concept, of course, because clips will presumably add to quicker deployment and secure retention (at least for some clips). The Dozier clips were fine for these aspects, as they are tight, firm, and secure.

But as I've used them, I have really started to hate pocket clips in general. They tend to dig into your hand, get caught on things, and generally feel like a weird growth on an otherwise great knife. I've borrowed some other knives, including some Spydercos from friends, and I get the same feeling with any pocket clip I encounter - even those who many praise as being well designed.

But every review of any folding knife I ever see or read always goes into great detail about the pocket clip, as if it were such an integral part of the knife and cannot be done without.

So I decided to take the clips off my Doziers, and wow, I enjoy them even more. In fact, I took the clips off of all of my knives, and they all seem better in the hand with very little inconvenience from just throwing the knife into my pocket.

Another thing with clips is that they seem to advertise the fact that you are carrying a knife.

Does anyone else hate pocket clips and remove them, or does everyone love and obsess over them as virtually every folding knife review suggests? In fact, I have seen reviews where people criticize the design or quality of the pocket clip, but never one where they actually state they remove the clip altogether. It's almost as if pocket clips are viewed as de rigueur, when in my experience they seem rather superfluous and cumbersome.

Thanks for any input.
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Any long term or major cutting I want to do I will tend to prefer a fixed blade.

Usually when I’m cutting with a folder I’m not using it long enough for the pocket clip to bother me in terms of comfort.

Personally I love pocket clips and due to what I stated above there are very few that have ever actully bothered me.
 
I like clips,they keep the knife in place when in the pocket,but some knives are better off without a clip like the Gerber mini paraframe .I usually do not like wearing a sheath on me but in the winter I tend to wear one occasionally
 
My edc is always in my left pocket with nothing else...so, no fumbling there...it is 2.5” and rarely used but I have carried a pocket knife for over 40 years so it’s a habit...all the remainder of my knives are for display and unhealthy fondling and, in my opinion, a clip detracts from the aesthetics...I do own one $8.00 knife that came with a clip and it remains on my work bench...it’s a big old ugly thing but I bought it to abuse so - who cares...

Cheers/bg
 
Won't carry a folder without a clip. There are a lot of beautiful traditionals that I pass up because I know they won't see any pocket time. I do occasionally carry a SAK with a dangler-style clip, but I carry too many things in my pockets to have something I use as often as a knife floating around loose.
 
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Clips have their place. Sometimes there is nothing better. I went through a phase where I removed clips from some knives and carried them that way....the clips were all eventually reattached.
 
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