An Off-Hand Question

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BitingSarcasm

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Feb 25, 2014
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I carry and use knives based on the presumption that I will be using them in my dominant right hand. The other day I realized I had a knife in my phone case, carpenter pocket, and coin pocket, and that all of them would be a total pain to get with my left hand. In the early 90's I hurt my thumb really badly by stopping a guy's fist with it, to the point that I had to become left-handed for a couple of months. Taking notes in class was a awful at first, and at work I was always getting flummoxed by muscle memory not matching my new reality. What do people consider a good secondary knife for the weak hand, and how do they carry it? I had trouble working most liner locks with my left hand,I though I did eventually find a Camillus Blaze that was intuitive enough. I am thinking a small lockback like a Dragonfly or Delica might fit the bill, but I am curious what other lefty knives people use.
 
Maybe a Benchmade with an axis lock. They seem pretty ambidextrous-friendly.
 
Buck paradigm,
It is a different kind of lock than I've ever seen.
Definetly works left handed.
 
Thankfully my right hand has not become disabled and hopefully never will. I do often carry a knife for left hand use purely for a last ditch SD or emergency option (provided my Gun and/or right hand knife are not available). For this role I am not looking at a knife for Everyday tasks. I don't care if I can close it one handed with my left hand. If I open it, there is a very specific reason so that closing it is not a concern. For this reason I choose a Budget kershaw with assist. I suck at left handed stuff so I want an assisted flipper. Likely it will be a Tremor or Thermite. I believe kershawguy still has a the Tremor on closeout. Fantastic knife for $25 shipped!

http://kershawguy.com/products-page/featured-items/1950-tremor-closeout/
 
As a card carrying southpaw I can give you my twopence.
Unless you go custom. Lockbacks (i.e. Spyderco -D-Fly/Delica/Endura, Cold Steel) and Axis locks (Most Benchmades) would be the way to go. Although much rarer, button locks would be fine too. A lot of people would say Paramilitary 2, but the compression lock is very cumbersome using the left hand.
Good luck in your search!
 
Small fixed blade horizontal carry. I can access it easy with my right hand, or left hand.

 
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jc57 said:
Maybe a Benchmade with an axis lock. They seem pretty ambidextrous-friendly.
Click to expand...

This. I have a 940 set for left hand carry. Axis lock is perfect for ambidextrous use.
 
Backlocks found on many Spydercos like the Endura, Delica, Stretch, Caly, Natives, etc are workable by lefties. The Spydie Hole makes these models easily opened one-handed.

Once they break-in, they can be opened and closed one-handed with either hand.
 
The Buck Spitfire is a great lock back with the lock depressed around the middle of the handle. I can open and close it one handed. Basically I depress the lock and bump the back of the blade on my thigh to get it started. The clip can be left or right hand carry, tip up or tip down. I really like it and for around 30 dollars it's as good of a steal as the Buck 110 in my opinion. I've had it for around 4 months and only touched up the blade on a steel once so for the price it holds an edge very well. At the least it's cheap enough for you to try left hand carry and if it doesn't work out, no big loss.
 
I sometimes carry a waved folder in my back left pocket. This way I don't need to switch the pocket clip.
 
I've carried a Rat 2 and a Delica on my left side. Strangely, my left hand is better at working the liner lock on the Rat than the Axis lock on my Mini Grip. So when I was carrying folders it was Mini Grip (more recently a Hold Out III) on the right side, Rat 2 or Delica on the left. Currently have a fixed blade I can grab with either hand on the left side, which goes with whatever fixed blade I'm carrying on the right side.
 
When I first received my XM18, I carried it in my left front pocket until I got around to switching the clip for tip up. I found that tip down made it easier to draw/deploy with my left hand...and I was able to use a variety of opening techniques (thanks, in part, to the somewhat weak detent). Closing the frame lock with the wrong hand was awkward, though.

The Spyderco Manix 2 is an option. (FWIW, I have no problem working the PM2's compression lock with my wrong hand).
Generally, though, this right-hander carries a single blade traditional in his left front pocket...I just experiment occasionally, just in case. (Truth be told, I'm not sure I would trust my left hand to use a knife for anything that might be considered "delicate" work...but that's exactly why I practice.)
 
A small fixed blade in a pocket sheath is quite ambidextrous, isn't it ? If I was to go all lefty I would grab one of those (and well, most of the neckers can be pocket carried... the choice broadens widely !) :

From left to right : Spear Point by Aaron Forrest ("phorizt" on this site). The best rendition of what a Sgian Dubh should be, IMHO. If you wear those big woolen knitten socks, you can even tuck it in your sock. Yes !
Taskupuukko by Eräpuu. A funny (very) little knife but quite capable and sharp as hell.
Kolt by Fällkniven. A little knife that bridges easily to tasks only the big ones are suppose to tackle...
Mini Bowie by Fred Perrin. Featherlight, sharp and ergonomic : what is there not to like ?



And one to rule them all... Sounds like a joke but isn't. The Companion by Evans Knife and Tool. This little guy integrates all the advantages of the concurrence with no downsides (I'm still searching...).

 
Here's another ambidextrous knife.
Buck Marksman 830.
snaps open and closed with either
hand.
 
You able to carry an auto? That'd do the trick.

I also had a Blaze, it was the REAL Camillus one, when they were in the US. It was perfect, as it flipped open with either index finger.

If autos were legal up here in WA, I'd have one on the left side right quick.

Pocket fixed blade might do it for the weak side as well.

Try a bunch of stuff, and come back here and tell us how you liked each option!
 
I carry 2 Buck 48x folders RFP/LFP so that I always have a back-up folder in the event I loose 1 or need to loan one out, but for true ambidexterity, I EDC (literally every day) paired Kabar 125X fixed blades when leaving the farm, one at 4 o'clock and one at 8 o'clock. That way I have a "rapidly accessible, ready to use" knife on either side.

This goes back to 1965. I was 10 y.o. and I was working with my grandfather getting the combine ready for harvest. When my grandfather got his shirt sleeve hung in the combine gears, he pulled a Kabar 1232 and cut the sleeve free. He looked at me and said -

"That's why you carry a fixed blade. I could never have gotten a pocket knife open in time."

To which I asked

"Well, what if it had been your other arm?"

After looking at me for a moment, we went to town and he bought a Western L46-5 (they were out of Kabar 1232s). When the HW store got more 1232s in stock, he gave me the Western, saying, "If you're smart enough to ask that question, you're old enough to carry a fixed blade." He carried 2 FBs anytime he was working on equipment, which was most of the time - he was working 4 farms, ran the local grain storage/elevator and ran the locker plant.

I like and prefer fixed blades for everyday use. No button pushing, no thumb-studding on the wrong side issues, no bad thumb issues. Just grab and cut. The only time I haven't carried paired FBs for the past 50 years was during college and when in uniform for 20 years in the Navy.

I realize everyone is not in a work place location and/or state where FBs are allowed to be carried in public, but if they are legal, they are the most ambidextrously friendly knives available. Some even come with (all-be-it not great) ambidextrous sheaths. If they don't, well, that's just one one reason I got into leather working.
 
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Not to toot my own horn here guys, but I have to jump on the band wagon too. I'm left handed. I love frame locks, and some day I will own a left handed Sebenza, and I'm still saving towards a BM Mini Grip, but the easiest and fastest knife to deploy with your off/weak hand is a small fixed blade.

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^ and Brian makes a FANTASTIC fixed blade that is worth every cent. Most comfortable small neck sized fixed blade i've owned, hands down.
 
here is a pic of mine
 

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