Anyone found a way to prevent destroyed pockets?

I've never had this issue, except when I carry my Emerson/Kai knives. How many times per day you guys take them out and put them back in?
 
I carry all my knives in Nylon or leather knife pouches on my belt
The nylon pouches cost about $1.50 and last for years

No wear or tear on my pockets
 
JDunn709 said:
It finally happened, I bought a pair of 'nice' jeans...

The main way my pants wear out now is the pocket gets all chewed where my knife clips and my girlfriend yells at me to get rid of them.

I've tried sanding the g10 under pocket clips and decreasing tension on some clips but neither of those fixes work on all knives (eg: customs with sculpted clips)

I've also seen some people who've added a piece of leather to their pants pocket, I'm hoping to find a more subtle solution than that!

I know this isn't the first thread with this idea but I've searched and read and found nothing to end my ruined pocket woes.

So... anyone have a subtle, reliable way to decrease pocket wear?

Thanks for your help!
-jeremy
Click to expand...
clip.png

What causes the wear is the friction between the clip/knife and the pants material. So to make the pants last longer we want to reduce the friction. Well, the force of friction is defined as
friction-force-formula.png
Thus the only way to reduce the friction is reducing the normal force (F(subcript)n) or the frictional coeffeicent. We can reduce the frictional coefficient by polishing all contact areas of the pants and knife, including the handle and clip, VERY FINE sandpaper would help a lot. I am talking about working your way up to 8000 grit. The other way is to reduce the "Normal force", which is the force the pants exert on the clip, the only way to reduce this is by loosening the clip. Finally the final way of reducing the rate at which you wear out your pants is to stop wearing jeans and wear something with a smother material, or find jeans that are not very course. How did I do on the reply guys?
 
Elefantener said:
clip.png

What causes the wear is the friction between the clip/knife and the pants material. So to make the pants last longer we want to reduce the friction. Well, the force of friction is defined as
friction-force-formula.png
Thus the only way to reduce the friction is reducing the normal force (F(subcript)n) or the frictional coeffeicent. We can reduce the frictional coefficient by polishing all contact areas of the pants and knife, including the handle and clip, VERY FINE sandpaper would help a lot. I am talking about working your way up to 8000 grit. The other way is to reduce the "Normal force", which is the force the pants exert on the clip, the only way to reduce this is by loosening the clip. Finally the final way of reducing the rate at which you wear out your pants is to stop wearing jeans and wear something with a smother material, or find jeans that are not very course. How did I do on the reply guys?
Click to expand...

Oh my God, I laughed so hard:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

This is the definition of overthinking something :D
 
Yeah... I blame my senior year physics class. I will be working on my degree for mechanical engineering soon.
 
Elefantener said:
clip.png

What causes the wear is the friction between the clip/knife and the pants material. So to make the pants last longer we want to reduce the friction. Well, the force of friction is defined as
friction-force-formula.png
Thus the only way to reduce the friction is reducing the normal force (F(subcript)n) or the frictional coeffeicent. We can reduce the frictional coefficient by polishing all contact areas of the pants and knife, including the handle and clip, VERY FINE sandpaper would help a lot. I am talking about working your way up to 8000 grit. The other way is to reduce the "Normal force", which is the force the pants exert on the clip, the only way to reduce this is by loosening the clip. Finally the final way of reducing the rate at which you wear out your pants is to stop wearing jeans and wear something with a smother material, or find jeans that are not very course. How did I do on the reply guys?
Click to expand...

This test is way too general. Without testing and precise data on the actual force applied you have to realize it is irrelevant.
 
Great response from the mechanical engineer.

My recommendation is to choose a more durable denim. The market, and therefore the options, for high weight denim are increasing. The vast majority of these hold a premium because of their higher quality materials and hardware, or because of the added costs involved in manufacture.

The reinforced jeans from Wrangler are an option I have yet to explore, but I have heard very good reports from users that carry knives in those reinforced pockets.

On a tangent, there's probably a little more friction after a certain point with clip smoothing. As you approach a mirror surface, you will find that the greater surface area of the clip contacting the fabric exceeds the friction reduction by removing the coarse surface. The sharpening guys might describe such as "stiction".
 
Buy tougher jeans, I have never worn out a pocket with a knife clip, all I wear is jeans on off days and cintas work pants on work days, there is always a knife clipped to my pocket and some of my jeans have been around for almost 10years.
I buy wranglers from wal mart and they are only around $15 pair.
 
I like clips. Not only do they put the knife in a convenient place and keep it away from other pocket 'stuff', they provide extra grip when opening the knife. I use the clip to grab with my pinky and ring finger so I can hold the knife right in my hand while opening and closing. It also provides an index point so I know where my fingers are and that they are out of the blade path. Plus I hardly feel the clip when holding the knife so I don't find a downside to them.

I like to carry IWB. There are quite a few advantages. But since I always carry multiple knives, I also pocket carry. I usually carry my fancier less used knife in pocket and my more used knife IWB. I have also done the sanding and loosening clip ideas. I have also sewn a pocket inside my pocket hold the knife upright and to keep away from other stuff. A simple stitch a couple inches long parallel to the side of the pocket makes a pocket the knife can be slid into. A combination of all of these seem to have reduced wear and it has been years since I've had a chewed up pocket.
 
Some of the Wrangler Riggs Workwear pants have leather patches on wear area of the pockets. The 5.11 pants have extra material sewn in on wear areas of their pockets. Tru-Spec pants have separate side seam knife pockets to free up main pockets. Some companies actually think about us knife users.

And, really, you should consider not buying overpriced designer jeans made on the same Chinese factory line with the same fabric and materials and made by the same people as the $9.99 store brand generic jeans. You'll have more money to spend on knives that way.
 
darkangel55555 said:
Great response from the mechanical engineer.

My recommendation is to choose a more durable denim. The market, and therefore the options, for high weight denim are increasing. The vast majority of these hold a premium because of their higher quality materials and hardware, or because of the added costs involved in manufacture.

The reinforced jeans from Wrangler are an option I have yet to explore, but I have heard very good reports from users that carry knives in those reinforced pockets.

On a tangent, there's probably a little more friction after a certain point with clip smoothing. As you approach a mirror surface, you will find that the greater surface area of the clip contacting the fabric exceeds the friction reduction by removing the coarse surface. The sharpening guys might describe such as "stiction".
Click to expand...
Thank you and excellent post, if I may add unto your recommendation, salvage from my knowledge is the most durable denim. It is also the stuff your grandpa wore.
 
I add one or two small rubber "O" rings(can be found at your auto parts store) and slide them around the clip, and push them to the top. The top of my pocket should now rest on the rubber instead of the metal clip.
 
Bluesummers said:
Buy more pants and jeans.
Click to expand...

Yep. You can also put an iron on denim patch inside your pocket where the handle material is with some stitching for added strength. No one would see it. I would also agree that Levi's jeans are total garbage and have been for the last 10-15 years.
 
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