Are clips necessary

Dorito Monk said:
I live in Canada. Like I just said, my understanding is that "it's pretty much the officer's call as to whether or not the knife is a weapon and not a tool. The idea being, a tool is allowed, a weapon is not."
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Here in New Zealand the law is pretty similar. I have been carrying my Victorinox Cybertool & Leatherman Wave for close to a decade without a problem ever. One is in a leather pouch on my belt on the left side, the other in a pouch on the right side, both are EDCs since ~2000 or 2001. As a computer tech these are useful tools for me and I'm sure that explanation would be acceptable to a police officer. For a knife like my RAT-1 or Endura 4 I would have a harder job explaining why it was a tool and for what purpose I am carrying it - so I leave those at home. When I go camping I take my Endura 4 with me as a bushcraft folder, for activities like camping a knife is fine as you have a valid reason for carrying it, in fact it isn't a problem to have a 2lb Khukuri on you when camping. Similarly carrying a knife while fishing is fine - as long as you can justify it you can carry a knife.

Since I don't carry my folders on me everyday I am not too sure if I like the clip or not. I have the clip on my Endura but have removed the clip from my RAT-1 which makes the RAT-1 much more comfortable in my hand.
 
I appreciate the functional practicality of clips, but I always remove them from anything I EDC for two reasons: 1) I don't like to "advertise" that I'm carrying a knife, and 2) I've had too many experiences where clips caught on things and either launched the knife out of the pocket or ruined the item that caught the clip.
 
Gadgetaholic said:
(snip) I have the clip on my Endura but have removed the clip from my RAT-1 which makes the RAT-1 much more comfortable in my hand.
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I moved the clip on my Rat-1 to tip-up and the improvement in hand comfort while using the knife is very significant. Removing it altogether only adds a small amount of additional comfort (for me, YMMV) so I leave it on for the easy retrieval. Sometimes I clip it to my nailbags when working. Without the clip it would get lost in there.

@Dorito Monk: Thanks for your reply, it was very clear.

Bill
 
We introduced the "Clipit" line of folders in 1981. The clip patent was part of the "hole" patent, but couldn't stand its own patent.

The patent has long since expired.

Lynn Thompson offered a one time payment because he felt that I had created the original integral clip and he felt it was proper to pay me if he used it.

In New York, a "clip" is considered intimidating and legal reason to stop, search and question. In Oregon a knife in a pocket is considerred concealed and thus illegal. So in Oregon you have to show your clip and in New York you can't. Sometimes the wisdom of our lawmakers eludes me. :confused:

sal
 
If I don't use a clip then the knives always end up sideways in my pockets... and I really don't care for that too much. I always use the clip.
 
I think everyone in the south carries a knife in some manner. Always have as long as I can remember. The law around here seems to have other and more important ways to spend their time. Of course, they will not stop an old man like me for a minor thing like a knife anyway:-)) but an open beer in a car will get you in trouble.
 
Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don't, it's on a knife to knife basis. Most of my Kershaws still have their clips, though a few don't. Only my AO Bucks have clips. I took the clip off my Spyderco Pacific Salt, but left it on my Endura, even though they are very similar to one another. I will more than likely not like the clip on any given knife though. I could live without them.
 
I can't imagine wanting a knife not to have one. Unless maybe it's an old classic pattern and you dig retro. Clips are the best thing to happen to knives since sliced bread...wait that made no sense...
 
rkhndjr said:
I think everyone in the south carries a knife in some manner. Always have as long as I can remember. The law around here seems to have other and more important ways to spend their time. Of course, they will not stop an old man like me for a minor thing like a knife anyway:-)) but an open beer in a car will get you in trouble.
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Gotta be careful with assumptions about the law.

One thing that gets people from time to time here in Georgia: Knives with a blade over 2" long are a felony to possess on a college campus or at any event thereof. So a typical pocket knife while you are in the parking lot tailgaiting before the football game....felony. Just an example.


And in Texas there is no state pre emption so you need to check every individual city/county/etc to make sure they don't have their own asinine law on knife carry.
 
We introduced the "Clipit" line of folders in 1981. The clip patent was part of the "hole" patent, but couldn't stand its own patent.

The patent has long since expired.

Lynn Thompson offered a one time payment because he felt that I had created the original integral clip and he felt it was proper to pay me if he used it.
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There ya go all of you L.T. haters. :D
 
WARP, thanks. I passed that on to a person who works in a university and carries, but he said he did not carry it to work.
 
I love clips on knives, but most clips are just spray painted black. Thus, a year after carrying my Spyderco Native or my Cold Steel Voyager, my knives look great, but the clips are beat up and look shopworn and crappy. But my Cold Steel Ti-Lites have shiny chrome plating. I can carry a Ti-Lite for two years and the knife still looks great.

But chrome doesn't have to be shiny. Hard chrome has a matte surface and is very hard. As far as I know, no knife company uses it -- it's used primarily as a gun finish. Some hard chrome has a dull greenish tinge, and a file won't take the finish off -- so it earns its name.

But paint is horrible.
 
I don't edc knives that do not have a clip. They are just too useful, and I hate having my knife floating around sideways in my pocket. -Don't know how I put up with that for so long before good clip knives became available. :)
 
I thought of another reason I prefer knives with clips. I've lost one SAK and misplaced another - the first because it slipped out of my pocket and I didn't realize it before it was too late, and I suspect the same happened to the second, but I'm still hoping to find it...

*knock on wood*. I haven't lost any knives that were securely clipped to my pocket yet, though.
 
I find clips make my knives easier to open, when my thumb opens it my fingers tend to be gripping the clip. I removed a clip once because I never use it for it's intended purpose, but I put it straight back on when I found that flicking the blade open almost made the knife jump out of my hand!
 
i have to have a clip. without the clip falls to the bottom of my pocket, turns sideways, and then makes a massive imprint on it. it also bounces in my pocket with each step i take. a clip just makes everything easier for me
 
Easyrider said:
I wouldn't think to ever carry a knife with a clip.

I can't stand pocket clips and I take them off all my knives!

They are evil!
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Nice article in the new Blade by Mr Ed Fowler regarding why he does
not like pocket clips. He is much more reserved about them than I
am; I despise the damned things.
 
I like pocket clip on my bigger folders because it prevents them from sitting sideways in the bottom of my pocket, and I very much prefer not to use belt sheath. I take the clip off my smaller folders, they're light enough that friction alone can keep them upright in my pocket. If they're short enough, they can even sit in my jeans' watch pocket.
 
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