Clip Wear

I broke the clip all the way off on the first Spyderco I ever had.
It was one of those red Enduras with the molded FRN clips.
I was going past a door jam and cut it close, end of the clip.
I remember bending some other metal clip and having to take it off and bend it back.
I hike a lot and some is through thick brush, I've had a springy branch hook my pocket clipped folder's clip so many times and pull it all the way out, that I started carrying them in belt sheathes, while hiking.
I just don't see how you can live your life and be comfortable keeping your clip under guard at all times.

And BTW We (Dad and I) bought a lot of clips from Spyderco a couple of months ago, to replace some on discontinued knives we'd bought recently that had a little clip wear and they was only 4-8 dollars each. Then we found some for even older Spydies off eBay. So even if you do mess a clip up bad it's not expensive to replace if you want.
 
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If I own a knife that I do not want to show wear, I don't use it as a EDC.

Wear adds Character. Just like a well worn Pick Up Truck. IMHO.
 
Most of my EDCers dont show much wear on the clip. Then again I'm not a pocket carryer, I prefer to wear mine in sheaths on the belt.
 
I usually scuff the hell of my spyderco clips then I baton them through a log. usually scratched and bent! Total clip failure:eek:...what gives, Sal:confused::D

Seriously, who cares? I ding and scratch all my pocket clips doing primarily office work...some how.
 
A.P.F. said:
Chimney climbing notwithstanding, I find it hard to understand how one could avoid chips, rubs and scratches on your clips. I get wear marks from repeatedly grabbing the knife for daily tasks. I don't have the slightest idea how one might avoid that.
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Maybe my hands are softer than yours. :p

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Maybe I should of worded my question differently. I know why the clips get scuffed, but I don't know why the people allow it to happen. I could care less how the clip looks, I carry knives I traded for with clips that look like they went through a war (Some of them did).

Just because I'm aware of where my body is and is going, does not mean I'm not a knife user. I scratched my Boker Trance's clip pretty good once, and ever since then I've learned not to, because I feel dumb scratching things up when a little mental effort can make the whole thing avoidable. It would be even worse if I scratched a friends car or their furniture. I'm more concerned with scratching other things than I am scratching paint off my clip. No one that's seen my UK Pen Knife can tell me that I'm anal about appearances. :D

You put the knife in your pocket and you use it. End of story.

When one is busy working, trying to get things done as fast as possible, to keep the mortgage paid and food on the table, trust me...things will get bumped into from time to time. People have been bumping into things for thousands of years, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.
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Generally when I use a knife, the edge is the only part that gets worn, unless you count the minute wear on the scales from retrieving it from my jeans pocket.

I bump into things too, just not with the 2 inches of metal clip exposed from my pocket. Just like I avoid bumping into things with my crotch, like I assume most males do. :D
 
I don't know man, carry one knife long enough and it's bound to see some wear on the clip. Like you, I'm pretty aware of not bumping into a whole lotta stuff, but it happens. I also rotate my knives every week or two, but still, you can tell which ones see the most use by looking at the clips. My Tasman Salt rides IWB all day every day so the clip doesn't really even see the light of day unless it's being used. But still, there's some clip wear after about a year of near constant carry. Then there's the time I got run over by a Ford Sportrac when I was on my Suzuki SV1000s and I slid along the ground right on my SS Delica's clip. That left some pretty good scuffs.:rolleyes:

Like I said, carry it long enough and use it on even a semi-regular basis and the clip will see wear.
 
I find that even some of my NIB Spyderco's have a miniscule amount of wear on the tip edges of the clips, probably because the knife was in the box clip down and rubbing the clip edges when the knife moves around in the box . . .
 
jill jackson said:
I broke the clip all the way off on the first Spyderco I ever had.
It was one of those red Enduras with the molded FRN clips.
I was going past a door jam and cut it close, end of the clip.
I remember bending some other metal clip and having to take it off and bend it back.
I hike a lot and some is through thick brush, I've had a springy branch hook my pocket clipped folder's clip so many times and pull it all the way out, that I started carrying them in belt sheathes, while hiking.
I just don't see how you can live your life and be comfortable keeping your clip under guard at all times.

And BTW We (Dad and I) bought a lot of clips from Spyderco a couple of months ago, to replace some on discontinued knives we'd bought recently that had a little clip wear and they was only 4-8 dollars each. Then we found some for even older Spydies off eBay. So even if you do mess a clip up bad it's not expensive to replace if you want.
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I know its not that expensive, but it is relatively expensive compared to the price of many similar knives. For example, The clip on my Endura 4 broke right off after only 6 months of carry. I think Spyderco quoted me a little less than $10 for a new one with shipping. $10 isn't that much, but it is roughly 1/3 the cost of a brand new Tenacious and about 1/4 the price I paid for the Endura itself.
 
I have not found a single company that markets a coated clip with a really durable finish. They are all subject to some wear over time.
For day to day I carry knives with no finish on the clips. For clips that are worn, I keep a stash of different sized black heat-shrink tubing in the garage. And of course a "blow"-drier hot enough to shrink the stuff. On knives like the Rukus, due to its method of attachment, with screws under the clip, I slide a thick piece of cardboard under the clip while heating the tubing. This prevents any of the really high heat needed to shrink the tubing from getting to the knife.
Another trick is to use the sandpaper type skateboard grip tape on the clips. I keep some of this in my garage as well. Found this on a site by Bob Casper for tricking out the Benchmade AFCK.
The nice thing about either of these finishes is that they are easily replacable should you scrape them up.
 
CaptInsano said:
I know its not that expensive, but it is relatively expensive compared to the price of many similar knives. For example, The clip on my Endura 4 broke right off after only 6 months of carry. I think Spyderco quoted me a little less than $10 for a new one with shipping. $10 isn't that much, but it is roughly 1/3 the cost of a brand new Tenacious and about 1/4 the price I paid for the Endura itself.
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They charged 4 dollars for the black clips and a dollar shipping, first class in a padded envelope.
 
Well, in my case, I almost never get any visible wear marks/scratches on my clip because I carry my knife inside my waist band. So basically my belt protects the clip.

Hope that makes sense. :P
 
My EDCs have clip wear because the get clipped-to and removed from my pants (mostly denim jeans) several times a day. Simple friction like that will wear paint over time.
 
I can't say with certainty when and how the clip on mine gets the paint worn, but I would guess that it is mainly from when I'm not wearing it. For example, sometimes I'll throw it into a pack pocket, along with a Leatherman Wave, my keys, some tent stakes, maybe some loose change, some carabiners, etc. Then it'll jangle around in my pack pocket with that stuff while I'm hiking around.
 
The pocketclip on my Delica "wave" is worn on the same side of the pocket where it's drawn incessantly. And I'm not graceful.

Now I'm having ascared thoughts of waved, raved, and Demko-thingied folders snagging on branches and launching from pockets like darts. Eep. :eek:
 
I'm a clumsy person by nature. I'm always bumping into things, tripping over things, etc. I have gouged my clips into countless walls, etc., by walking too close, losing balance, whatever. There is some gene that I must be missing, the balance gene.

The only time it angers me is when I walk past my car, if I scrape that, then I talk in French! :D
 
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