Does In Waistband Carry (IWB) Change What/How you Carry?

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knifezoid

Joined
Apr 17, 2009
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So I decided to try IWB the other day, just for the heck of it. I found
that it's great! So much more comfortable than I thought it would be.
I carry the knife slanted at an angle on my front rightside where the
first belt loop is on my pants. I don't feel the knife at all, in fact i forget
it's there sometimes.

So that got me thinking... how large of a knife can I EDC now that I've
found this new (for me) method of carry?

Biggest I've gone so far is my BM51 which is over 5" closed and it pretty
much dissappears. Now I'm thinking the Spyderco Military may work well
like this.

What's the biggest you guys have gone IWB? You find you can carry larger
knives with IWB?

Secondly, do you find that you switch from tip up to tip down or vice versa
when you do IWB vs. Pocket? I thought perhaps the Military being tip down
only will work if it's IWB just cause you draw a little differently than from pocket.

Lemme know what you guys have experienced and think.
 
Hi knifezoid,

The biggest I caryy IWB is my RAT 1 which is exactly 5 inch closed.

And I like to carry it tip down because when I draw it, my hand comes slightly from below. This way I can deploy it more easily and quicker when it's tip down.

Also with the tip down, the clip allows for deeper carry.
 
Ithink thats a great way to carry your blade biggest ive carried this way is my cold steel recon 1 does make it dissapear . Only problem ive ever had was with a CRKT and a old SPYDERCO in the summer my sweat discolors the blade my fault for not wipeing them down after ive been carring a mini grip in d2 lately dont think that steel would handle sweat very well
 
X2 Voyager dissappears IWB. It's got a 6" blade. Nice because it doesn't have a wave snagger to worry about hanging up. The Rajahs carry comfortably IWB too.
 
DoubleDutch said:
Hi knifezoid,

The biggest I caryy IWB is my RAT 1 which is exactly 5 inch closed.

And I like to carry it tip down because when I draw it, my hand comes slightly from below. This way I can deploy it more easily and quicker when it's tip down.

Also with the tip down, the clip allows for deeper carry.
Click to expand...

Do you normally carry tip up otherwise? I guess I could always swap
some knives around and try it myself, but just gathering some opinions.

The Rajahs are HUGE! I wear some light dress pants/jeans usually.
Perhaps with outdoors pants or heavier pants you could handle even
more.
 
I carry my CS OSS and used to carry my old Laredo IWB. The OSS has a Southern Comfort sheath and I've got a TM that just had one made for it as well. The Laredo would have been the biggest with a 10 1/2 inch blade.
 
I used to carry folders IWB but the knives would wear a hole in my pants at the friction point where the bottom of knife contacts pants (probably from when sitting down), so you should keep an eye out for that. Otherwise it was a secure and comfortable to carry.
 
mmarkh said:
I son't know how you can carry that way. I tried it and hated it.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought my opinion of it was gonna be, but surprisingly it
works out great for most of my knives. I think if the knife does not ride
low enough or is too wide/fat in the handles it will not work well.
 
I have never carried a folder IWB but occasionally I carry a SOG Seal Pup IWB and it is quite comfortable in a kydex sheath.
 
i have carried IWB for over 10 years. i have been carrying a strider smf IWB for the last 4 months very comfortably.
 
I wonder if, um, the size of your belly makes a difference? I don't suffer from dunlop disease and find it easy to carry a knife IWB along with a Kel Tec PF9.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
I wonder if, um, the size of your belly makes a difference? I don't suffer from dunlop disease and find it easy to carry a knife IWB along with a Kel Tec PF9.
Click to expand...

I was wondering that too. I'm not skinny but not really fat either. I usually wear a belt so that keeps my pants relatively snug. Maybe I'll give it another try.
 
Maybe the belt is the difference. I wear a belt sometimes but don't really need it on most pants/shorts so maybe only a third of the time. Not sure I have noticed a difference though with/without the belt.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
I wonder if, um, the size of your belly makes a difference? I don't suffer from dunlop disease and find it easy to carry a knife IWB along with a Kel Tec PF9.
Click to expand...

Ya, well I don't have a six-pack, I have the whole keg, so an IWB would be lost forever. In any event, I just couldn't trust a tip-up IWB, as I would be too afraid of voluntary surgery. :eek:
 
knifezoid said:
So I decided to try IWB the other day, just for the heck of it. I found
that it's great! So much more comfortable than I thought it would be.
I carry the knife slanted at an angle on my front rightside where the
first belt loop is on my pants. I don't feel the knife at all, in fact i forget
it's there sometimes.

So that got me thinking... how large of a knife can I EDC now that I've
found this new (for me) method of carry?

Biggest I've gone so far is my BM51 which is over 5" closed and it pretty
much dissappears. Now I'm thinking the Spyderco Military may work well
like this.

What's the biggest you guys have gone IWB? You find you can carry larger
knives with IWB?

Secondly, do you find that you switch from tip up to tip down or vice versa
when you do IWB vs. Pocket? I thought perhaps the Military being tip down
only will work if it's IWB just cause you draw a little differently than from pocket.

Lemme know what you guys have experienced and think.
Click to expand...

A trick I picked up along the way is that when you are carrying a larger weapon IWB (be it pistol or knife or whatever), if you put your cell phone holster on your belt directly in front of it, it will draw any attention away from whatever else is there and if anyone questions the bulge, a quick 'oh, it's just my cell phone' will discourage any further questions.

I don't have any experience carrying fixed blades IWB yet, but I regularly carry fullsized pistols this way, 5" 1911s, my XDm, and a few others..
 
A.P.F. said:
Ya, well I don't have a six-pack, I have the whole keg, so an IWB would be lost forever. In any event, I just couldn't trust a tip-up IWB, as I would be too afraid of voluntary surgery. :eek:
Click to expand...

I only have one tip down folder, a Camillus Cuda Dominator and I carry there everyday. I have thought about what you suggest but do it anyways. And whats funny is the only mishap I have had was with the Dominator. It came open just a little somehow (which is strange since it is AO) when I was clipping it in and cut a hole in my shorts. Made me cringe a little but luckily I wear my shorts where they are supposed to go and not down hanging around my butt.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
I only have one tip down folder, a Camillus Cuda Dominator and I carry there everyday. I have thought about what you suggest but do it anyways. And whats funny is the only mishap I have had was with the Dominator. It came open just a little somehow (which is strange since it is AO) when I was clipping it in and cut a hole in my shorts. Made me cringe a little but luckily I wear my shorts where they are supposed to go and not down hanging around my butt.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, definitely no AOs are waved for me down there. A little too...
close for comfort...

Cell phone ideas a good call.
 
I carry folders in my pocket and fixed blades IWB.
Unless they are mega folders in which they go IWB. If you like the idea of IWB carry you should try out a smaller fixed blade like the spyderco street beat or something similar with a good kydex sheath..
 
Not sure if I started carrying any differently, but I did like it a lot more. You can get away with a much larger, heavier knife, and be comfortable. A decent sized knife in my front pocket always gets in the way of my keys or wallet, depending on how I'm set up.

Used to carry my tenacious tip up IWB, until I went camping once and had taken my jeans off with the knife still clipped IWB. The next morning when I pulled my pants on, my hip got a nice little stab from the blade opening up about an inch or so...
 
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