Favorite Front Flippers?

mak1277 said:
I’m maybe doing it wrong, but my grip when front flipping is almost identical to my grip when opening something like a spydie. Slow rolling my Delica, flicking my PM 2 and front flipping my Pena all use basically the same grip. They all require repositioning for use too.
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Same here. What it comes down to is how well designed the knife and flipper are. I've had a couple with poor geometry that were hard to use, but the ones I've kept are very easy. It's become one of my favorite opening methods and I like the clean look.
 
Another Shepherd said:
I recently got my first front flipper, a Kizer Cormorant. It has both front and regular flipper tabs. The regular flipper tab works fine for me, but I have not been able to find any way to front flip it. I see on Youtube that I'm not the only person with this problem. Blade District, who seems to be an expert on front flipping, has a short video entitled "I Can't Front Flipper A Kizer Cormorant Knife". Anybody here have a Cormorant? At least mine is real purty.
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I'm guessing that one will prefer the index finger wrapped over and then sideways flicked with the knuckle, like the Feist
 
Lee D said:
Im not overly drawn to front flipper designs, but the one I’ll always keep is Lundquist’s Baby Barlow because I like his clean designs, and am drawn to smaller knives.

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This is definitely a great design. I feel like Justin Lundquist has come a long way since the Feist. A lot of people still like the Feist, but I think this design, which is also on my Civivi Lumi is superior to the Feist. It's about as minimal as you can get and I find it a lot easier to front flip and index finger flip.
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
That's fine, we are all different. IMO when compared to flipper, hole or stud opening, they are more unreliable.
Not everyone will shell out for Cheburkov model just because it's front flipper works better than the $50 Beluga...
Different priorities, I guess. I like the look of it bit they are more fidgetty than the regular, boring, conventional openings.
I'm not much partial to the fidget factor but if I like the knife overall, I'll easily compromise with the opening system.
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I have two Civivi front flippers as well, a McKenna and Exarch. They made me fall in love with front flippers. I also had a Viper Novis, but I gifted it.
 
Another Shepherd said:
I recently got my first front flipper, a Kizer Cormorant. It has both front and regular flipper tabs. The regular flipper tab works fine for me, but I have not been able to find any way to front flip it. I see on Youtube that I'm not the only person with this problem. Blade District, who seems to be an expert on front flipping, has a short video entitled "I Can't Front Flipper A Kizer Cormorant Knife". Anybody here have a Cormorant? At least mine is real purty.
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Man, that's the perfect "non-threatening" knife. How does it hold an edge, compared to, say, K390 or Cruwear? It's a really interesting knife.

Having dislocated my right thumb playing basketball and a "rub some dirt on it" type doctor who said it would reset itself (I'd pulled on it enough to get it almost set), I have a lot of trouble with thumbstkud openers. The Spydie-hole works for me in knives like the Endura and PM2 where it stands prouid, so even though I'm carrying a Spydie I like flippers.

My flipper carry knife when I'm not wearing cargo pants is a boring Ken Onion Leek. I'd sure like one in a tougher steel, the knife design is outstanding if you don't mind linerlocks.
 
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Here's a front flipper that is difficult to open as intended and doesn't even readily flick open using the thumbhole, but I like the shape and is an integral, so I kept it despite the poor design 😅
 

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nhobo said:
Front flippers are not ergonomic. The clean look does not compensate for the difficulty in operation.

When grasping the knife between fingers and palm, the thumb moves away from the action, not with it. I laugh at video reviews where it takes multiple tries to open a front flipper. Especially when the reviewer raves about 'the great action'.

An index finger front flip moves in the direction of the action but requires a finger pinch on the knife from behind. The index finger front flip can also be made from a more normal hold (as in a thumb stud open) but requires a sideways motion of the index finger which is by nature limited in that direction.

The easiest way to open a front flipper is to beak the detent by pressing the flipper against something (your leg, a table, you kid's head, whatever) and the snapping it open like a gravity knife.

None of these are comfortable for me. With a thumb stud I flick open with a thumbnail, easy, never misses, and the post-thumb flip grip is a use position.
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Depends on the design. Front flippers are not as intuitive as most deployment methods but can be very satisfying. Look at the tab on my SBD above. You hold the knife with the blade facing down and angle it between the thumb and forefinger. Flick up with the thumb and it pops open. Smooth as can be.
 
I've been eyeballing the kizer feist xl, although I'm not a fan of the natural micarta version or front flippers in general.

That said, the action looks nice and loose. The only other front flipper I hsd was a thin little real steel blade and it made my thumb ache.
 
MSchott said:
Depends on the design. Front flippers are not as intuitive as most deployment methods but can be very satisfying. Look at the tab on my SBD above. You hold the knife with the blade facing down and angle it between the thumb and forefinger. Flick up with the thumb and it pops open. Smooth as can be.
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The thumb stud works in any orientation.

The Civivi Imperium has a front flipper identical to your knife, and was the basis of my observations. Thumb flipping is nearly impossible, over the top flipping works but requires a tentative hold on the knife. This knife has been tuned for very light action.
 
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