Favorite Front Flippers?

I seem to have a hard time working front-flippers. I do love the Smock, though - no issues deploying, and there's also the thumb-hold option if I don't want.

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Zuluninja said:
Found this thread while searching for feedback on front flippers. It was a design that did not appeal to me and easily dismissed, but life had other plans.

Last year I lost half of my right index and middle finger. I'm still adjusting to it, but did scramble for a while, switching clips for leftie carry, and what could I get away with handling knives with the stubs. Thumb studs and holes are ok, but regular back flippers are still a pain, even with weaker detents.

I had been looking for a while at the Petrified Fish Viking, it being a front flipper the only reason I hadn't got it, until I said F it and got one. Turned out to be a real eye opener!

Now I can grip at the pivot area with the stubs, while the pinky and ring find a bit more grip with the clip, and the thumb ends in a natural position at the flipper. I can flick it out as easily as I used to do with regular flippers, and don't need to switch it to left carry.

Needless to say, now I am in the hunt for front flippers. Waiting on a Keizer Feist XL, a Kobold 2 that will be modified right away and an Artisan Sirius to keep practicing this method :thumbsup:
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Check out the Moen tooling front flipper........ Love it......Its the only front flipper have

 
Zuluninja said:
Found this thread while searching for feedback on front flippers. It was a design that did not appeal to me and easily dismissed, but life had other plans.

Last year I lost half of my right index and middle finger. I'm still adjusting to it, but did scramble for a while, switching clips for leftie carry, and what could I get away with handling knives with the stubs. Thumb studs and holes are ok, but regular back flippers are still a pain, even with weaker detents.

I had been looking for a while at the Petrified Fish Viking, it being a front flipper the only reason I hadn't got it, until I said F it and got one. Turned out to be a real eye opener!

Now I can grip at the pivot area with the stubs, while the pinky and ring find a bit more grip with the clip, and the thumb ends in a natural position at the flipper. I can flick it out as easily as I used to do with regular flippers, and don't need to switch it to left carry.

Needless to say, now I am in the hunt for front flippers. Waiting on a Keizer Feist XL, a Kobold 2 that will be modified right away and an Artisan Sirius to keep practicing this method :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I'm glad you've been finding things that work for you. For many front flippers, I end up holding the handle with my pinky and ring fingertips against the scale along the clip, and flip with the side of my thumb. I can see how this might be ideal if my trigger and middle fingers were out of play.

I've come to appreciate dedicated front flippers where they don't also have thumbs studs or other mechanisms. The Feist XL is a real gem and I'll be curious to hear how you like it once you get it. I'm also quite fond of this one, the Kizer Agressor. (I did smooth over the scale edges on each with a little sand paper, but I do that on lots of knives.)

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Zuluninja said:
beautiful blade, but keeping it under a hundred $ for now.
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Civivi Mckenna and Exarch are nice front flipper s for under $100. I gave mine to my friend's sons. I got in the highish dollar knife game ($400-$1000) and they kids needed good knives.
 
The Kunwu Padre is easily the best front flipper I've owned, though I did sell it a few months ago. Maybe they're not worth the crazy prices that have been coming up on the secondary, but if you can get in on a preorder the Padre has easily one of the best actions I've felt.
 
got the Feist xl and Kobold and been playing with them, like them both. The Kobold got a facelift and the horn was ground off, looks now like a laddered wharncliffe, and the bigger handle makes it slightly easier to flip; it is also lighter than I thought it would be due to its size.
 
Zuluninja said:
got the Feist xl and Kobold and been playing with them, like them both. The Kobold got a facelift and the horn was ground off, looks now like a laddered wharncliffe, and the bigger handle makes it slightly easier to flip; it is also lighter than I thought it would be due to its size.
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Sounds cool. Got pics?

BTW, I had that ergonomically softened Agressor in pocket again today. I used it to liberate these candies from a package for sharing. A friend liberated more from a second box with his Hogue OTF. The wives all had an "of course" moment as the candies were liberated. Everyone agreed that Toffifay paired surprisingly well with the rye. 😜

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Nice to see this thread revived. There are a bunch of good ones and I've got a few of mine posted further up or in previous pages. Beyond that, the Feist is popular and there are a bunch of versions but it's a little small for my long fingers. Both leverage and flipper design are hugely important to me in front flippers. They can be lot trickier or at least more particular than regular flippers or studs. In other words, the right fit matters more for front flippers. In my case, the Feist XL is just right.

A newer model relative to this thread is the Kubey Hyde in 14C28N. This is more of a top flipper that works similarly to the Civivi Appalachian Drifter 2 or some of the Pena knives I've had. Here is a stock picture of the G10 model that shows off the flipper. I don't love the aesthetics of the scale cut where a bolster would break so I went with the ultem model. You can see mine below.

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