Goodbye, "tactical" pocket clip.

A

alnico357

Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Messages
46
I lost my Delica the other day while hiking. :disgust: This is the second knife I've lost while hiking, and using the clip on the rim of my front pocket. It won't happen a third time. My knife will be down inside my pocket where a pocket knife belongs.
 
I will pocket all my clip on knives because of the same thing.


East Texas Briars love Spydercos.
 
I clip all my knives Inside Waist Band at 4:00. Never once has a knife tried to get lost :)
 
You know, I've had quite a bit of crap spewed in my direction at work (and maybe a little here;)) when the issue of pocket clips has come up. Mostly it's about my love of deep carry pocket clips (DCPC). My experience for some time was dropping Spydies that didn't have a DCPC.

I'm a mechanic so I'm up and down and all around all day. The regular clips just didn't sit deep enough or clamp tight enough into my pocket and would get pushed out by the way my pants would bunch when all the up and down occurs. It was just an annoyance until I lost a knife when I was looking at a car in the grass. I could hear something hit concrete and I'd start feeling and looking around and pick my Spydie up, on grass I didn't hear anything. This wasn't a problem with my previous EDCs, a SOG Twitch XL and Twitch II. Both clips are overly strong (Spydies seem to be slightly weaker I think to aid in extraction) and the knife length either kept the smaller Twitch II from the bunching spot or the XL sat deep enough to not matter.

In comes the DCPCs from Casey Lynch. When I heard about them I bought two and carry them on my two favorite Spydies, the PM2 and Manix 2. No problems with loss or popping out since. Now, they are slightly slower to get out so if you're carrying for defense that might make you reconsider. Me, if it's come down to my folder things have went so terribly wrong that I'm probably a goner.

Now my other favorite folder company (Cold Steel) tackles this problem I think with overly, well, insanely tight clips. I've never dropped one of my CS folders, but like my Spydies with DCPCs, they're slower to retrieve from the pocket. If speed is your main concern, a fixed blade is the better idea in every way except concealment and even that can be accomplished. When I'm hiking I carry a fixed blade but depending on where you live that might not be legal. I'll stop here before I go into a vicious rant about how idiotic i find most knife laws. I hope this helps and gives you some ideas. You're not alone and you might actually have an option to try out:D
 
I have casey lynch clips on Delicas stretches pm2s and my db1 db2 advocate and my domino. I never have issues. I prefer the long version but can never find any new ones so I buy the short ones.
 
The ONLY knives I ever lost were carried loose deep in a pocket.
Lost a bunch of them that way.
Never lost one since clips came along. :)

How are people moving and hiking that a clipped knife gets snagged and comes out? :confused:
 
stabman said:
How are people moving and hiking that a clipped knife gets snagged and comes out? :confused:
Click to expand...

What he said, and you know, you can take the clip off and bend it tighter, if you want. Real easy. Cold Steel clips are crap. Good knives - crap clips. Too tight, and the lip is too low.
 
Maybe the OP means the knife was on the outside of his pocket with the clip on the inside?
 
I am now attaching a length of paracord around my pant's belt loop. On the other end I've tied a knot. I slip the paracord under the knife's clip and then down inside my pocket. This will be an added measure of "loss insurance". I'd post a picture but I'm not allowed to upload files.
 
Last edited:
The problem isn't just with the clips, but with the pockets. Thin hiking pants need a tighter clip anyway than heavy jeans. Seems like the ideal arrangement is to have the knife located in a slot pocket with its own flap closure. My top use outdoor pants have been the Craghopper Kiwis which have a simple internal slot pocket inside their right leg thigh cargo pocket. Knives go in the slot pocket and clip to its lip. Slot pocket and knife are not visible from the outside, totally enclosed by the cargo pocket, but the knife is always easy to reach, consistently located and not flopping around loose, wearing out the pocket lining. Cabelas used to do some Safari Pants that had knife pockets on the right hip/thigh that had button down flaps.
 
C_Claycomb said:
The problem isn't just with the clips, but with the pockets. Thin hiking pants need a tighter clip anyway than heavy jeans. Seems like the ideal arrangement is to have the knife located in a slot pocket with its own flap closure. My top use outdoor pants have been the Craghopper Kiwis which have a simple internal slot pocket inside their right leg thigh cargo pocket. Knives go in the slot pocket and clip to its lip. Slot pocket and knife are not visible from the outside, totally enclosed by the cargo pocket, but the knife is always easy to reach, consistently located and not flopping around loose, wearing out the pocket lining. Cabelas used to do some Safari Pants that had knife pockets on the right hip/thigh that had button down flaps.
Click to expand...

Cargo pockets everywhere FTW

20161222_150336_zpsquyegdwe.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top