Has a pocket clip ever ruined a knife for you?

Insipid Moniker said:
I rarely care how it looks, I mostly just care how it works. Aftermarket options are why I generally won't pass on a knife, but I also think it's very valid to criticize companies that consistently get it wrong in terms of function.
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Have over 30 years of knife industry experience......which companies "consistently get it wrong in terms of function?"

Spyderco was the first company commonly putting clips on folding knives, which they have done since 1981. So for all intents and purposes, there have been clips on folding pocket knives for 34 years.

While I realize that many have not been alive that long, if companies don't experiment with different configurations, they get ignored, especially in today's market.

If they get it right, they have the "win" of getting knocked off with inferior(and from an IP perspective, illegal) Chinese copies, and then....there are some snot-nosed punks that will come on General in BFC and whine "I can't afford the USA stuff, and I deserve a good knife, so knockoffs are ok in my book", which is unadulterated crap.

So tell me Mr. Insipid, what companies are doing it wrong, in your esteemed opinion, and why?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Spyderco Wire clips but it won't stop me from getting a knife with it, if the deal is good enough.

The Gerber Decree has potential to be a fantastic knife but the weakest part of that knife is the pocket clip. I can have it slide left to right about a quarter of an inch. A huge disappointment.
 
Really like the idea of a pocket clip, but for some reason have badly bent every one I have carried. Before clips I carried my knife next to my wallet in my back pocket, that didn't work, clips bent so bad the one actually broke. So tried front pocket with same problem. Totally went through at least four clips on different $100+ big brand knifes. Thanks for this post, until now thought it was just me.
 
I didn't like the pocket clip on the Cold Steel Mackinac Hunter; it made the knife a little difficult to get into the sheath sometimes and was unnecessary. The knife is more comfortable to hold without it. I removed the clip, and I like the knife a lot better now.

Their AK-47's clip is absolutely horrid. Way too tight, and combined with that rough G10, it's a recipe for disaster on your pocket. You need to sand the G10 under the clip and then lift said clip with your finger before sliding your pocket under it to get it on. Because of this, it's one of my least-carried folders, which is really sad because everything else about the knife is bang-on awesome.
 
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Spydero PPT. I love this knife, but I don't carry it often due to the pocket clip is basically a spike jamming into your hand. It also catches on my jacket lining, computer bag etc. It also will scratch the hell out of anything it rubs against...
 
highestpoint said:
Spyderco Wire clips but it won't stop me from getting a knife with it, if the deal is good enough.

The Gerber Decree has potential to be a fantastic knife but the weakest part of that knife is the pocket clip. I can have it slide left to right about a quarter of an inch. A huge disappointment.
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I hate the wire clip on the junior but I love the wire clip on the carbon fiber caly knives. Low profile and just the right amount of grip on my pants. :)
 
I would own a junkyard dog if it didn't have the ugliest clip I've ever seen in my life. Same goes for hogue knives. Oh, and the kershaw tonne series, good God those clips
 
The clip is closely linked with the scale on any particular knife. I've yet to come across a knife with a clip scale combo as horrendous as the ZT 0200! The only thing harder than getting it out of your pocket is getting it clipped back in!

Mike
 
Pocket clips have ruined several knives for me...

Between the way they feel in the hand and the way some of the try to eat my pants, it has made some knives completely unlikable for me, which sucks. Some of them I could have had custom clips made for, but it either wasn't worth the effort, or it might not have been something that I could've fixed that easily. And some of them just really shouldn't have had a clip on them at all, but I don't like knives that aren't traditional without clips.
 
I love my Kershaw Volt 3600. I despise the clip enough that it almost never gets carried. It's a shame to put such a sharp edged, pointy cornered, ugly little clip on an otherwise nice knife.
 
BenchCo Spydermade said:
Love the kershaw Junkyard Dog. Didn't get it cuz the clip. While I actually LIKE how the clip looks, I would never want my knife to be so conspicuous.
img-kershaw-junkyard-dog-ii-01.jpg
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I modded my JYD 2 a little. I like the pocket clip better, but still a little much.
 
Kohai999 said:
Have over 30 years of knife industry experience......which companies "consistently get it wrong in terms of function?"

Spyderco was the first company commonly putting clips on folding knives, which they have done since 1981. So for all intents and purposes, there have been clips on folding pocket knives for 34 years.

While I realize that many have not been alive that long, if companies don't experiment with different configurations, they get ignored, especially in today's market.

If they get it right, they have the "win" of getting knocked off with inferior(and from an IP perspective, illegal) Chinese copies, and then....there are some snot-nosed punks that will come on General in BFC and whine "I can't afford the USA stuff, and I deserve a good knife, so knockoffs are ok in my book", which is unadulterated crap.

So tell me Mr. Insipid, what companies are doing it wrong, in your esteemed opinion, and why?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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CRKT and Cold Steel are the worst offenders to my knowledge. The purpose of a pocket clip is to hold a knife securely while still allowing it to be easily extracted and replaced in the pocket. Many of the CRKT clips I've used encourage pendulous motion of the knife while in the pocket. The GSD is a glaring example. That means they fail to hold the knife securely. Poor design. Cold Steel makes very short, extremely tight clips with exceptionally rough texturing beneath them. They cannot be easily extracted or replaced in the pocket. Poor design. KAI gets a dishonorable mention as they have many good, simple pocket clips and some really atrcocious ones, and I'm not talking looks. Their deep carry clip design works fine on small, light knives, but on clunkers like the 0800 and Cryo you again start to get pendulous movement due to the lack of tension. The clips on the Skyline and 0350, however, are simple and functional. They do what they're supposed to and I dig 'em.
 
Yep, Dozier folding hunter... Pocket clip created to many hot spots

Super deep carry clips.. like Brous and SOG
 
Benchmade Mini-Onslaught. Beautiful Lum design, horrendous offensive execution of the pocket clip. And the G10 under the clip doesn't match the handle contour, so it would look stupid without the clip. Really a mystery to me why they did that, but i won't buy one even though i really like the knife.

BM746BKnw.jpg
 
I hate the pocket clip on the Kershaw Blur. Could have been done so much better!
Also hated the Junkyard Dog clip. Just looked silly.
 
Clip on my Griptilian digs into my hand in a weird way, also a clip on a bali-song is not very pleasant even if it looks great
Hogue EX 4 folders have pretty bad clip mounting and the clips are needlessly huge
 
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