Intro & Am I the only one that can't/wont switch from pocket to clip carry?

Shankenstein

Shankenstein

Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Messages
150
Hello All, I've been visiting this site for years, been a member for about a year now, but never post. I figure maybe it's time. I am grateful for this site and it's members for the wealth of knowledge and experience I've gleaned over the years. Truly, this has been one of my very favorite websites. Thank you all.

I've had a knife in my pocket for 40 years, everyday. In the late 70's, it was a 2-bladed case folder. Then for a while it was a Buck 110. The buck didn't work for me because I didn't always have a belt on, plus I didn't like the weight of it. In the 80's and into the 90's, I carried a SAK executive, a total of 3 of them. Busted them up over time, but they served me well. In the late 90's through about 2010, or so, I went with a Leatherman Micra. a few of them. After that, I decided that it was time for a knife and not a small mini-tool.

I looked around for something I liked and settled on a Benchmade mini-Barrage, and I've been carrying that for a few years now. Other than it being a little slippery at times, I have no complaints. Rare, very rare, are the days that it doesn't get used. This knife was my introduction to pocket clips. I never even considered using the clip. I stuck the knife in my pocket like I've always done, like I continue to do. Now I realize this presents a problem. For the last couple of years, I've picked up a knife here and there to use as a backup or to try for a few days just to switch up once in a while. They are all pocketable, thus small. The mini-Barrage is about as big a knife as I want to have in my pocket, but this really limits what I buy when I have a hankering for something new.

For a while, I wanted a BM 940, but I put off buying one because I thought it would be too big for the pocket. I finally told myself to try using the pocket clip. That will open things up for me. So I bought myself one. Love it, but guess what? i shove it in my pocket. I just can't seem to get used to using the clip. I don't know, perhaps won't is more like it. I've added a BM Volli to the stash. Nope. Too big for pocketing for me. I'd like to get a ZT, a Sabenza, a custom maybe, but I can't get past this. Do any of you have this problem? Have any of you overcome this? Curious to know. Thanks in advance for taking the time.

Frank
 
A few years ago, when I had only one knife (Cold steel mini recon 1) I'd never clip it but once after trying it for a few weeks I quickly found it to be more comfortable... Now that I have around 20 folders I clip all but 1 of them. What pants do you usually wear? It can be hard to clip some knives to dress pants. Also, where do you clip the knife to? For me It's best to use the outside corner of my pocket.

Hope I Could Help,
Nic
 
I don't like to carry clipped and rarely do. I keep clips on the knives but I use a clip more for leverage on opening and closing the knife. Mostly carry in my pocket in slipcases to keep it clean.
 
I hate clips as much as I hate belt holsters. I carry my pocket knife in my pocket, the way God intended it.
 
pinnah said:
I carry my pocket knife in my pocket, the way God intended it.
Click to expand...

I did that as a kid...and they all fell out of my pocket as God intended. :D

Even as an adult who isn't a gymnastic as a child, I still had mine fall onto the ground in the woods.

Lost many clipless knives; never lost one with a clip.

As always, others may have a different experience, which is cool. :)
 
I usually carry slipjoint knives that don't have pocket clips, so probably 90% of the time. When I carry my Benchmade Mini Griptilian it usually stays in a pocket. If I carry my full-sized Griptilian or one of my ZT flippers I will use the clips. It has never been a problem for me to use the clips.
 
I think people just get used to what they are used to. When clips got popular I switched right over and never thought a second about it.

As for a Chris Reeve or a ZT there are still options for you that can drop right in your pocket. The Inkosi, small 21, ZT0900 and ZT0450 are no bigger than a Mini Barrage. You would want to be careful with the ZT's as they do have a flipper on them!
 
Yes
You're the only one. :)

Very recently and for a couple of months I carried a Hold Out I just in my pocket with no clip. Because it had no clip ON it. That worked pretty well, surprisingly well considering it is over seven inches long folded.
but
I am very glad I have a new clip for it. When I would sit on the ground to put my boots on or some such some times the knife would slip out of my pocket.
in fact
that was how I lost my favorite little non clip small Western stockman. I still want to bang my head on the wall for loosing that one. I REALLY liked that little knife. It slipped out of my pocket getting out of the car in a parking lot and some one apparently picked it up before I realized the loss and went back to look for it a few minutes later.
if
that little sucker would have had a clip I would more than likely still be using it.
and
a knife clipped to the side of my pocket is out of all the other junk that is in the bottom of the pocket so it does not get as scratched up. Yes I should get some slips for my non clip folders.
I do use a pouch that slips over my belt or thiner pants but it can't stretch to accommodate winter pants see stag handle in photo.

soooooooooo yah I like clips or pouches rather than loose in the pocket. Often if I am carrying loose then that pocket is dedicated to the knife; for my stockmans mostly.

My most recent knife, a Cold Steel Lucky, will be carried for a steak knife and, for reasons I won't bulk up the thread with, will be carried without the clip. But in dress pants to dinner so carried alone in the pocket . . . I'm going to loose it aren't I . . . I better get a slip . . .



 
Clips work. The knife stays where you put it and doesn't bounce around. I'll use a clip.
 
Would love to pocket carry. But the lint gets into the folder and after a week or so even prevents it from locking/opening completly.
Now a fixed knife in pocket carry would fix that problem quite nicely if it were legal to do so.
Leaves me only one option. Clips.
 
I love clips. From the first clip I saw over 20 years ago I've thought they were the best invention ever. I can carry a larger nad heavier knife with a clip than just putting it in my pocket, and the knife is much more convenient for use.
BUT hanging around and reading I find that people have different preferences and there are a lot of different ways to carry a knife. If it works for you without a clip then that is great. If you don't use the clip then you can take it off, and the knife is slimmer and more comfortable to hold.
 
I actually take the clips off of my knives that I carry in my dress pants every day but only carry ones with clips in jeans on the weekend. I carry a smaller, lightweight knife during the week (usually a ZT0770cf) and then any one of 10 larger ones on the weekends. I tried carrying my bigger knives in my dress pant pockets but they just did not carry right and looked funny weighing down my pocket on one side and the clips will tear up dress pants.
 
For years I carried clip less knives in my pocket because pocket knives belonged in pockets! When clips came along, I didn't t like to clip the knife to my pocket, because I preferred better concealment. Then I started clipping my folders inside my waist band of my pants at about 1:30 beneath the belt loop and the belt. Out of the way, excellent concealment, and so comfortable that I forget it s there until I need it. Militaries, 710 s,ZT s, and full size Sebenzas are all comfortable in this carry mode.
 
Niddler1 said:
A few years ago, when I had only one knife (Cold steel mini recon 1) I'd never clip it but once after trying it for a few weeks I quickly found it to be more comfortable... Now that I have around 20 folders I clip all but 1 of them. What pants do you usually wear? It can be hard to clip some knives to dress pants. Also, where do you clip the knife to? For me It's best to use the outside corner of my pocket.

Hope I Could Help,
Nic
Click to expand...

Nic, I usually wear cargo shorts, jeans, cargo pants. Dress pants are rare, and I'll usually drop a slip joint in the pocket for that. On the few occasions that I have clipped, it's as you say, outside corner of pocket. BTW, I never drop into a cargo pocket.

Frank
 
stabman said:
I did that as a kid...and they all fell out of my pocket as God intended. :D

Even as an adult who isn't a gymnastic as a child, I still had mine fall onto the ground in the woods.

Lost many clipless knives; never lost one with a clip.

As always, others may have a different experience, which is cool. :)
Click to expand...

Opposite here. I have a wide frame so clips get yanked daily. The only time I've had a knife fall out of my pocket is while reading on the bed. Not really life threatening. ;) I go clipless on all but my millie. Old slab sides is just too big for the bottom of a pocket.
 
Shotgun said:
Opposite here. I have a wide frame so clips get yanked daily. The only time I've had a knife fall out of my pocket is while reading on the bed. Not really life threatening. ;) I go clipless on all but my millie. Old slab sides is just too big for the bottom of a pocket.
Click to expand...

I was thinking of your experience with clips as I wrote my post. :D
 
I used to go clipless, and would even remove the clips from many of my knives. However, that mainly works if you have a dedicated pocket for the knife. If you carry other stuff in your pocket (wallet/phone being the obvious contenders for pocket space), then you'll need to dig around a lot more to retrieve it. It's a lot slower to get out and deploy when you need it without a clip, although it DOES have the advantage of being more discreet (until it falls out, of course). I ended up going back to clips for sheer convenience. It's just faster to get at the knife, and sometimes speed counts.

I think the biggest question may be why you don't like the clips. For me, it was because with many knives, the clip was poorly designed and messed with the ergonomics of the knife. Then again, most knives that people carry have terrible ergos anyways, since they're designed with only 2 dimensions in mind, and have flat slab handles with little to no 3D contour. A well designed clip doesn't actually mess with the comfort with holding the knife. I think someone (Gavin Hawk?) designed a clip that retracts into the knife when not in use. I'd love to see that become more widespread.

There are alternatives, of course. You can have a wallet or phone case made that also carries the knife, so it's easy to index in the pocket. You can have a pocket sheath made for the knife that itself has a clip, but at that point you might as well just use the dang clip.

Most of my pants have deep carry pockets, which is nice for pocket carry unless you're carrying something else, in which case there's more room for the knife to rattle around and become harder to access, or to scratch up whatever else is in your pocket. If you like to carry your knife and your phone in the same pocket, (I do), you also run the risk of damaging an expensive piece of electronics with your knife. It WILL scuff the crap out of the screen/case, etc. That's greatly minimized with the knife clipped (although then you also run the risk of having the knife fall out when you pull out your phone).
 
I don't recall ever owning a pocket knife that didn't lay horizontal in the bottom of my pocket, looking stupid and feeling strange when I walk.

Perhaps I should try skinny jeans.
 
It isn't that I don't like clips, nor do I feel I have a fear of losing a knife anymore than I fear losing it out of my pocket(which I've, thankfully, never done). I think it's just as Whitty said. We are what we are. That and I do have an affinity for smaller knives. I've been trying to clip, and will continue to keep trying, but this habit runs deep. I guess if I'm going to buy bigger knives, I better get used to it because they aren't going into my pocket.
 
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