Is it ever ok to carry outside the pocket?...with clip?

If I'm cutting and capping bags inside one of our reverse-air baghouses, I will sometimes clip my knife outside. It's hot and dusty in there, and I'm covered up, so work gloves make a normal pocket draw impractical.

I would say that clipped outside isn't a smart choice for EDC, but it has it's place in a specialized situation.
 
I've been carrying this way for decades. I clip it to my belt loop or my pants. Only with a mole or BP Vest do I carry in a pocket; but that's because I have a fixed on me openly. I can draw very fast and unassuming when carrying this way. I'm not a big "tuck your shirt in guy," so it conceals well and no one has any idea what it is. Moreover, every guy has a clip in his pocket here, but no one recognizes what I have, the way I carry. I can draw my weapon unassumingly in a tight civilian situation where a gun isn't appropriate. Most guys have guns concealed in my state and a knife clip in their pocket. To understand the advantages, practice the draw and your defensive stance - it's very easy to conceal your intent. Quite frankly, in my state, if you go into your pockets during a confrontation, you better be drawing a gun.

I put all traditional pocket knifes in my pocket, and that's what I let people see.
 
I was thinking similarly to Shorttime - if you were working, particularly in a single location, and needed the knife routinely, you might switch the knife to the outside of your pocket during the work.

That would drive me crazy though. I find myself patting my knife occasionally while it is safely deep in my pocket just to make sure it is there; having it hanging outside my pocket would bother me.

best

mqqn
 
yall are sayin itll get lost my stepdad has carried it on outside for five months udc using it through a meat plant and goin to many stores. this is southern cali and no one says crap about it. and as i said before his pants bring his pockets to close to thighs that he sais it rubs his thigh raw and no they aint skinny jeans.
 
I also live in Southern Cali and I'm not suggesting your dad doesn't know what he's doing, but he might want to check his local laws before he ends up having to explain his actions to a judge. For what it's worth, I don't use pocket clips at all for the simple reason that I don't want to have to do that.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 
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^^^yep. All my Cali buddies carry fixed. Very true about the prevention statement.
 
You don't tug on Superman's cape;

You don't spit into the wind;

You don't pull the mask from that ol' Lone Ranger and

You don't carry a knife clipped to the outside of your pocket.
 
mqqn said:
I was thinking similarly to Shorttime - if you were working, particularly in a single location, and needed the knife routinely, you might switch the knife to the outside of your pocket during the work.

That would drive me crazy though. I find myself patting my knife occasionally while it is safely deep in my pocket just to make sure it is there; having it hanging outside my pocket would bother me.

best

mqqn
Click to expand...

I feel the same, I would loose it, I am also often checking my pocket to ensure my knife is still there and securely clipped in to the "inside" of my pocket, particularly with the cost of some of these folders.

I have found the Leatherman Skeletool is handy for work if you need to get at the knife quickly or when your in awkward situations because you can clip it to a belt loop with the sort of carabineer attachment point that it has at the heal of the knife, and it is easy to clip on and clip off. Sometimes though safety wise ... even this isn't great as it can get caught up on things.
 
A "jump proof" pocket clip is an absolute go/no-go requirement if I'm looking for a new work knife. I want my knife to stay clipped in the event of forces that would kill me!

Not because I intend to try such a thing, but then I know the knife will stay where I put it, wherever that is.

Slightly off-topic, but I felt it was important to mention that the pocket clip is an essential consideration for me, precisely because I need to put my knife in odd places, at times.
 
FWIW, I almost lost my Delica several times carrying it clipped INSIDE my pocket. I've read plenty of stories right exactly here on this very forum where some of y'all lost one knife or another that was clipped INSIDE a pocket.

Call me an idiot or insane or uneducated for the way I carry my knife if you want. That's not going to make it fit inside my pocket and carrying it clipped that way is no less likely to cause me to lose it than clipping it to the outside, where at least it doesn't bottom out before it's fully clipped.

BTW, while it's clipped to the outside of my pocket, I can retrieve it when my hands are dirty, if necessary, without having to put a single grimy finger in/on my pants.
 
Did it once.
Was working in the garden cutting irrigation hoses. Had to kneel most of the time and putting it in and out didn't work without having to get up for it.
Clipped it into the collar of my shirt with the clip inside and the knife outside.

Other than that I haven't done it but maybe there'll be some weird circumstances in the future.

Clipping inside, even if the clip becomes lose chances are high it drops into the pocket. Hanging on the outside however....
 
I have clipped a knife to my shirt pocket because I was using it repeatedly. Wouldn't recommend carrying on there other than something very small perhaps (inside of course). Maybe they need to make a cell phone that you can clip inside your shirt pocket as that is usually where mine is. A removable knife clip on a cell phone.... that would be kind of cool for me.
 
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