Lefty thread

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spyderg

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Sep 28, 2014
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Didn't see a lefty info advice thread, (maybe I missed it?)

So here it goes, let's talk about good knife choices for lefties. I'm loving my Spyderco Manix2 and Lava, they both truly ambidextrous.

I personally feel that frame locks,(love my ZT0550 but with my custom scale it's right only carry, and can't say enough good things about my Spyderco Techno) in their standard right hand config are actually better suited to us lefties. Consider this, when torquing on the knife to say carve out a notch in wood your grip actually pulls the lock tighter while right handed you could actually release the lock. Now in use this shouldn't pose an issue however if it doesn't re-engage and you fail to notice...

I have some liner locks, (my Brous Silent Soldier is my fav liner lock) and because I'm use to the frame locks they feel natural to me but the issue stated above shouldn't come into play right handed as easily.

Flippers are usually good for us lefties but for some reason many makers seem to think it's a good idea to use unevenly sized thumb studs on their knives?

Do you guys have any advice as lefties? Any knife recommendations? Lefty mods? Let's keep the gripes to a minimum.
 
As a lefty I've developed ambidexterity over time, though I will still buy a left handed liner or frame lock over a right handed one. Two hands means you need a knife for both hands, right?



Or you can look into CRK's and be set for life:

 
I'm ambidextrous with tendencies toward the left hand, but yeah the manix 2, Yo2, and PM2 are great for lefties. CRK and TSF make lefty frame locks. I operate a frame and liner lock no prob with either hand. Don't see the big deal really other than dealing with the clip.
 
Southpaw, never owned a left handed liner/frame lock, and never had an issue with regular right handed ones.
 
My lefty loves the lefty set up for the deilca and matriarch.
 
Being left handed , I thought it would be great to have a LH Spyderco Military... I was wrong. I am so used to RH knives the Military just feels backward to me. I don't think I will ever buy another LH knife again. I do enjoy Axis type locks.
 
I am a Lefty in a Right Handed World, Emerson or EKI make two models of Tactical Folder in true left handed models. The Comander & CQC-7, both no bull shit. Just functional knives.
 
I am righty ambi. My left hand is well adapted for the righty liner/frame lock. Using it to cut, now that is another matter :)
I carry both sides, so when I use the left knife, I pull out, open with left hand then transfer to right hand to do the cutting :o
 
Rob Dalton has made me a couple lefty framelocks. I carry this one because concealed carry of cats is impractical.

 
I'm a southpaw as well and I have several dedicated left-hand knives. That way I can carry two knives easily, and I often do. Either for different tasks, or just to admire another particular knife when the urge hits. (I need help).

A lefty large Serena micarta 21, an Umnumzaan (one of the "twins," paired with a right-hand Zaan), several lockbacks with the clip set up for the left side, including a Spyderco Ulize, a Matriarch 2 (fully serrated) and a Lionsteel PM1; two PM2s (satin and black blades) and a ZTV0770CF (to pair with a ZT0562CF) are set up for left-hand carry.

I also double clip a few knives; a Spyderco Endura, an Emerson CQC8 and a Benchmade 710-1 in M390, so they can be switched in seconds.

So I have eleven knives I can easily LFP carry to pair with a RFP knife. I do it all the time, and mostly it's a wavable Emerson in the RFP.

Benchmade's Axis lock makes the ultimate ambidextrous folding knife in my opinion, as one can use their index fingertip to pull the lock bar back while rotating their hand to the outside simultaneously, then releasing the lockbar.

With practice, you can smoothly open and close it using the same procedure in seconds. I practice occasionally while watching TV. You don't even have to look at it while doing it. The sound alone (or peripheral vision) will let you know if you were successful or not each time. Switch hands, repeat.
 
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Bighaze51 said:
Same here, I don't know if I would actually like a left handed liner lock. I'm so used to regular liner/frame locks I don't even think about it.
Click to expand...

Ha! I hear you I do. I've been curious what it would be like to actually own a knife that was made for my left hand but I have a feeling that I wouldn't like it. Strange. I just saw down below what *Flatblackcapo* said.....that would be how I would feel more than likely.
 
Like everyone else that is left handed in a right handed world,over the years I've become adaptive to things that are for right handed use. Most of my knives can be used with either hand. Luckily most knives come with double thumb lugs which make it easier for lefties. It doesn't bother me to have the lock side showing when I use my knife, as long as it performs for he task. But, I am elated that LH knives exist, I have several CRK's that are LH and one TSF beast. I can use either without issues. Love the holes in the Spyderco's and Striders which make it enjoyable for LH operation.
The thing I love the most is to let a righty use my LH knife. They look like idiots trying to open it. Score for he lefties, how do you like now!!!!
 
I'm ambidextrous in this context, but prefer leftie carry and use. My usual carry is a Spyderco Native 5. Spydie bushing pivot system + finger choil + lockback makes for super easy leftie one handed closing.

If I'm not carrying that it's either a traditional or a skyline. The skyline's flipper is easy enough with the left hand. Clip sucks though.
 
Funny, I was just explaining this to a knifemaker in another thread. Thanks for starting this one. I find manipulating a right-hand lock puts my digits in a much more precarious position, no matter how I do it. Same with wearing a fixed knife backwards or in a cross-draw position. Add in a dog jumping up, a loss of balance while working on a ladder, etc., and I for one will eventually cut myself or something else.

Aside from a Benchmade 710 with an ambidextrous Axis lock and a Randall Triathlete with an ambidextrous sheath, the rest here are true lefties including a Spiderco Military LH, Chis Reeve and Chris Reeve/Wilson folders all in LH (even a couple of Mnandis with LH notches), an Eliot Maldonado, and a Dozier Professional Guide's Knife with LH Kydex sheath.
 
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Great post!

I am completely Left-Sided. Do everything lefty. throwing, kicking, chewing, shooting, Everything.. The ONLY thing I have to do righty is use scissors because that's how they make'em. I have a few frame locks that I keep as righty for when I want to use right pocket carry in a 2 knife system. I have found that a frame lock with a flipper and reversible clip is easy to use on the left side and doesn't give me a problem.

As far as being a knife junky, Being a lefty results in doing more research to find what works and has given me a better understanding of blades in general. If I was a righty who could buy anything and not worry about it, I probably wouldn't look as deeply into knife and sheath construction. I have learned however that I have been using a steak knife backwards for my entire life. Until my knife addiction, I never realized that the serrations should face the object being cut. I never thought about it.

For guns its different because they make very few with left side ejection port. Mostly the classic best-sellers (for long-guns). And with handguns I just have to go with ambi controls.

Oh well.. As a true Lefty, I am in my Right Mind.
 
I's hard to find a Fixed Blade with an Ambidextrous sheath from most Makers. I like a sheath that a knife will go in without needing turned in a particular way especially when under stress / just busy. Right handed sheaths ONLY, bad idea...., not to mention the expense and time and trouble to have one made.


MAKE ALL FIXED BLADE KNIFE SHEATHS AMBIDEXTROUS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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