Lets talk about clipless carry

[Will Batayte]

With almost all of my knife purchases being online these days i find as of late i'm getting knives with pocket clips that are less then ideal in terms of comfort. The most recent being the SOG seal xr. Let me say i absolutely love this knife! Everything about it fits my taste and comfort. That is except the clip. It's as bad as it can get in terms of taking a knife that fits my hand like a glove and totally ruining that perfect comfort. The clip is huge, wide, overbuilt and very strong. But it literally runs directly along the swell at the base of my fingers, the worst place it could be. So naturally i removed it and fixed the issue. But now i have no convenient way to carry it. I've been going the sheath route but i am not a huge fan of belt sheaths. What id like to get is a clip on pocket slip. Onw that can be clipped to the pocket and carry the knife just like a pocket clip but when drawing the slip stays in the pocket. Best of both worlds. Anyone know where to get a good pocket slip that will accomodate the sog seal xr which is a very large folder. I dont really care the material leather, denim, kydex, anything really as long as it functions well and has a clip strong enough to keep the sheath in the pocket on the draw. I was even thinking a nametag style pin rather then a clip would work well. Any ideas on a company or maker that could provide this?

 

[Henry Beige]

They are not at all uncommon. You probably want something bigger than the one that came with my Rough Rider Dogbone Jack. Most of the big knife vendors sell pocket slips. I am pretty sure some of them come with clips.


I’m with you about clipless carry, but for me the objection extends to clipped sheaths as well. Clipping anything to the inside of your pocket renders that pocket pretty much useless for any other use, or at least uncomfortably inconvenient. I can comfortably carry three or even four knives in the RFP, provided none is over about four inches long. There is still room to drop a fixed blade in there if I have an immediate use for one.

The other day, I was at the doc’s for some X-rays of my knees. The doc and his assistant gave a hoot when they pulled the first shot that showed my “pocketful of tools”.

Most of my knives that came with clips are bigger than I want to carry in any event. Otherwise, I would simply remove the clips and carry them that way.

 

[DrRollinstein]

They are not at all uncommon. You probably want something bigger than the one that came with my Rough Rider Dogbone Jack. Most of the big knife vendors sell pocket slips. I am pretty sure some of them come with clips.
View attachment 1235454 View attachment 1235455

I’m with you about clipless carry, but for me the objection extends to clipped sheaths as well. Clipping anything to the inside of your pocket renders that pocket pretty much useless for any other use, or at least uncomfortably inconvenient. I can comfortably carry three or even four knives in the RFP, provided none is over about four inches long. There is still room to drop a fixed blade in there if I have an immediate use for one.

The other day, I was at the doc’s for some X-rays of my knees. The doc and his assistant gave a hoot when they pulled the first shot that showed my “pocketful of tools”.

Most of my knives that came with clips are bigger than I want to carry in any event. Otherwise, I would simply remove the clips and carry them that way.

Damn man, how many tools are you carrying? I've never had a single issue with clips, whether comfort or convenience. I even carry a lighter in the same pocket as my knife without any issues.

Keys go on the belt loop, multi tool and phone case go on the belt, knife and lighter in right front pocket and wallet in left front pocket. So i usually have 2 completely free pockets left anyways.

 

[Will Batayte]

Yeah i know what you mean depending on the knife it can make your pocket a bit crowded. But i'm a big guy and i like to carry a 4" blade knife as my edc. I'd probably even go 4.5" if it was legal here. I have big old paws and i like a good generous handle. My right front pocket is my designated knife pocket lol. The only other thing i put in that pocket is cash. So its not too much of an issue.

I actually can find plenty of pocket slips but the issue is the size. They're mostly made for smaller knives. I need to find something that will accomodate all my 4" blades

 

[chiral.grolim]

With almost all of my knife purchases being online these days i find as of late i'm getting knives with pocket clips that are less then ideal in terms of comfort. The most recent being the SOG seal xr. Let me say i absolutely love this knife! Everything about it fits my taste and comfort. That is except the clip. It's as bad as it can get in terms of taking a knife that fits my hand like a glove and totally ruining that perfect comfort. The clip is huge, wide, overbuilt and very strong. But it literally runs directly along the swell at the base of my fingers, the worst place it could be. So naturally i removed it and fixed the issue. But now i have no convenient way to carry it. I've been going the sheath route but i am not a huge fan of belt sheaths. What id like to get is a clip on pocket slip. Onw that can be clipped to the pocket and carry the knife just like a pocket clip but when drawing the slip stays in the pocket. Best of both worlds. Anyone know where to get a good pocket slip that will accomodate the sog seal xr which is a very large folder. I dont really care the material leather, denim, kydex, anything really as long as it functions well and has a clip strong enough to keep the sheath in the pocket on the draw. I was even thinking a nametag style pin rather then a clip would work well. Any ideas on a company or maker that could provide this?

Make a leather or denim pouch with a good welt with mounting holes, attach to a kydex plate with integral clip or with a NiteIze eClipse to hold the pouch in the pocket.
If you have a belt-sheath to fit this knife, you might be able to modify it to take a clip-plate for pocket carry.
I could probably make something like this for you if yer willing to send me the XR... The thing about slip-sheaths is that the knife usually sits rather deep and is not as convenient to draw vs the pocket clip.

Another option is an entirely different pocket clip - drill a couple holes in the G10, add a couple of inserts, mount something that suits your needs... may be worth considering.

 

[crumpet8]

Isn't clipless carry an oxymoron? I think I've lost every clipless folder I've tried to carry :/

 

[Nathanael C]

My Perpetua is currently clipless as I bent the aluminium clip that came with the first gen, but Millit is sending me a titanium one. I've given up carrying it until then as it's not just hard to retrieve from the pocket but also hard to open without the leverage of a clip to hold it.

I got a sheath for my Skeletool CX made by a guy on Etsy; it's a belt loop sheath, but I've seen ones with clips on there as well so I suggest you browse Etsy.