Not quite a rant...

stevekolt

stevekolt

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2007
Messages
3,081
Why is it that some manufacturers just totally write off lefties? In reality it would only require what Benchmade and Zero Tolerance due to some of their knives. Drill the holes so that the purchaser can choose where (left vs. right) and how (tip up/tip down) they carry the knife. Is that really too much to ask? I am a NRA certified instructor, and am also cross eye dominant...lefty shooting righty, and carry my knife on my left side, since the pistol is on my right. Why is this such a difficult thing to do?!?!? Any insight would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
I once read something about the government trying to keep knives out of left hand dominant persons hands which would decrease their chances of survival thus eventually ridding the world of Lefties.




Seriously though, I'm a Righty and if things were reversed and many of the knives I'm interested in were set up for left hand carry only I would be extremely irritated. Also.. I WANT TIP UP OPTION!
 
mogmz said:
I once read something about the government trying to keep knives out of left hand dominant persons hands which would decrease their chances of survival thus eventually ridding the world of Lefties
Click to expand...

Just remember...since the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, only lefties are in their right minds! :)
 
Allot like lefty shooters are ignored. To add insult to injury..Rightys even tend to complain if a pistol has an ambi safety on it. Its amazing in some regard that they would complain about ambi features.

I feel your pain. I'm a left eye dominant left hand shooter, but right handed for most everything else, and luckily I'm ambi on knives, but prefer using my right hand. Anyways....

Knive makers do ignore lefties even more than firearm makers and you already know how miserable it is for a southpaw shooter being an nra instructor. I don't think it will change much. I often wonder when I carry my knife on my left pocket how lefty knife users deal with it. Setup is awkward and borderline unuseable for lefties on most of my folders. There are so few lefties.....I don't think we see a whole lot of change anytime soon, but who knows..I have seen more lefty knives recently.
 
I'm a left hander that has adapted to right handed kinves rather well. I cannot shoot with my right hand though and be accurate , but I have also learned to use my left hand on my right handed guns pretty effeciently.

Tostig
 
I'm a lefty and most of my complaints are with Buck knives. They really seem to not want lefties using their knives....
 
im not a left, but i do see your point, as far as handguns go i prefer ampi because of the versatility, if i had to i could shot off hand depend one the situation.
 
My best ambi knives are the Spyderco Endura and the Benchmade Osborne 943. Buck sells an offset detachable thumbstud (the slot is at the 1/3-2/3 location) at the company store that can be set up for right or left hand use on the 1/8" thick blades on knives with a front lock/rear release.
 
i'm a righty but the right hand has been beat up so many times that i've become very proficient with the left. i can write, eat, and dress myself with only my left hand. but i've always been semi ambidextrous; the fine work has always gone to my right hand but heavy lifting, i've always lead with the left. that said i can't bat, shoot, or do anything else that requires more than left HAND savvy with my non dominant appendage
 
It's more than just the clip, a lot of knives have right-handed locks.

I never understood the allure of frame and liner locks until I picked up a left-handed Sebenza. After that I really appreciated both the RIL and CRK for making knives for lefties. I also picked up a LH Military, and am very happy with it.

I definitely agree with you though. I really hate it when I see an incredible knife, only to find out it is only made right-handed. It really does seem like Kershaw and Benchmade really do leave lefties hanging.

Oh well, at least it helps keep the number of knives I drool iver to a minimum :) !
 
As much as I would like more lefty knives.....lefties only represent 11% of the population.
 
Being a leftie myself I feel the pain. Although right handed frame locks are much better than liner locks. My 0551 is a pleasure to use right or left handed.
 
I am a lefty.

Seldom is a production company going to bother with catering to us. The LH Military and HEST folders are the only examples that come to mind.

It's just another case of LH discrimination to suffer.
 
But again as I said originally, just being able to relocate the pocket clip would be a great step forward (or should I say to the left :) ) Retooling a pistol so it ejects cartridges to the opposite side would be a lot more costly than drilling a few extra holes to change the clip placement.
 
I agree. Its the reason I don't buy more kershaw knives. From what I noticed though they are getting better. Esp with their zt line as far as clips go.

Now I really wish more fixed blade manufacturers would make their sheaths ambi. Kinda sucks that I have to wear my fixed blades backwards or get custom sheathes for them.
 
As much as I would like more lefty knives.....lefties only represent 11% of the population.
Click to expand...

It's just another case of LH discrimination to suffer.
Click to expand...

Discrimination is a strong word. Rather it's pure economics. To set up a production line to make X number of left handed knives. Now, you can get congress to pass a law stating that it is officially discrimination and all knife, scissor, can opener, etc producers must make 11% left handed products. GM has to make cars with the drivers side on the right. :) Go nuts.
 
"Why is it that some manufacturers just totally write off lefties?" Because you as a mutant species make up less than 10% of the buying market worldwide. It's simple business nothing personal. You just aren't worth the effort in most cases, unless you get a left handed maker or high level corporate type that feels sorry for his fellow freaks and decides to run a line or two of lefties.
 
Cynic2701 said:
I definitely agree with you though. I really hate it when I see an incredible knife, only to find out it is only made right-handed. It really does seem like Kershaw and Benchmade really do leave lefties hanging.
Click to expand...


Benchmade? The AXIS lock is one of the best ambi locks on the market.
 
Drilling holes for pocket clips on BOTH sides of a pocket knife can't possibly be that much more of a burden (either time wise or financially wise)!
So far I have yet to meet a liner-lock or frame lock that cannot be manipulated with a right or a left hand.
I'm ambidextrous but i tend to carry knives left handed so understand the lefty perspective.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top