Please explain benefits of tip-up carry

V

VegasNick

Joined
Jan 24, 2005
Messages
159
I am asking this because a lot of nice knives that I would like to own have tip-up clips and I wish they didn't.

My knives are tip-down and this makes sense to me for a couple of reasons. If they opened slightly in my pocket and I reached in, I would not be going onto a point. Also, it just seems more natural to pluck it out of my pocket by the pivot and it is automatically in a natural position for my hand to grasp it and flick it open.

The only advantage that I can think of for tip-up is if you used a reverse grip, in which case the knife would then be in a natural position for that.
 
I hate tip down. It's horrible. Tip up makes way more sense to me: I can draw the knife in a natural position, and the blades on any good knife will not open. Plus, I'd rather be stabbed by an open knife in the finger than in the femoral artery. With a tip up knife, the blade is closed against the side of your pants. Tip down leaves it plenty of open space. Never have I had a tip up open on me, and I would never carry a tip down again, it's too awkward.
 
All of the knives I own were tip-down. I liked it just fine. then I got the bradley passaround which was tip-up and I did not have the tools to fix it. It took some getting used to but once I did It didn't seem to make much of a difference. you have to grasp the blade a little differently but it's faster to deploy and you don't have to rotate the knife back to your palm to deploy it (and possibly dropping it.

then there's the wave:)
 
One big difference, for me, is that you can't draw and deploy a tip-down knife without a pinch-grip at some point. Tip-up, you can have your entire hand on the knife the entire time. Not an issue for everyday utility opening, but if you carry for self-defense, the pinch grip should make you a bit nervous.
 
Joe, how is this so. With either situation tip up or down, don't you have to pinch it between your thumb and index finger to extract it from you pocket, then let it swing into your palm?
 
Tip up is the way to go. If the blade opens, it's opening against the seam of your pocket, so it really can't open. I've had a tip down knife start to open once, not cool. When I pull a tip up knife from my pocket the handle is already in a normal hold. I don't have to turn the knife around to get a proper grasp. With an AXIS lock knife with tip up I can easily pull the knife and flip the blade up into the locked position.
 
VegasNick said:
Joe, how is this so. With either situation tip up or down, don't you have to pinch it between your thumb and index finger to extract it from you pocket, then let it swing into your palm?
Click to expand...

No, with tip up, you have to reach down into your pocket and grasp the knife with your thumb on the pivot.
 
Nick, just as Wade described, you don't have to pinch grip with tip-up. Technically, you may argue that there's a pinch-grip tip-up, but I get all five fingers and part of my palm on the knife before I even start the draw (four fingers outside the pocket along the pocket clip, thumb in the pocket on the body). It's not a two-finger pinch, and just feels that much more secure.

Joe
 
I have had a tip-up knife (Ti-Lite) open up slightly in my pocket, and I ended up stabbing my thumb. Felt like I stuck my thumb into a mouse trap.

I prefer tip down, but you can learn to open either style folder easily and instinctively. The trouble comes when you rotate EDCs, and some are tip up and some are tip down.

Where tip up really makes sense is with a waveable knife, like the Ti-Lite. That's a nice feature.
 
Just to add: tip-up is better for rapid opening via brownie-pop. And as Joe T says, tip down takes more manipulation before it is open in a secure grip, which is a significant concern for SD purposes/deployment.
 
i sorta hijacked a thread the other day about this.

i think it was "cop question"

glad to know there are people who know what im talkin about when i say, you have to pinch the pivot for tip-down.

i like tip-up because of the secure grip i have on the knife before it ever leaves my pocket.
no need to have the knife spin or swing around to get it in the proper orientation
 
Tip down feels more natural for me, different for everyone, I can open my blade much faster in a tip down draw.
 
tip down for me. The clip pokes into my palm in a tip up configuration...dont' ask me why...it just does for me.
 
Both methods work fine. I prefer tip up though. I do have both and some just work better tip down while others don't feel right unless tip up. I usually let the knife decide depending on feel in my hand and for everyday use. On my Dozier designed Thorn the pocket clip actually aids in how easy or how hard the knife is to open. Without the clip there as it came from the factory for tip down carry it is hard to smoothly open the blade without snagging it so tip up is out of the question.

If I want a lanyard on my knife though it is very difficult to carry it tip down once you put one on. Unless you don't mind tucking the lanyard down into the pocket and adjusting so it sits right. Also I don't like the knuckle scrapes associated with certain non sharpened serrations from the spine of the blade when carried in tip down mode. Finally when I "Wave" a knife it has to be carried tip up for the Wave to work.

I've never understood how anyone can stab their thumb or any other part of the hand in tip up carry when the blade is tucked neatly back into the corner of the pocket away from where you slide you hand when reaching into the pocket. Just doesn't seem likely to me to happen if carried in the front pocket. If in the back pocket I can understand that happening I guess.

STR
 
Now myself, a tip up carrier.

Tip downs, makes me have to shuffle the knife in hand once removed from pocket so i can open it blade forward.

I have a couple of each style, and i just absolutely prefer tip up.

WR
 
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