Pocket Clip size

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remanaz

Joined
Jan 28, 2018
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I am curious why so many pocket clips are long? Is there benefits to longer lengths? I ask because I see knives that have the clips designed to allow the knife to be completely inside the pocket only to have the clips run down your leg becoming obvious to those around you. If they were to look up from their phones that is. Wouldn't shorter clips that also allow deep carry let your knife be the most concealed your knife can be?
 
One advantage I can see is that if a long clip snags on something, it gives you more of a chance to fix the problem before your knife leaves your pocket altogether.

It could be a decision that makes it easier to manufacture. With a long clip, you have more space to clamp it securely for bending and drilling holes.
 
Since both long and short clips are offered, I’d think it’s a matter of preference. Some folks may feel a longer clip is more secured in the pocket
 
I find a longer clip to be more forgiving of pocket thickness and easier to get on and off the pocket. For instance I put a long clip from a Holdoiut One (that is a knife with about a six inch blade and even longer handle) onto a Holdout III which is a about a three inch blade knife. The clip on the short knife was nearly impossible to use. Once it was clipped on a pocket one just about needed to ask for help prying it off the top of one's pocket. It was awful !

My favorite folding box knife has a long clip permanently riveted on the handle and it is even more versatile. I can clip it to thick carpenter's tool belt pouches or thin summer shorts . Works great for both.
Second knife from left in this photo. The Holdout knife with the stiff short clip is next to it to the right. No hope of clipping on the pouch and if I ever did it would have taken a small pry bar to get the knife off the pouch again.
IMG_3320.jpg

Here is the small Holdout knife with the clip from the Largest Holdout installed and the clip it came with beside the knife. The slot in the clip was an attempt to make the clip more pliable. Even that was not near enough to make the clip reasonable to use.
IMG_3386.jpg
 
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remanaz said:
Wouldn't shorter clips that also allow deep carry let your knife be the most concealed your knife can be?
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No carrying the knife in your pocket with no clip would be the best solution to that. You can put the knife in what is called a pocket slip to protect the knife if you like.

Personally I have never understood the phobia about letting the general populace see a clip on your pocket. Sure, I guess if one is carrying a ginormous knife and it is sticking way out of one's pocket like a billy club but what does a few millimeters of handle or clip matter on a reasonable (?legal?) knife ?
 
Wowbagger said:
No carrying the knife in your pocket with no clip would be the best solution to that. You can put the knife in what is called a pocket slip to protect the knife if you like.

Personally I have never understood the phobia about letting the general populace see a clip on your pocket. Sure, I guess if one is carrying a ginormous knife and it is sticking way out of one's pocket like a billy club but what does a few millimeters of handle or clip matter on a reasonable (?legal?) knife ?
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You are correct and i should have specified when clip is used.

My questions do not come from a phobia. It is about the fact that is a company is designing the clip with the thought of deep carry in order to hide more of the knife, then why make the clip which is on the outside so long. It seems to me that a long clip defeats the purpose of a clip that was intentionally designed to allow the knife to be hidden when clipped.

I have knives with long and short clips. Some are designed for deep carry and others are normal style. I have a Protech/Boker auto knife and the Boker manual version that have very short clips. They are just as easy to use as any of my longer ones. I also have a Microtech Cypher with a semishort clip that is almost impossible to use. The difference is how they are made. The Microtechs clip is a thick solid piece of metal that does not bend while the Boker twins use a thinner spring steel that is bendable like all my other knives use. With the correct material a short clip seems to work very well, at least for me. Although i carry Ultratechs mostly and they use long clips.
 
Ajack60 said:
Since both long and short clips are offered, I’d think it’s a matter of preference. Some folks may feel a longer clip is more secured in the pocket
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Do they offer optional clips for every knife? Or are you just meaning that buy3rs have choices between various knives with some having a short clip or a long clip?
 
I find a longer clip is more secure. What few times a knife has nearly come out of my pocket, it was saved by the length of the clip holding it from falling the rest of the way.

Pocket clips showing do not bother me in the slightest. They are common in these parts.
 
The short clips are pretty secure, if built a certain way. I've been carrying this thing all week, and I could do 50 cartwheels in a row and it won't budge

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remanaz said:
Do they offer optional clips for every knife? Or are you just meaning that buy3rs have choices between various knives with some having a short clip or a long clip?
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I don't know of any factory that offers both. You can find aftermarket clips for most popular brands if you're looking to change the factory clip. I've interchanged knife clips in the same brand.
 
I just peeped that rassenti guy, and yeah, it does look similar

Cool knives. I dig that style
 
Does the average person even see your pocket clip and if they do, do they even know what it is attached to? Around here, very and I mean very few people would even suspect a knife would be on the other end of a clip and the very idea is unheard of. If anything, if they even noticed the clip, they would wonder why you carry a pen in your pocket.
 
In my opinion the length of the clip is not as important as the clip to handle ratio. The bigger the knife the the shorter the clip can be because ultimately there is more knife in your pocket. Smaller knives require a clip that allows the knife to sit deeper in the pocket to be more secure.
 
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