Short Cold Steel Pocket Clip TensionTuning CounterPoint 1

Wowbagger

Wowbagger

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Sep 20, 2015
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Ohhhhhh THIS is the moment you have alllllll been waiting for.
Hell it's the moment I have been waiting for ! ! ! !
Finally, finally, finally I have stumbled across the FIX for Cold Steels inflexable-overly-tight-impossible-to-get-onto-your-pocket-and off-again-blasted-short-pocket-clips ! ! !

When you hear this you are going to want to set me up in early retirement with beach front loveliness.

Well maybe not THAT good . . . but pretty GOOOOD.

First off I am disappointed in how little has been written here about the Cold Steel Counter Point 1.
You know me, I can't pass up a really fat handled knife; the Ti Lites are a favorite and turns out the CRK 21 with inlays is pretty great in that department as well. But momma ! The Counter point is a hand full. Lots of texture too with the newest version; I'm a sucker for that as well.
IMG_5904.jpg

And before I drop the bomb shell that is going to change your Cold Steel totin' experience for ever . . .

You guys sure were right about the Wera tool bit handle. For the longest time I couldn't get past the price (boy are they proud of it) . . . I got so fed up fooling around with other bit drivers I finally held my nose and jumped in.

This is the : Wera 051024 Kraftform Kompakt 25

Worth it !
Just the way the Rapidaptor pushes the bit out when one releases the bit is worth the price of admission.
I have to admit to going totally BoooSheet and ordering a Wiha 38701 ESD Safe 1/4-Inch Quick Release Bit Holder as well but it hasn't arrived yet. I now have use for the nonmagnetic anti static but we won't get into that. Lets just say I get tired of changing bits and like good tools. (two good drivers = better than one)
IMG_5901.JPG

Back to the CS clip :
I got the Counter Point today and ATTEMPTED to slip it onto my pocket (relatively thin material on summer shorts) . . . couldn't do it ! ! ! ! I meeeeeeaaannnnn I had to really cram that sucker on there. Then removing it felt like I was going to come away with a good hunk of my pocket.

Typical short Cold Steel out of box pocket clip experience right ? .
I started thinking about the DEEEP scallops in my CRK 21s frame lock (see photo). I was shocked at how deep / how much metal was removed there. But hey the knife works great right ! No problem there.
IMG_5905.jpg

What, my little metal rat brain said, would happen if I filed the bend in the Cold Steel pocket clip in a similar fashion ? ? ? . . . spread out the thinning over the whole bend in the clip tapering off gradually into the straight section so there was no stress riser . . .

I took the clip off, put it in the aluminum soft jaws of my vise and filed it in the bend to about half as thick as it was . I didn't unbend it in the least. I just put it back on the knife.
IMG_5903.jpg

Perfection !
The clip slides on and off my pocket (even with the super texture on the scale of the Counter Point) just like a real knife.

MAN !
I'm sitting on the couch, feet up . . . ! . . . just stupid proud of myself !
If you ever saw the thread where I cut a giant slot in my Holdout III, removed about a third of the metal in the clip and it sill was impossible to remove from my pocket . . . you will know why I am all smugmonster about this.
LINK SHOWING OLD CLIP MOD > > >
PS : go to the second page of posts at the link for photos of old slot modded clip.
 
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I just take a coin, and slide it underneath the clip. If it is still too tight, I slide two stacked coins....etc. three... and so on, until I have adjusted the tension to where I like. I've broken several pocket clips snagging them on items while sitting down hard. Or getting out of a tall jeep, etc.

I've never broke a cold steel clip, though. I did tweak a clip on an old Recon 1 in the ultra lock. Took the clip off, and bent it back in a vice. Voila.

I actually prefer Cold Steels stout clips to many other makers (Spyderco, I've broken and a few other manufacturers. I've also lost a few from weak clips....Buck, CRKT, and a few others).
 
Bigfattyt said:
just take a coin, and slide it underneath the clip. If it is still too tight, I slide two stacked coins....etc. three... and so on, until I have adjusted the tension to where I like.
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:eek:
Careful there . . .
I used to do that sort of thing until on one knife the screws started to pull out of the steel liner. I stopped in time and put longer screws in the clip. Turns out the screws were too short and didn't penetrate the full thickness of the liner.

This was a very reputable, over $125 knife. I would say who but don't want to give them a bad rap. People get all bent if they see the end of a screw protruding inside the liners so they are trying to satisfy those people too.

I now remove clips to unbend them a little. ;) :thumbsup:
 
craytab said:
Soooo......you bent a clip?

Very good. I do as well with most of my knives. To make them tighter though....
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Nah, he specifically did NOT bend a clip.
I took the clip off, put it in the aluminum soft jaws of my vise and filed it in the bend to about half as thick as it was . I didn't unbend it in the least. I just put it back on the knife.
Click to expand...
He thinned the metal to reduce stiffness / allow the clip to flex with less force. But he was careful not to thin it to the point of catastrophic failure with a gentle bend... time will tell if he breaks the clip catching it on something by accident.
 
I usually unscrew my CS clips and tweak them out a bit in a vise. I prefer them a bit firm rather than too loose.
 
chiral.grolim said:
Nah, he specifically did NOT bend a clip.

He thinned the metal to reduce stiffness / allow the clip to flex with less force. But he was careful not to thin it to the point of catastrophic failure with a gentle bend... time will tell if he breaks the clip catching it on something by accident.
Click to expand...
My bad. I guess I misunderstood that somewhere in there.
 
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