Spyderco newbie...Thumb Hole?

C

Clarence Whirley

Joined
Jan 5, 2010
Messages
33
i'm about to buy my first Spyderco (helllllo Tenacious)...
does the Spyderco thumb hole take a little getting used to, in order to deploy the blade quickly?
I'm thinking it won't be as fast as the Kershaw flipper, at least not for me...

anyone have any problems with it?
 
Flippers are faster. Some people find thumbholes easier to use than thumbstuds - I'm not one of them.
 
IMHO the hole, while I admit it's not the most beautiful in terms of looks, is the most practical and efficient blade deployment method short of a assisted or full auto deployment system. Way easier to use then a stud or peg or whatever.
 
I've just bought my first spyderco (a native, my first 'decent' pocket knife). Before buying it I saw youtube videos of people flipping them open at unbelievable speed.

When the native first turned up I couldn't even open it one-handedly at all. It felt really awkward and I was worried I'd slice my fingers. About 10 minutes of playing later, I was sold. I still can't open it up as fast as the youtube videos but it is very quick and easy.

Before the native, I had a wenger swiss army knife with a supposed 'one handed opening' feature. It had a stangely shaped cutout in the blade, shown below

crunch-and-ranger.jpg


I have never been able to open this knife 'properly' with only one hand (I hold the blade by the cutout and flick the rest of the knife open). The spyderco hole is far better.
 
Some people take to the various hole opening assist means and some don't.

You'll know for sure after a few weeks of carrying the knife on a regular basis.
 
Thumbholes are very easy to use and gives you several options of deployment. Some are faster than others and I can deploy my Spyderco knives as fast as I can deploy an assisted opening knife. I doubt autos are that much faster.

As a side note, I don't consider my knife to be a SD weapon but as a tool. I have better choices for SD but if a knife was all I had to rely on for that purpose, I would carry a waved knife and a EDC knife.
 
The action of a hole is different from that of a thumbstud. If you're used to studs it'll take a while to switch.
 
The hole took some getting used to. I can open my spydercos almost as fast as others. The axis lock with a stud is faster for me. Each knife with a hole is a little different though. Like the native has a smaller hole and is further away from the pivot to me that makes it harder for me but my sage 2 with a bigger hole closer to the pivot is easy. My caly3 is a good size hole and I can open it pretty fast. It just takes practice.
 
i like thumb holes because there is nothing to break. a thumbstud can technically break eventually. also you can spyderdrop thumb holes. and once you get the hang of it, it opens very fast.
 
The spyder thumb is very fast and easy to use once you get used to it.

You can ajust the amount of tention on the blade on all most Spyderco

models just be sure to have enough detent to hold the blade securely.

Be sure to use a torx tip on all models ( I have heard that some Tenacious

models use an allen head).
 
Its easy to use, but I rarely use mine. One my Endura was broken in at it took was a flip of the wrist and it was deployed. I do prefer the hole to studs, as the hole is much easier and faster to index under stress and gives more options when opening.

That said I have carried a Spyderco for the past 13+ years so its all second nature to me. Might take a while for a newbie to get accustomed to it.
 
I have the Tenacious and can open it as fast as my flippers. Grasp the handle, put the tip of your thumb in the hole and flick your thumb out. It's like that old dandelion game when I was a kid, "Momma had a baby and it's head popped off." and you flick the flower off the stem. Ok, don't ask how I know this. :o

My Tenacious opens up really fast without any wrist action as fast as my BM Mini Grip (thumbstuds) or my Kershaw Skyline (flipper).
 
If you can take you index finger and put the tip over the end of your thumb to provide a little resistance, and apply upward pressure with your thumb so that it suddenly pops up, and then apply the same force to a hole or thumb stud it will open just as fast as a flipper. A lot of people try to push the hole or thumb stud outwards away from the handle but on just about every model you want to push upwards parallel to the handle. That popping action of your thumb will launch just about any blade out of the handle quicker than most people would recommend you deploy your blade. Some people feel that a quick deployment puts more stress on the knife and will wear it out quicker. I flick mine open pretty hard quite a bit (especially AXIS lock knives) and they so far are not showing any increased wear.
 
As with any new tool, you'll have to get used to using it.
For me, it's no easier or more difficult (or faster or slower) than any other method.
I prefer the hole because studs can get in the way when cutting and sharpening.
 
I never had a problem getting used to the thumb hole personally. I definatly prefer them to thumb studs. Although it always amazes me when KNP ask "whats the hole in the blade for?" even when they are familiar with other one handed opening systems.
 
For me the spyderhole is just as fast as a flipper. If the knife has a flipper I have to rotate the knife to get my index finger on the flipper. With the hole on a tip up knife, its already in a natural position when I pull it out of my pocket. I highly doubt that the difference in deployment time would ever really be that crucial. If I was that worried about it I would rather have a fixed blade or a knife with the wave opener. As far as getting used to it, I have found that Spyderco' holes are well thought out and put in a position so that they are very easy to pick up. I also love the fact that they're ambidextrous on most knives without getting in the way.
 
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