Talk me back into thumb studs

Yo Mama

Yo Mama

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Joined
Sep 25, 2011
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I just have a thing against thumb studs. Every folding knife I get must have a thumb hole. Has nothing to do with funcion, just the looks. I know it's in my head.

BUT, I am not able to try out a lot of blades due to my innability to go with a thumb stud.

So, try to convince me to branch out.
 
Yo Mama said:
I just have a thing against thumb studs. Every folding knife I get must have a thumb hole. Has nothing to do with funcion, just the looks. I know it's in my head.

BUT, I am not able to try out a lot of blades due to my innability to go with a thumb stud.

So, try to convince me to branch out.
Click to expand...

Guys with thumb studs are studly; chicks dig 'em.

Although seriously if it's nothing to do with function and you don't like how it looks, not sure how to convince you to branch out, really. I think both look good. But there are knives with thumb studs, like a nice Cold Steel Voyager... couldn't imagine passing on it just because it was studs and not a hole.
 
I know I'm in the minority here but I don't like Spydercos because of the blade hole. I owned a Tenacious and a Delica 4 FFG for awhile. Don't get me wrong; they are amazing, lightweight knives, but the Delica 4 just felt fragile to me. Granted I'm not generally stabbing concrete blocks with my EDC knives, but I would like my EDC to be capable of being pressed into hard use, prying, etc. in an emergency situation. I feel like the blade would just instantly snap if you had to pry with it in the very unlikely case of an emergency. Just my OCD thinking about stupid things like this. But I also feel that thumb studs just look more aesthetic as well.
 
Personally, I love thumb holes for function, but I think they often look kinda doofy. I love my Spydercos, but they all look perpetually surprised, which makes me grin, but doesn't exactly make my mind leap to elegance. I actually prefer thumbstuds from an aesthetic view, some of them are ugly, some are just there, but done right they can offer a flash of contrast, reinforce a more industrial theme, or you can just throw a jewel on there and bling that bad boy out. The Sebenza is a good example, it's not my cup of tea, but the elegant, minimal lines are offset so effectively by the flash of blue that I have to admire it.
 
RedLynx said:
Guys with thumb studs are studly; chicks dig 'em.
Click to expand...

Thats funny my girlfriend always says she "likes the one with the thumbstud" when comparing different knives. I never really understood. Guess the chicks do dig 'em
 
Im not going to try to convince you.
I got rid of a NICE ZT550 because the damm thing gave me a callous on my thumb.

Besides,
can you spydie flick a thumb stud. Nope.
 
Well I like the LOOKS of knives with thumb studs better than the holes, but for the most part the holes function better than the thumb studs.
 
I prefer no holes, studs, buttons, switches, flippers, or nail nicks. I just use the Force.

yoda-empire-strikes-back.jpg
 
I like the way they feel better and also think they deploy better. Doesn't having a big opening hole make for a weaker blade since there's less steel causing a weak point? That's my thought on them.
 
Yo Mama said:
I just have a thing against thumb studs. Every folding knife I get must have a thumb hole. Has nothing to do with funcion, just the looks. I know it's in my head.

BUT, I am not able to try out a lot of blades due to my innability to go with a thumb stud.

So, try to convince me to branch out.
Click to expand...

You gotta think back to when you hadn't tried and adjusted to a thumb hole. At least for me, at first thumbholes were awkward cuz I was used to thumbstuds. A few spydies later and one forgets that thumbstuds are actually quite useful too. While I do prefer the hole, like your post, I like lots of blades. If I didn't get thumbstud knives anymore I'd never have got t my Al mar eagle, which I love!

That's the great thing about knives, your not married to em... you can bang as many as you can afford!
 
I am a thumb disk fan... But ideally I prefer the blade to carry enough weight to be flipped out without a disc, stud, hole, wave or flipper.
 
Thumb studs will give you callous.I have a few with those studs and the only one I can flick open is the crkt drifter.
It also affects my sharpening technique as the studs touches the stones.
 
theaggregate said:
I am a thumb disk fan... But ideally I prefer the blade to carry enough weight to be flipped out without a disc, stud, hole, wave or flipper.
Click to expand...

What do you prefer to carry man? I can "flip" a knife open if I hold the blade and use the weight of the handle, but I don't consider that ideal or safe... wondering what your preferences are if you carry knives you can flip with none of the above.
 
Thumb hole can sometimes make the knife a little too wide when closed. This bugs me because I keep my wallet in my front pocket and it makes it tough to get my hand in to retrieve it.
 
Learn to nail flick and you will never have an issue with a thumb stud again. The thing with studs is that they give you better purchase to flicking a knife open. I had a large Grip in both drop point and sheepsfoot at the same time and I just could not flick the sheepsfoot like I could the drop point. Flicking a thumb hole is such an unnatural motion compared to a stud when you get used to it. You can relearn the thumb hole, but it is like learning a secret you should share but can't, nothing is ever the same.

Thumb studs are also available from every manufacturer, but only a few do thumb holes. Check, and mate.
 
Relax and follow the swinging watch with your eyes...You are getting sleepy...you are relaxed and in perfect harrmony with the world...thumb studs are a joy to use and with their use the world of knives becomes a celebration of function and art...you will become at ease and comfortable with all opening, locking and closing mechanisms and will awake totally refreshed, and have no memory of this session, but upon hearing the word "Sebenza", you will flap your arms like wings and cluck like a chicken....now you will awake on the count of three...one...two....
 
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