Tip down carry reasons?

L

Leo3an

Joined
Dec 21, 2017
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183
I have only carried tip up, right pocket. Or tip up, inside jacket.

Does anyone carry tip down? What is the benefit or reasoning behind this?

Thanks in advance!
 
Personal preference. I carry in my right rear pocket so it works for me. It is worth noting that when clipped pocket knives were first created that tip down was the most common configuration. I think I may prefer it just because of that. It is what I got used to initially. For me it is more natural but I am in the minority it seems. I find it is often more ergonomic as well but again that is subjective.

I carry knives in both configurations and it won't stop me from buying a knife I like but I prefer tip down.
 
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Leo3an said:
I have only carried tip up, right pocket. Or tip up, inside jacket.

Does anyone carry tip down? What is the benefit or reasoning behind this?

Thanks in advance!
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It's obviously down to personal preference.

Blade orientation in pocket doesn't matter that much to me , but if I have the choice a knife is more comfortable in hand when the clip is at the back end.

As a lefty though, I have noticed when a clip is tip up the knife is positioned more naturally for me if it happens to be right side only.
As a teenager with a hundred flea market folders it was easy to get used to carrying a knife wherever the clip was mounted since they were never swappable
 
I carry tip up, right pocket. When I pull the knife out, rotate once to left, deploy blade. Thats my personal preference.
 
Thanks all.

I somehow thought tip-down carry had a separete function. Like, if you have a folder, on a shoulder strap, it makes sense to have a knife in tip-down configuration. Since your hand would in a supinating position, when grabbing a knife on shoulder strap.
 
I've heard several people make the argument that tip down works better on larger folders because unless you have very big hands, it requires less manipulation to get into position than does tip up.

Honestly, the more I've played with it, the more I tend to agree. Though I still far prefer tip up myself.
 
If a knife has multi clip positions I almost always prefer tip up. However if a knife I like is only tip down it doesn’t bother me and is certainly not a deal breaker when everything else about that knife is great. Perfect example would be the Spyderco Military, one of my all time favorites, I am perfectly fine with it being tip down and even if it were multi position I might still leave it tip down because it rides perfect as is in my pocket.
 
Tip down.
Reason: If for some reason the blade partially opens while in your pocket, you are less likely to stab or slice your hand when you reach into said pocket.
 
Halador said:
I've heard several people make the argument that tip down works better on larger folders because unless you have very big hands, it requires less manipulation to get into position than does tip up.

Honestly, the more I've played with it, the more I tend to agree. Though I still far prefer tip up myself.
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It’s true that on larger knives tip down tends to make your hand fall more naturally on the thumbstud when drawing the knife.

That said I greatly prefer tip up since I often carry right hand tip up in my left front pocket. Right hand tip down in left pocket is pretty awkward.
 
I'm a belt an suspenders kind of guy. If the tip is pointing down, then even if the detente lets it open, it is not going to open very far. So, I consider tip down safer and it is my preference to carry my knives that way. I have no interest in how fast I can open the knife. The rope or whatever it is that I'm going to cut isn't going anywhere.
 
I agree with all that it is a personal preference, and it depends on how you use your knives. For me, I carry my work knives in my right pocket of my jeans, tip up. After a few times of catching change and other things between the blade and the liner while crawling around, I found that I couldn't get the knife open easily or worse, a dime would force open the knife just a tiny bit when forced in. A couple of bites doing that (getting change out of the pocket not knowing the knife was open a tiny bit) and I now carry all my work knives tip up with the blade firmly against the pant seam. No way it gets forced open from change in the pocket.

Robert
 
Prefer tip up as the knife falls more easily into my hand, but I could live with tip down if necessary, thinking of the Spyderco Military.
 
Usually tip up, but that doesn't keep me from buying/ carrying a tip down model. And once in the pocket I've noticed I really don't notice
 
I'm cool with tip up or tip down carry. I'm used to both at this point(tip up may have a teeny advantage), what it really depends on is the knife. If the knife doesn't sit well in the standard configuration then I'll try to change it(if I can).

As an example, my Domino came tip up and after just a few hours I ende up switching it to tip down because it just didn't feel right. Now it carries the way I'd expect it to.
 
I tend to prefer tip up RFP for most folders. I’ve never had a problem with the knife opening in my pocket even in work out pants and shorts.
Spydercos are typically the only knife I like tip down as I can pinch the thumb hole as I remove it from my pocket and snap the blade open with minimal effort or movement and the handle falls right into my palm. Works esp well as I tend to carry pretty much just the Para 2, the military or the all stainless Endura.
 
Tip down for ease of mind that you wont get cut as easily if knife deploys in your pocket.

It's really about the additional safety if you don't mind the increased deploy time from pocket.

I don't carry folders for self defense nor do I really use them all that often, so fast deployment is a non issue for me.
 
I have and do carry both ways depending on the knife. However, after seeing and reading about a few instances of tip down carry having the blade deploy in owner's pocket with the tip pointing toward...uhhh...an important part of you, I've shifted most of my knives to tip up with the blade opening toward the outside edge of my pocket, and the knife clipped tightly up against the outside edge of my pocket as well (which further restricts its ability to deploy). This for me is not about speed or anything, it's mainly for safety and I think this approach may reduce the chances of accidental deployment and injury. I have no data or hard evidence, just that it seems like it would be harder for the blade to pop open this way, and if it did, at least it wouldn't be deploying inward toward your body. That said, I've carried tip down for many years as well, and never been hurt by a blade deploying in my pocket. It's hard to prove anything either way since there isn't a lot of data gathering that I'm aware of on 'accidental folding knife deployments.' :)
 
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