Tip down or tip up???

I like tip down because when I pinch the top of the knife to pull it out of my pocket, my thumb goes into my pocket and grabs near where the thumbstud/hole/nail nick is. As i pull the knife out of my pocket, it fills up the palm of my hand as i go to grab it, and it comes out ready to be opened.. If the knife is tip up then i have to grab the bottom of the knife, and flip it around in my hand, or like choke up on it to get my hand in the right position, which I find to be a strange interaction with the design..

I also like what the OP said about keeping the pivot up out of the depths of your pocket keeping it away from lint and stuff, never thought of that, good point :thumbup: unfortunately it seems that most knives are tip up carry, and though its not a deal breaker for me, I do not like it.
 
Tip up. I train this way, I work this way, I carry this way. I wont buy a knife if it isnt capable of tip up carry.
 
It depends on usage and features of the knife. I have carry knives with both configurations that I can present and open comfortably. For casual carry of EDC blades I'm not too concerned, and leave the clip as it was when I got the knife.

For situations where the knife has to be brought into action quickly I generally prefer tip up carry, if the features (clip, handle and opening device) make it possible. I find it easier to carry autos tip up, which keeps the opening mechanism away from my fingers when I pull the knife out and allow me to use my middle finger to push up on the clip to position the handle in my (right) hand so I can work the safety with my index or thumb before pressing the opening button. Regular knives without a thumb stud or hole, I prefer to carry tip down so I can flip them open by holding on to the base of the blade, although this technique can be a bit dangerous when performed under stress.

Personal preference, comfort, and hand dexterity are the final determinants in all cases.
 
I prefer tip down and almost all of my knives operate that way. I think I have 2 that are not tip down. When I first started buying knives with clips years ago they almost all came tip-down. More recently there have been more knives available for tip up.

This question can cause arguments almost on the level of a holy war. I've read lots of threads and watched youtube vids on one vs the other. I've seen people on youtube film a vid of them pulling a knife out of sweatpants or pajamas to support their preference. I contend that the type of clothing might influence the carry but also on youtube you can mask slight of hand to produce the outcome that you want.

I wear tight jeans and when I pull a tip down knife out I pinch the end of the knife between my thumb and first finger. Once the knife is out of my pocket my fingertip is right where it needs to be to hit the blade hole or thumb stud. I have a Benchmade mini-grip that only allows tip up. When I pull it out I push my thumb as far in my pocket as I can and pull the knife out. I have big hands and with a short knife like the minigrip my thumb ends up close to the thumb stud so it is fairly easy to open. My other tip up knife is a Benchmade Barrage which is a fairly long knife. Even with big hands when I pull that knife out my thumb is not anywhere near the thumb stud so I have do inch up the knife to get to opening position and this takes time. It seems to me that the people on youtube that can pull out a long knife and open it quickly are either wearing unconventional clothing such as pajamas so they can get their hands deeper into their pockets or they are doing a very quick slight of hand once they get the knife out so they can open it. Well if they have an opening strategy that works for them then I guess it works for them, I just cannot get it to work for me with my real man pants.

For the most part I will only consider buying knives that offer tip-down carry, but one of the best knives I've bought is the M390 Barrage and I bought it despite it being tip up only.
 
Tip down without a doubt. I carry right rear pocket up against the outside seam/edge. Right hand carry tip down puts it in the ideal position. The blade is forced into a corner, so it couldn't ever open accidentally, and when I reach in my thumb is ready (pull it out with my top two fingers and my thumb).

I've never understood tip up. It doesn't seem to work well at all for my RR carry, and for FR pocket I guess it would work, but then I'd be leading with my index finger all the way inside the pocket, whereas tip down I can just grab the pivot area with the pad of my thumb and pull out, pretty much regardless of the size of the knife.

Its obviously user preference, and it makes no difference to me how anyone else does it, but I do wish that more knives were available tip down (preferably all 4 mounting positions to be honest).
 
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It doesn't matter to me mostly It depends on the knife. Some just feel better one way or another.
 
Tip up, for comfort and consistency I suppose.
I've always carried tip up and it's just what feels right, both in pocket and in hand.
It's also easier for me to draw and actuate the knife the way I naturally do.
I actually won't buy a knife if the clip can't be positioned for tip up carry.
 
Whatever way it came with the knife. First of all I rarely clip my knives to my pants, and even if I did clip my knives to my pants I don't care how fast I can draw the knife and open it because I don't carry it for tacticool reasons.

For arguments sake, if you're talking about which way is faster/more natural, I would say tip up because the way I reach into my pants to draw the knife out my thumb ends up near the hole or the stud. When I do tip down I always have to reposition my hand first before my thumb ends up near the hole/stud.
 
Tip sideways!:D

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For knives with a clip, I prefer tip down. I've poked myself too many times with a tip up, and I find I can index the flipper very quickly with a tip down orientation.
 
I do not really care one way or the other. Sometimes I carry tip-up in both pockets. Sometimes I carry tip-down in both pockets.

And sometimes I carry tip-up R/H and tip-down L/H.

Or Vice-versa.

Talk about confused!
 
I prefer Tip Up on pretty much any knife. It' s pretty much a deciding factor if I buy a knife or not.
 
I honestly cannot stand tip-down and the only knives I will carry tip-down are Spyderco's. I think I don't like tip-down because most of the knives I have bought are all tip-up.
 
It doesnt bother me at all. I started with cheap knives and they were all tip down. My new higher end knives usually come in tip up. I usually keep them in the way they come in so I dont get picky when a new knife comes out and dont buy it because of the clip.
 
I usually like tip up or clipless. Depends on the design too. The Spyderco Meerkat wouldn't work tip up and the wire clip is unobtrusive and allows deep carry. A plus with tip up is that you can place your fingers against the clip when opening the knife one handed and it's out of the way when gripping the handle while cutting.
 
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