Tip Up Guys: How CAN you cut yourself?

[GarageBoy]

I've heard of many guys who carry tip up cut themselves. Ok, the clip is on the right side of the knife (right handed guys) and it's in right pocket, so shouldn't the spine rest on the seam of your pants?

 

[DaveH]

Take any righthand tip up knife, which I think assumes the clip is on the "finger side" not the "thumb side". Put it in your front pocket on the right side furthermost towards your hip. The blade is againt the seam.

Take the same knife and switch it to the back pocket on the right side, furthermost against your hip. TADA! Blade is not againt the seam.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Personally I beleive incidences of tip-up cutting or impalement are grossly exaggerated. I've been carrying clipped knives of various sorts for....about twelve years now, not as long as most 'round here, but long enough to have been around the block, and I've had one cutting injury, which was MY OWN fault, not the knifes' That one occurred when I put zip ties through the opening hole of my Axis AFCK and didn't trim them worth a damn, the sharp edge of the remaining zip tie caught my pocket, it opened, and I got a small cut on my thumb, not even necessarily super glue time if I recall correctly. Bear in mind that was my own redneck engineering, not the knifes fault.

I have however had tip down knives work thier way open once or twice when wearing loose pants, no injury occurred there. since since I caught it. On these I chalked it up to just plain life. Not everything can be controlled in life, feces happens. During both incidents I was engaged in extremely rigorous activities,which compounds the likelihood of such incidents.

Being the reckless daredevil sorta guy I am, I prefer tip up carry, but I won't turn a good knife away cuz it's tip down either. I really think it's a kinda overblown debate in alot of ways. With lawyers running around and class action lawsuits being so trendy, do you really think they would make knives with clips at all if either method were a serious issue? These knife manufacturers aren't dumb by any stretch of the imagination ya' know...

If it were to come up as a problem, first thing I'd look at is the blade itself and how loose it is. I suppose I could imagine such incidences coming from two bit China clones and the such.

 

[Gollnick]

so shouldn't the spine rest on the seam of your pants?

Yes, it should.

And tires shouldn't go flat either. But sometimes they do.

And sometimes due to careless re-pocketing, due to motion, due to your selection of material for your pants, due to other things in your pocket, due to brushing against other things, etc, etc, etc, a knife will move away from the pant seam.

And when it does, gravity can pull the blade down and open.

 

[PhilL]

"Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot."

 

[frank k]

If a knife opens in your pocket, you are much more likely to get cut or stabbed by a tip up blade because your hand is exposed to the point and the edge. With a tip down blade you are less likely to get cut because your thumb tends to come in contact with the spine of the partially open blade and not the edge.


For pocket carry, I tend to stick with tip down lockbacks that hold the blade closed under some spring pressure.





- Frank

 

[Richard]

I dont think its all that common, although I have one knife that is tip up that has poked me. It is a Beretta folder with the aluminum handle. The thumbstuds are wider than that handle. As the knife comes out, the studs would get caught on the top of the pocket of my jeans. Since most of the spine is already out of the pocket, the blade will open. Easy fix was to remove the studs since the cut outs on the blade work perfect for one hand opening anyways.

 

[Blades]

I've cut myself one time with a tip-up knife. I use to carry my Spyderco Delica in my left front pocket, and it "bite" me once. I think my keys pulled it open, because that was the only time it ever happened. I carry my Vesuvius tip up in my right rear pocket, haven't had any problems with it.




Blades

 

[biogon]

With tip-down blades, you're likely to stab yourself in your leg.

Or your ass.

Like I almost did. Scared the living daylights out of me.

Now almost all my carries are tip-up (not by choice, just coincidentally) and I unconsciously check its "safety" every so often.

-j

 

[Danbo]

I have had a Large Sebenza open up in my pocket several times, and a couple of those times I sliced my hand a little. No more tip up for me.

 

[Jazzman]

I've been nicked before, luckily nothing serious. I still carry tip up however. I guess I've become accustomed to it.
Matt

 

[PWork]

Take off the clip and put it in a sheath.

Paul

 

[OwenM]

Originally posted by PhilL
"Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot."

And there you have it!
It's called operator deficiency.
Some things just need a little common sense, and some people just aren't qualified.