Tip up or Tip down?

euroross

euroross

Joined
May 19, 2008
Messages
1,746
Which one is better and why? Ive always carried tip down, but Ive read that some people hate this. Sorry if this has been on here before but Im new to the Spyderco forums. Thanks.:)
 
I don't have a great preference for either, but in general I prefer tip down simply because if the knife should open slightly, the tip and edge aren't waiting to bite me if go to grab it.
 
See thats my thinking as well. But the more I read on BF the more haters I see for Tip Down. I dont get it.
 
Many here on BF's like tip up due to the ease of deployment right out of the pocket. Tip up allows you to skip the step of repositioning the knife once taken out of the pocket. Also while tip up you could position your hand on the knife right as your hand enters the pocket.

I carry both ways and don't mind either. But I do find it a bit faster to set up for deployment while tip up.
 
ZippoThisKnifeThat said:
Many here on BF's like tip up due to the ease of deployment right out of the pocket. Tip up allows you to skip the step of repositioning the knife once taken out of the pocket. Also while tip up you could position your hand on the knife right as your hand enters the pocket.

I carry both ways and don't mind either. But I do find it a bit faster to set up for deployment while tip up.
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+1
Tip up is my preference.... :thumbup:
Ease of deployment over tip down.
 
If I did tip up on my delica 4, would I put the blade facing to the rear or front? Im right handed.
 
Alann45 said:
I don't have a great preference for either, but in general I prefer tip down simply because if the knife should open slightly, the tip and edge aren't waiting to bite me if go to grab it.
Click to expand...

Depends on the type of knife and where it is in the pocket. I will not carry a tip down liner or frame lock at the rear of the front pocket for this reason. Got my middle finger impaled by a liner lock with a faulty ball detent pulling my keys out of my pocket once. Thankfully the manufacturer--NOT Spyderco--didn't know anything about heat treatment so the thing would routinely go dull despite little to no use.
 
euroross said:
If I did tip up on my delica 4, would I put the blade facing to the rear or front? Im right handed.
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The blade should be facing the rear of your pocket in the tip up position so when you draw it all you have to do is use your thumb on the Spydie hole and open the blade.

-Tye
 
I've been carrying tip up for a while (faster deployment), but just yesterday I had my Kershaw open slightly and I reached in to my pocket and got a pretty damn good one. Probably could have used a stitch or two...:)
Here on out it's tip down!!!
 
Tip up for me...


Tip up, the point of your knife is close to your hand if anything goes wrong.



With dip down, what part of your body is the pointy part near, if the knife were to open? :eek: :eek:
 
ZippoThisKnifeThat said:
Many here on BF's like tip up due to the ease of deployment right out of the pocket. Tip up allows you to skip the step of repositioning the knife once taken out of the pocket.
Click to expand...

Not true for knives bigger than the Delica :thumbdn:

Tip-down is way faster to deploy. You pinch the pivot area to pull the knife out of your pocket, pull up, use your middle-finger to get the knife's back to touch the palm of your hand, then deploy. No fumbling to get your thumb on the hole while in your pocket to deal with and tugging at the knife from the bottom and getting it stuck on your pocket lining (aka the pivot area when tip-up in the pocket).
 
I have absolutely no problem deploying my original endura and rescue from a tip up position, with no fumbling whatsoever. Your pants must be excessively tight - maybe time for a diet :D :p
 
i carry mine tip up. but i wear a right hand clip on the left side. keeps the blade against the seam of my pants so there wont be a chance of me accidentally cutting myself. i did that once with my atlantic salt se. went to grab for my keys and the blade had popped open. didnt feel too good.
 
Tip up, if it's a small handle. Bonus points for low riders.

Tip down if it's large, and I prefer HIGH riders.
 
THG said:
Not true for knives bigger than the Delica :thumbdn:

Tip-down is way faster to deploy. You pinch the pivot area to pull the knife out of your pocket, pull up, use your middle-finger to get the knife's back to touch the palm of your hand, then deploy. No fumbling to get your thumb on the hole while in your pocket to deal with and tugging at the knife from the bottom and getting it stuck on your pocket lining (aka the pivot area when tip-up in the pocket).
Click to expand...

that's how I do it with my millie and endura. I really wondered how they could deploy faster tip up.
 
ZippoThisKnifeThat said:
Many here on BF's like tip up due to the ease of deployment right out of the pocket. Tip up allows you to skip the step of repositioning the knife once taken out of the pocket. Also while tip up you could position your hand on the knife right as your hand enters the pocket.

I carry both ways and don't mind either. But I do find it a bit faster to set up for deployment while tip up.
Click to expand...

+2:thumbup::thumbup:
 
I prefer tip up carry. Like it has been said before, when you pull the knife out of your pocket, your hand is naturally in a position to deploy the blade. When I pull the knife out of my pocket, I insert my thumb into the pocket itself while my fingers remain outside around the pocket clip. Once the knife is slid out of the pocket I can open it immediately, as my thumb has been positioned over the thumbstud/spyderhole simply by the action of pulling the knife out.

If the knife is tip down, you have to rotate the knife 90 degrees backwards into your palm before you have a surface to oppose the force deploying the knife.

I've heard arguments that tip down is more secure than tip up for blade retention. However, if you carry a tip up knife as far back as possible against the corner of your pocket, then the knife can't open in your pocket.
 
Tip down for me generally, but really it goes more like this...

Work knives : Tip down RRP only
General EDC: Tip down preferred but not essential.
Dress knives: Anything goes...

IMO the one aspect which greatly affects safety and is often left out of the discussion in the Tip down vs tip up argument is how you carry, and which way around the spine of the blade sits in your pocket i.e RRP, RFP or IWB. I'll prefer to carry tip down RRP but will not carry tip down RFP.

Bo
 
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