tip up- what am I doing wrong

Thumb on inside of pocket. Slides along left side scale.
Index finger rides the spine of the knife.
Middle finger curlers slightly to hook bottom of clip.

Squeeze.. pull... and flick open
 
bdmicarta said:
I've tried. I can feel the edge of the hole but I can't use it to pull the knife out. I'm well over 6' tall and have long fingers.
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Weird. I'm 5'10" with medium hands. As a sidebar I do carry my Spyderco Military tip down and draw and open it pretty well the same way as you do.
 
Isn't the big benefit that it won't come open in your pocket near as easy? Neither tip up or tip down is instantly in the correct grip when it comes out.
 
Thumb in pocket as deep as can be comfortable. Hand turned inward like you going to draw a gun. Thumb and point finger is going to draw while the middle finger tries to wrap the butt of the handle and the forth if possible. Then when you take it out you work your fingers up the blade while your thumb finds the hole. Its like 1 2 3. And if you want this to be fast you gotta flick with your nail
 
tip down only carry for me. Tip up has to many steps.

Of course I carry some tip up blades (like the sebenzas) but if I have choice like in some spydercos like the para 2 I have it tip down. Also sliced my finger a few times with tip up.

Bottom line is I don't have to juggle the knife as much with tip down. Tip down also easily transfers to back pocket carry where tip down is a clear disadvantage in back pocket. I also like to carry 3"+ knives so that also has something to do with prefernces of tip down carry. I don't carry mini knives except traditional folders.
 
colubrid said:
I also like to carry 3"+ knives so that also has something to do with prefernces of tip down carry. I don't carry mini knives
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I agree size is a factor. I used to carry a tiny knife and it worked fine for me tip up (a Benchmade mini-grip). The only tiny knife I'm likely to carry these days is a Spyderco Dragonfly and when I carry it I'm doing it as a second knife so I just drop it in my pocket. The knives I carry frequently these days range from PM2 on the small side to Military and Manix 2 XL on the big side.
 
"When I get it in my hand you can see how far my thumb is from the blade hole."
you make a huge mistake at 4th pic. just don't rotate it this way. just pull it out of pocket and don't let it go anywhere except under your palm while you toss it up, that moment it is going up with the blade tip pointed up, and your hand is OVER the handle's spine already so you just grab it after it fly up enough, and then you can immediately FLIP your favourite 4" (or larger) flipper or open any thumbstud etc blade)))
i never carry tip down except of knife in rear pocket where it is perfect way to clip carry a knife and not get it opened inside pocket
 
Wowbagger said:
G. Scott H.,

I finally got what you were talking about . . . I think . . . and it works. . . are you hooking the lowest tip end of the clip with your finger to pull the knife off your pocket ? (with your thumb well down in your pocket obviously)
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I hadn't thought of it till you mentioned it, but yes, I do. :thumbup:
 
I carry IWB and generally prefer tip down. But with a long handle knife like the Military, I like the It carried tip up just fine. I ve never thought about what I do when I pull my knife and open it with my right hand. Whatever I do seems to come natural and easy. Maybe I don t want to overthink it!
 
bdmicarta,

I have exactly same problem and have been rewinding & checking Spyderco's video on how to select a knife, where Michael Janich explained that tip up is easy. I could never figure out how. :o
Thanks for asking and getting many good responses (thank you all!). I'll give it a try.

PS: mostly I carry clipless with lanyard so I could use it to inch the handle into my palm.
 
When drawing tip up, rotate so the back of your hand is facing forward as you pull up.

When drawing tip down, rotate the other way by dropping the butt of your palm as you pull up.

EZPZ :D:D:D
 
I used to carry tip down and draw like you did. I bought a manix 2 and got used to tip up. I find if you grab the end of the clip with your middle finger to pull the knife up then it feels great. I've only more recently started liking tip up carry because of where the clip ends up while using the knife though a small clip makes it acceptable.

I don't know that a deep carry clip works well with tip down as it puts the hook of the clip right at the edge of the handle and I love deep carry.
 
filtrum said:
tip down is good if you are left handed, so it carries in left pocket securely.
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I find if you put your knife set up for tip down right hand carry and you put it in your left pocket then it is in the worst position to open. Thisnis because the closed blade spine is against your palm.
 
I've read a lot of threads about this on many forums including this one. I have determined solely by reading such threads it is a matter of personal preference. :)
 
Lapedog said:
I find if you put your knife set up for tip down right hand carry and you put it in your left pocket then it is in the worst position to open. Thisnis because the closed blade spine is against your palm.
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No. That would put the spine against the back of your left pocket.
 
uxo2 said:
Thumb on inside of pocket. Slides along left side scale.
Index finger rides the spine of the knife.
Middle finger curlers slightly to hook bottom of clip.

Squeeze.. pull... and flick open
Click to expand...

I never thought about it before now, but this is how I do it. Two fingers into the pocket.
 
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