What is tip up and tip down?

[David Williams]

I assume that when the knife is clipped inside the front pocket and the blade tip is pointing down that is tip down. Right? I have read descriptions on this and other forums that confuse me because one knife type (BM 710) has been called tip up and tip down. If my assumption is correct then I prefer tip down because my thumb hits the thumb stud/blade hole when I pull my knife out of the pocket. Seems faster to deploy than tip up.

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"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb

 

[Yekim]

You got the Idea..Tip up and tip down refer to the direction the point of the blade is pointing when the knife is folded and clipped into the pocket. As to the BM710 being both, it is not. It is tip up, but reversable, meaning the clip can go on either side for those lefties among us (or those righties that carry a lefty as well).

As far as your choice, that is a personal matter. I like tip up. That is what I am used to, and I can deploy it faster (ask Carver..

) than a tip down knife. For me it also allows for a more secure grip from the get go. Sal Glesser, on the other hand, is pretty darn fast with a tip down knife(or so I have heard). I have had no problems with My BM 710's thumbstuds catching when being deployed. I have carried a CRKT Mirage, and have had thumbstud drag with that, despite it being a tip up knife.

YeK

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It is not a matter of whether or not you are paranoid, it is a matter of whether or not you are paranoid enough.

 

[fracmeister]

Well....I agree with tip up being faster for me for folders.... but tip down is the only way I carry my Nemesis.

And it is pretty fast.

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Dances with lemmings

 

[Brian_Turner]

Now that I have two tip up knives (Wegner and Lum), I'm starting to get very comfortable with the Spyder hole drop opening, so Sal's perspective is becoming apparent to me. The difference in quickness, however, is truly negligible with practice, and it becomes a genuine matter of preference.

You are vulnerable, however, to accidental blade exposure if a tip up knife does not have a sturdy detent to hold the blade in the closed position while it sits in your pocket. I have never had this problem at all with my Spyders, however I have heard the concern voiced, and I can definitely understand it!