Why I carry tip down

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gte217e

gte217e

Dealer / Materials Provider
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Before you rip me a new one... here's my explanation.

When grabbing the knife from my pocket, my index finger and thumb are pinching the knife near the pivot. As the knife comes out, it naturally spins at that point and my index finger is exactly where it needs to be to deploy the flipper tab. For thumb stud knives, my thumb is equally at the perfect location to deploy the blade that way.
Also, since my car has keyless entry and ignition, I dangle my car key fob off the lanyard hole with a keyring and so the fob is out of the way of the knife at all times. If I'm driving, I'm guaranteed to always have my knife on me.
I just find that I am able to deploy a tip down carry knife faster than a tip up carry (excluding Emerson's wave function).

For tip up carry, I'd need to stick my thumb deeper into my pocket to prevent needing to choke up on the knife first to get into the proper deployment position. It's fine, but not my preference.
I generally will carry a knife that is tip up if I am not driving since I won't leave home without a blade.

My carry knife for tip down is a Hinderer XM-18 3" (I've carried this knife for at least 6 years now and is the older non-triway version).
My carry knife for tip up is a Rockstead Higo II but I may look for something else that isn't too fancy but would need to be a knife that can take a beating like my Hinderer.

In my other pocket is my KeyBar with the built in small removable razor blade attachment.
 
It makes me no difference, tbh. I just get used to the knife generally.
The last few weeks I have been carrying a Matriarch 2 in my right front pocket as a beater work knife. It's tip up as it came. When I draw it, the Spydie Hole lines up perfectly with my thumb.

In my back right pocket I carry a Civilian. For this I keep it tip down as it's easier to pinch and Spydie Drop and bring it up to action.

Both are fine by me.
 
Blues said:
I carry tip down, tip up and I'm perfectly okay with either. I can see why folks have preferences, but I've never had an issue adapting to the knife.
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This all day long. I think deploying the blade from tip-down carry might be a fraction of a second slower, but in the real world that doesn't matter in the least. For each their own, but I've alway seen the tip-up vs. tip-down issue as something for arm-chair Rambo's and people with OCD to worry about.
 
Everything I’ve previously had was tip up till I got my first hinderer. No problem getting used to tip down at all. Works just as you described. I did notice the clip felt better in hand on the hinderer and have been wondering if clips generally feel better in the tip down figuration. Just haven’t switched any other knives to check and see.
 
riversidedep said:
This all day long. I think deploying the blade from tip-down carry might be a fraction of a second slower, but in the real world that doesn't matter in the least. For each their own, but I've alway seen the tip-up vs. tip-down issue as something for arm-chair Rambo's and people with OCD to worry about.
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Be safe out there, Dep. From a retired brother in arms.
 
My first knife was tip down, I believe when clips were first invented most knives were tip down. Spyderco of course changed this when they started molding handles for knives like the Delica, the integrated clip would have gotten in the way of the blade pivot. Since then a lot of knives have been manufactured tip up.

We have these threads frequently and I've learned all the answers. I was a knife enthusiast but before I got real serious I carried a folder with 3" blade tip up, it worked fine for me. When I bought larger knives the ones that were tip down worked better, I could deploy them faster. I started looking only at tip down knives but eventually realized that I was missing out on some good designs such as the Manix 2 so I started buying them and I learned how to make tip up work. I really like the Manix 2 and I carry it a lot so I probably carry tip up more than tip down.

A lot of people like tip up for various reasons- things such as security because they can push the blade against the seam of their pocket, the ability to use a lanyard, things such as that. I've also discovered that a lot of people who like tip up are able to work with them because they wear different clothing than I do. My jeans are relatively tight so I can't get my hand way down into the pocket to grab the knife. I draw with the pinch technique and that puts my thumb and finger where they need to be to open the blade. With a tip up knife, especially a big one, I have to do some gymnastics to be able to open the blade. I've done tests and comparisons and tried different things, tip down works better for me, my blade size, my hands, my clothes, my technique.

YMMV. I'll say that roughly 3/4 of people tend to prefer tip up for whatever reason.
 
iu
 
I carried point down, Spyderco para 2.


Until the jimping, behind the hole, started to tear my shorts pocket up.


It got switch to point up and quick. I like my shorts. Bought them at Murdoch's. $25 bucks. I'm not made of money. Looking at you, Spyderco.
 
Some designs are awkward for me to pull out of my pocket and open it tip up. Some aren’t. I have an Ontario Utilitac 2 and it came with the clip oriented tip down and I just never moved it. It became muscle memory to pull it out and open it. My Benchmade 551 is tip up and it’s also second nature even though it’s the opposite. Last weekend I got a Cold Steel Air Lite and it’s tip up and I find it very awkward for some reason.

I say do whatever works best for you
 
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