Tip-up, or tip-down carry

**KevinF** · 13-06-2010, 20:57

I've always carried folders in the tip-up position - to tell the truth, I never even considered tip-down carry to be a possibility!

Recently, however, I've increasingly become aware of the fact that many folders are only available with a carry clip in the tip-down postion, whilst others - SOG as a noticeable example - now make provision for either tip-up, or tip-down (in addition to right or left side) carry.

Does anyone have any experience or opinions regarding the pro's and con's of these two modes of carry?

**SGB** · 13-06-2010, 21:07

I prefer the tip up carry, it allows for faster deployment.

**Bundu Ric** · 13-06-2010, 21:08

Would the tip up or down carry not depend on the speed at which you want to dpeloy and the actial design?

Why would you say tip up deploys faster? Only with some blades or all?

**ikor** · 13-06-2010, 22:34

I'm with SGB...tip up for me.

**andy_760901** · 13-06-2010, 22:40

hi there Kevin, i have caried a few diferent knives and have mostly preferred the tip up carry method, i am right handed, so the market being flooded for tip up right handers suits me just fine, i did carry a CRKT Crawford Casper for some time, which goes against the masses and is a non-reversible tip down carry. And ill be honest, i am just as fast with this as i am with most other tip up carry knives, i think that more important to the tip up/ down carry argument, would be the manner in which the knife is designed to open the blade. Tip up/ down can be learnt, and both can be equally fast to draw with, but the mode of opening i find can lend itself to being the most problematic on knives, if not a tryed and proven system, or one that does just not mate with your hand or finger size, etc etc.

In short i do not think that tip up or down matters as much as what you have practised with and are familiar with. I own a lot of top end knives now, thanks to my buying spree, some go for R400-R500, some retail for R6K. In the end it is not the most expensive that necessarily will be best for you. I think that Benchmade and Gerber and so on are good, but for me first prize is Cold Steel. you should find something to suit you in their wide range of knives and im sure you will find that most knives are making provision for tip up and down carry on the left and right side of the handle, what can not be customized on these knives is the manner in which the knife is designed to deploy. Find a good quality knife with a decent locking mech. that you can reliably and quickly open every time, even under stress, and then chose the manner in which to carry i.e. tip up / down as it suits you personally. remember what works for me, may not necessarily work for you. Good luck and sorry for the long winded response... they say that this is the difference between an intellectual and someone of diminished intelligence, is that intelligent individuals take a sentence to say what idiots take an essay to explain...

**marthinus** · 13-06-2010, 23:35

Search youtube for Tip-up vs Tip-Down. Cutlerylover goes over some key aspects one can keep in mind.

**Lone Ranger** · 14-06-2010, 00:24

please remember that when choosing a knife for a particular reason, the features of the knife must suite your needs. Also remember that not every knife is made for self defence. My gerber for example is an excellent blade, but its a took. It carries well but is deployed slowly. For self defence, quick and easy deployment of the blade is crucial... Hence, you'll most probably be lead back to a tip-up carry blade... Or a fixed blade

**KevinF** · 15-06-2010, 20:00

Thanks for your comments Andy - in contrast to your self-depreciating remarks, I consider one of the most significant aspects of intelligence to be the ability to convey something complex & difficult in a simple & easily understood way. Thanks

I fairly recently got into folders (in my profession, fixed blades are too difficult to conceal & would certainly be considered to be unethical to carry by our wonderful professional board), and until recently carried cheapies that worked pretty well for what I paid for them. All were co-incidently set up for tip-up carry only.

Recently however, I have been led astray regarding quality by Seneschal - Gunsiters beware, he is an evil, wicked man whose passion for knives is highly contagious and who regularly and with malicious intent sells amazing knives at such ridiculous prices that it is impossible to resist!

Originally Posted by marthinus

Search youtube for Tip-up vs Tip-Down. Cutlerylover goes over some key aspects one can keep in mind.

Definately food for thought - thanks for the YouTube reference.

LR, I also valued you comment - the purpose for which the knife is designed is clearly significant - I also have a Gerber (bought from Seneschal - see what I mean), which is beautiful, but not at all suited to SD, whilst the SOG Pentagon Elite and Spydie Kriss he sold me (see, see!!!) are absolutely awesome for this purpose.

It seems to me that tip-up appears to be slightly less complicated than tip-down (unless the blade opens in your pocket unknown to you, which could be quite messy). Otherwise there doesn't really seem to be much difference, other than personal preference and that training & practice (like most things) is more important than carry mode.

Guess I'll stick to tip-up, mainly because I'm used to it.

**Lone Ranger** · 15-06-2010, 21:09

Originally Posted by KevinF

Definately food for thought - thanks for the Yo
Guess I'll stick to tip-up, mainly because I'm used to it.

used to it makes you better at it... muscle memory

make sure however that "used to it" means used to fighting with it.

as a general comment... used to it may leave room for repair as many things did whilst training with and learning from people on this site