Tip-up, or tip-down carry

[KevinF]

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!

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]

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

[mike skellern]

The problem with tip-up carry is that it is potentially dangerous to the user. There are quite a few reasons that can allow the blade tip to catch onto the clothing when pulling the knife from the pocket. The danger of the blade being deployed while being pulled quickly from a pocket should be assessed by all who use this mode. it is simply Murphy's law that the blade will sooner or later open at the wrong moment. With the tip-down carry, it is usually not too difficult to learn to flick out the blade in a hurry if needed.

[harm]

you're correct Mike,but a well made folder [something by that guy down South Coast maybe?] will not open in the tip up position.
i favour this position,and make my folders this way, as i find that access to deployment is quicker. a folder is not my primary sd blade,but i practice access to deployment with whatever folders i edc.
i have carried folders extensively [in my hip pockets] during very vigourous movemnts [jumping off low walls,out of vehicles,rolling,sparring,groundfighting] and have never had this happen,even with moderately-built production folders.now i'm not saying this won't,just what i've experienced.

[Buffalo Hump]

I was a big fan of tip up until a self-defence instructor explained to me why he preferred tip down and it made a whole lot of sense to me. I just need to find it again.... but it pretty much boiled down to the grip you have on the knife as you draw it. I think the exception lies with Emerson knives, which obviously need to be tip up for the wave to function.

[koganinja]

I've been casrrying tip up

---------- Post added at 14:54 ---------- Previous post was at 14:53 ----------

carrying, sorry. Mispelled

[da_panman]

For me tip down has always worked well. I tend to flick the blade out as I draw allowing the knife to reverse in my hand blade pointing backwards to my right as I take a step back, effectively hiding the blade behind my arm until the last moment. This allows me that crucial second to assess the situation and respond. It's also great seeing the expression on the BG's face as he is tries to figure out just what the hell you just pulled out, but he knows it's there and that it's coming for him if he persists.

[BEX]

I carry my CRKT M21 tip down. I switched it to tip up for a while but didnt like the grip I had on it when drawing.

When tip down the big hole in the scale on the oposite side of the pocket clip helps to swivel the knife while drawing with the effect that I have a good grip and my hand in the best position to flip the knife open.

Tip up feels a bit faster with the M21 , but tip down more secure.

[prepare2win]

for SD, tip up with a wave-like opening device. not only is it lightning fast, but it reduces the amount of grip manipulation needed to bring the knife into play. Under stress, fine and complex motor skills suffer badly, which is why I prefer fixed blades for SD- just grab and stab.

you can make a quick, easy, cheap wave style opening mod to thumbhole folders with a couple of cable ties zipped up tight through the hole and trimmed. (do one from each side so the cube bits sit on opposite sides) the benefit is that unlike regrinding the hole into a wave, its temporary and you can just snip off the cable ties if you want to.

[CJ]

I prefer folders with a back locking mechanism made for tip up my guess is they wont open easily at unwanted times ... and I don't use the clip... for better concealment.

Just some 5c worth......