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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2017 20:08:24 GMT
Seems a lifetime ago (almost two decades) I picked up a Randall Gilbreath folder. That knife has a tip down clip. I came across a highly polished sibling recently and felt the need to adopt it. Even the liner lock is jeweled. These are from about 1990 or a bit earlier. Before they were even called tactical knives. About the size of a Buck 110 with 4 1/2" blades and 5 " handles. The polished one is much smoother but the tip up or down doesn't make a difference to me. They actually fit in a pouch together, so they are much like a case of rapiers (not). Save me from the dark side of knife collecting. They take up so much less space. My connection is really funky right now but I will update with more pictures next week. Tip up or tip down? I know the wave crowd likes tip up.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Sept 9, 2017 20:55:38 GMT
I prefer tip up marginally, but in the end it usually doesn't matter to me. More important to me is the tension of the pocket clip. Too tight is super annoying, and too loose is virtually useless.
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Sept 9, 2017 20:56:38 GMT
I prefer tip up marginally, but in the end it usually doesn't matter to me. More important to me is the tension of the pocket clip. Too tight is super annoying, and too loose is virtually useless. no truer words were ever spoken about anything
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Post by randomnobody on Sept 9, 2017 21:45:11 GMT
That's a nice pair of knives; simple and utilitarian, but attractive enough.
As for tip up or down, now that I think of it, I tend to prefer my pocket-clip knives to be tip down, but my non-clip folders tend to rest in my pocket tip up. Of the latter, almost all are manual-open and require two hands, one has a thumb stud. In the former group, almost all have thumb studs, one's a flipper, and the other is a Spyderco. I think the Spyderco is the only one that rides tip up. I feel like I find it easier to pinch the exposed end of the knife in such a way that as I pull it off my pocket it sort of falls into my palm, whereas if I have to reach all the way into my pocket (eg no clip) it's just as quick/easy to already have my hand around the knife? I'm sure that's not helping to visualize what I'm imagining, but maybe comes close enough.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2017 22:18:37 GMT
The clips on these two quite nice. Deep enough for the seam of a jeans pocket and not so much spring that would rip a dress shirt but hold it securely. These are ti handles. Flickable but nice tight lockup. Smoothly tight enough that the blade doesn't wander open easily. With no backspring, this is important. I have had the first one long enough to look and they have teflon washers. Forgive the poor photography and fingerprints. Most of the Gilbreath knives that surface are folders. I wish the chute knife on ebay now wasn't $600. I almost bought one of those more than a decade ago. Some are like old friends. The two other folders on the bay now have circulated a few times. These ti guys were not uncommon, in a sense but still few and far between now.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2017 23:38:51 GMT
Really flaky connection today. Here are some more. The same but different. It's not hard to spot differences seemingly day to day. I wish I had saved pics of other's of this general batch he did. Mostly differences in the blade grind. A couple similar were an inch shorter overall. I did have a problem with my Kershaw Whirlwind, as it had a proclivity to open in my pockets. The tip up on this Gilbreath puts the blade towards the outside seam of a pocket, rather than the Kershaw, witch would point towards my crotch. The clip on the Kershaw flimsy as well and when I'd put it in a work coat breast pocket, would always attach itself to the seatbelt. I tend to like fobs or such for deep pocket and on my Al Mar Eagle, had removed the clip just because of the tip up. So I guess that means I'm a tip down vote for universal pocket options. My little Benchmade is tip down and it worked wonderfully in a shirt pocket with thumb stud right there when reach for it. Something in my email the other day was a notice from the AKTI folk talking about a repeal of the interstate sale of autos, which would be great news. A separate topic kinda but very related if we have more autos being carried out there.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2018 19:13:19 GMT
Well, another case of when are too many not enough. I spotted another of these Gilbreath folders an felt the need to adopt. This one also tip up but a few years earlier, putting it in the mid 1980s. Thicker stock all around and a smidge smaller than the other two. Lacking some of the later refinements but truly a bench made knife. The previous owner had bought it from Gilbreath's table at a show. Really stout and bead blasted, this one will see some use for sure.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2018 19:36:57 GMT
This goes back when a Sebenza was but a dream. The US patent is Pocket knife United States Patent 4347665 A pocket knife is disclosed herein having a body including a pair of side portions separated by a spacer so as to define a storage cavity for a knife blade. The blade is pivotally carried by its end from a selected end of the body between a stored position and an open or operative position. A releasable lock mechanism is operably carried on the body for retaining the blade in its open position. The blade is provided with a cutting edge along an underside and a cutting edge of shorter length is provided along the top side and a finger depression is formed on the blade adjacent to an enlarged portion for grasping by the thumb of the user for urging the blade from its closed position into its open or operative position. A clip is incorporated into the body for supporting the knife in a pocket, on a belt or the like. More at the page. It is not Gilbreath's patent patents.google.com/patent/US4347665A/enwww.freepatentsonline.com/4347665.htmlLook familiar?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2018 19:38:51 GMT
Maybe it was just the clip, as that shows a back lock.
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Post by RufusScorpius on Jul 28, 2018 11:48:19 GMT
Tip up or down? I've had lots of both and I can't really tell where one is better than the other or if one has some advantage over the next. It seems to me that it comes down to a matter of what you are used to carrying. It is a bit annoying to carry tip up for a year, then change knives to tip down and every time I pull out the knife I had to flip it around in my hand to open it because my muscle memory was set for the other position.
I beleive as enthusiests and collectors we, as a group, tend to overthink the smallest details and unintentionaly make too much of an issue out of nothing. Up or down: who cares? As long as the clip holds the knife, that's all that matters. You've got a really nice pair of knives, just enjoy them and don't worry about anyithing other than keeping the edge sharp.
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