Anyone who carries a knife will tell you just how to put a knife with a clip in your pocket. You slip it into your pocket so that the clip is facing outward and the knife itself is tucked into your pocket.
That’s the conventional way… but not everyone likes to follow convention.
Some carry it like this:
In this method of carrying, the carrier will clip the knife outside the pocket — leaving it exposed and very visible. I haven’t reached out to Sal Glesser from Spyderco (who pioneered the pocket clip on the knife in the original Spyderco Worker), but I don’t think this was the original intent.
And if you think this is a very uncommon method of carrying, think again. A fair amount of people have reported seeing others carrying knives this why.
So, why would someone carry a knife this way? Let’s take a look.
They’re new to knives.
I would argue this is one of the biggest reasons why people carry a knife this way. They are gifted a knife for the first time and clip it to their pocket on the outside, assuming that’s the accepted way.
For most, a simple whisper of “Hey, it’s better if you clip it inside the pocket” is a good way to inform them.
Their pockets are too small.
As a man, I have large, deep pockets that can carry a Cold Steel Recon 1 XL without much problem. Unfortunately, for women or those men who prefer tighter clothes (no judgment), pockets tend to be significantly smaller or simply for show.
If a knife doesn’t fit inside the pocket, the only way to carry it is clipped to the outside.
