Anyone else not carry Cold Steel folders in a back or front jeans pocket because the pocket clips are WAY too tight?

DangerZone98 said:
My only concern here is possibly accelerating wear and tear on the knife. Not to mention scaring the crap outta everyone else in the room.

But it definitely has a place in emergency situations though. One handed movement to deploy the knife that doesn’t rely on fine motor—pretty useful.
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I wave all my cold steel folders that I carry, and carry one almost daily. The ones that don’t come with the thump plate I add a Snaggletooth to.

I’ve noticed once the lock bar seats fully, it stays there without noticeable accelerated wear. On a triad lock, waving puts the pressure on the stop pin and tang. Haven’t seen any denting of the blades or stop pins.

About scaring people, I’m not waving open in a coffee shop or library.
 
Remove and sand under your pocket clips. CS grips are very textured, and your hand isn't gripping under the clip, anyway, so that's only shredding your pocket and making draw more difficult.

After sanding under the clips, I've never had to adjust clip tension. At all. Not one bit.

This is also important since I've seen reports of clips snapping, which compounds into quite a problem when added atop the lack of customer service from our new overlords at GSM.

Sand under clip. Add Snaggletooth if necessary. Profit.
 
HolyRoller said:
This is also important since I've seen reports of clips snapping,
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Which Cold Steel knives have you seen reports of clips snapping? Never felt that sanding the handles, which are usually much harder to replace than pocket clips, is the better solution.

Edit: I’ve only seen aftermarket recon 1 handles come to market in the past 2 years, can’t think of any other models with an aftermarket supply of handles. On the other hand, there are many aftermarket clips for many models. Never had (nor seen) a broken CS clip unless it was an early Voyager or a Grik with a plastic clip.

Definitely agree on adding a Snaggletooth!
 
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jux t said:
Which Cold Steel knives have you seen reports of clips snapping? Never felt that sanding the handles, which are usually much harder to replace than pocket clips, is the better solution.
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Just saw someone on Reddit try to loosen a clip on an SR1 Lite. That's a stout clip, too.

And you don't need to take em to a belt sander. Literally a few seconds with some 150 grit will knock down the texture enough to smooth out pocket draw.

If you have to replace your grips because you smoothed out a section your hand doesn't contact... You're probably not using the knife in the first place. Lol. Just leave it in the box and keep it factory standard. 🤣
 
HolyRoller said:
Just saw someone on Reddit try to loosen a clip on an SR1 Lite. That's a stout clip, too.

And you don't need to take em to a belt sander. Literally a few seconds with some 150 grit will knock down the texture enough to smooth out pocket draw.

If you have to replace your grips because you smoothed out a section your hand doesn't contact... You're probably not using the knife in the first place. Lol. Just leave it in the box and keep it factory standard. 🤣
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Yeah those have wide clips. Out of curiosity, do you know of any other models? The ti-lites, recon 1’s, code 4’s and voyagers don’t break, they’ll bend way out.

For those, I’d rather not sand the handle, it usually looks bad unless the whole handle is sanded. Not nearly as bad looking as when people use epoxy to create a smooth area under the clip, though!
 
jux t said:
Yeah those have wide clips. Out of curiosity, do you know of any other models? The ti-lites, recon 1’s, code 4’s and voyagers don’t break, they’ll bend way out.

For those, I’d rather not sand the handle, it usually looks bad unless the whole handle is sanded. Not nearly as bad looking as when people use epoxy to create a smooth area under the clip, though!
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Don't know any offhand, but time will tell if this is as serious an issue as I think it is. We're still in a transitional phase, waiting to see the final impact on QC with GSM at the helm.

A Recon1 from a year ago may be fine. A new one? Who knows. Could simple be a fluke, but I've always avoided stressing my pocket clips anyway.



If sanded right, you can make it looks like it came that was from the factory. Personally, my CS folders are for go, not for show. Not super worried about an ugly patch, since they're gonna get rode hard and put away wet, anyways.

I try to only get hung up on the aesthetics if it's a dressin' up knife. Ymmv.
 
HolyRoller said:
We're still in a transitional phase, waiting to see the final impact on QC with GSM at the helm.

A Recon1 from a year ago may be fine. A new one? Who knows.
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Some members here have new Recon 1’s. I have a little insight here. Have a decent collection of both old and new versions of the same knives, including Recon 1’s, Code 4’s, Voyagers, Tuff Lites, among others. 12 or more recent GSM knives.

Haven’t noticed a difference in quality, besides one g10 handle being dusty/dry on the very surface. The steel/ht and pocket clip material/quality on my models have not changed. The clips on my new ones can still be bent without breaking.

Likely that SR1 Lite’s clip is less tolerant of bending than others. Or the person who posted that on Reddit may have bent it back and forth too much.
 
jux t said:
Some members here have new Recon 1’s. I have a little insight here. Have a decent collection of both old and new versions of the same knives, including Recon 1’s, Code 4’s, Voyagers, Tuff Lites, among others. 12 or more recent GSM knives.

Haven’t noticed a difference in quality, besides one g10 handle being dusty/dry on the very surface. The steel/ht and pocket clip material/quality on my models have not changed. The clips on my new ones can still be bent without breaking.

Likely that SR1 Lite’s clip is less tolerant of bending than others. Or the person who posted that on Reddit may have bent it back and forth too much.
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Glad to know the OG models have maintained their quality at least.

I don’t trust the new atlas locks, lmao.
 
I bent a clip out on a new Cold Steel right now on a table with a pliers and a rag to keep it from getting scratched. What a bastard that was. But it now works like a normal pocket clip that I can actually use in a jean pocket, so I'm happy.
 
PsychoSword said:
I bent a clip out on a new Cold Steel right now on a table with a pliers and a rag to keep it from getting scratched. What a bastard that was. But it now works like a normal pocket clip that I can actually use in a jean pocket, so I'm happy.
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I do this as well with most cof my CS knives. Doesnt work too well on the Luzons though 😅
 
PsychoSword said:
I bent a clip out on a new Cold Steel right now on a table with a pliers and a rag to keep it from getting scratched. What a bastard that was. But it now works like a normal pocket clip that I can actually use in a jean pocket, so I'm happy.
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How exactly did you do that? Where did you hold clip with the pliers? How did you use the table?
 
I just basically just did this on the end of a cheap kitchen table. It took a bit of force. Not sure where I held the clip.. a place I thought was best I guess. I'm probably going to do the same thing with an AD-10 now.

 
Thanks for the explanation and the picture.

I used either a vise or a clamp for the cold steel clips.
I was always very careful not to break the clip. I then repeated this process several times.
Additionally, with the clip installed, I clamped several layers of cardboard and left them like that for a while.

This was tedious, but produced good results.
 
Yea, I don't have a vice in the garage anymore, so I just had to get medieval on its buttocks. My results were good as well.
 
My concern about bending the clips while they are on the knife is pulling the screw(s) out or compromising the threads.

My first line of attack is to put a quarter under the clip overnight then a quater and a dime, then add coins and let it sit for a week; it works for me though not as quick and certain as other methods mentioned here. Besides being gentle on the clip and screws, it's gradual and allows for trying the knife in my pocket as things progress.

Yes, it's kind of a PITA, but not a big one.
 
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I do still carry in front pocket but adjusted the clip on my large voyager though it still damages my thinner material jeans. My finn wolf clip came real tight but the smoother texture wasn't an issue. I'm thinking of getting a recon 1 but the g10 I think may be even worse on jeans even if loosen clip.
 
I prefer to carry my knives concealed, so I don't clip them into my pockets. I only use the clips to verify orientation, and some have clips switched over for dedicated left pocket carry.
The clip is a handy place to secure a quarter.
The Vaquero hides and rides nicely in the pocket, and is already deployed before it can be seen.
 
I sand my cold steels and bend clips as needed. For the price and intended use treat them as intended. Yes I know for some people an $80 knife is a lot of money and a big purchase but for a lot of us we simply spend to much money on knives and these are not the top of our collection.

4max scout - fully sanded and clip bent

Voyager XL TANTO - sanded under clip and slightly adjusted

Voyager XL VAQUERO - sanded under clip and slightly adjusted

Counterpoint XL - sanded under clip and adjusted

Talwar XL - slightly adjusted

Blacktalon 2 - nothing came perfect

Old school recon 1 G10 - Nothing

Airlite - massive reprofile of scales for my liking.

Code 4 Tanto - gave it away
 
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