Thumb stud vs hole

I like Spyderco but here's a counterpoint. I've had a bunch of thumb stud knives with good, crisp, snappy detents. It's satisfying in the same way a good flipper is satisfying. Knives like the Mini Domin or Begleiter, Tangram Santa Fe, or even the Ontario Rat 2 are extremely satisfying to flick. I just haven't had that with Spydie hole.

Given, all my Spyderco experience except for the Manix 2 and Sage 5 have been back locks. I haven't tried any frame or liner locks from Spyderco. For back locks, I can get a good flick without wrist action on my Dragonfly 2 and my Rockjumper. It's just nowhere near as satisfying as the popular thumb stud knives mentioned above. The Manix 2 and Sage 5 also lag behind. Locking mechanisms aside, some of the difference between holes and thumb studs seems to involve the starting position of my thumb and how it has to travel.
 
I like Spyderco but here's a counterpoint. I've had a bunch of thumb stud knives with good, crisp, snappy detents. It's satisfying in the same way a good flipper is satisfying. Knives like the Mini Domin or Begleiter, Tangram Santa Fe, or even the Ontario Rat 2 are extremely satisfying to flick. I just haven't had that with Spydie hole.

Given, all my Spyderco experience except for the Manix 2 and Sage 5 have been back locks. I haven't tried any frame or liner locks from Spyderco. For back locks, I can get a good flick without wrist action on my Dragonfly 2 and my Rockjumper. It's just nowhere near as satisfying as the popular thumb stud knives mentioned above. The Manix 2 and Sage 5 also lag behind. Locking mechanisms aside, some of the difference between holes and thumb studs seems to involve the starting position of my thumb and how it has to travel.

My Native 5 works great on a slow roll with either hand and it's probably the most comfortable next to the GM Grand (running on bearing making it that much smoother). BM Adamas (lg & sml) studs work fine, Umnumnzaan takes some getting used to but still works ok for me. My Les George is the best out of all of them, fits really well in my hand and the stud is easy to manipulate, on bronze washers too. It's as fast or faster than any flipper I own and barely noticeable to an OTS. The Demko AD20 was really stratifying (sold it), hole and stud and being a larger knife it was "slower", the VECP is much quicker.
 
Good question. I use to be all about the Spydie-hole, but now I have 0. I guess I’ve just come to really like a well designed and placed thumb stud. (Looking at you Sebenza)
 
There's nothing more righteous than a Pro-Tec's
button being pushed, and that blade deploying like it was launched out of a cannon...
 
There's nothing more righteous than a Pro-Tec's
button being pushed, and that blade deploying like it was launched out of a cannon...
I so so so want to experience the greatness that is a Pro-Tec. I've yet to obtain one and I've always wanted to.
 
When they fire: it's SERIOUS!
Do not wait to get one...
 
I like Spyderco but here's a counterpoint. I've had a bunch of thumb stud knives with good, crisp, snappy detents. It's satisfying in the same way a good flipper is satisfying. Knives like the Mini Domin or Begleiter, Tangram Santa Fe, or even the Ontario Rat 2 are extremely satisfying to flick. I just haven't had that with Spydie hole.

Given, all my Spyderco experience except for the Manix 2 and Sage 5 have been back locks. I haven't tried any frame or liner locks from Spyderco. For back locks, I can get a good flick without wrist action on my Dragonfly 2 and my Rockjumper. It's just nowhere near as satisfying as the popular thumb stud knives mentioned above. The Manix 2 and Sage 5 also lag behind. Locking mechanisms aside, some of the difference between holes and thumb studs seems to involve the starting position of my thumb and how it has to travel.
Agree that you can get some great actions from well tuned thumbstud knives. That being said, if you only have tried spyderco back locks and a manix 2, you owe it to yourself to try some of the compression lock paramilitary line. They can be pretty snappy if tuned right.
 
Personally like the hole more. Studs tend to poke and get in the way more. I remember adding studs to knives years ago and being impressed with the ease of one hand opening. I also remember removing them…. Still have some thumb stud knives - factory, not added - but prefer the hole. Spyderco nailed it with that option.
 
I'm surprised that about everyone likes the hole so much better. But after receiving my first Spyderco para 3 Monday...... I kinda like the hole. Now to master the Spyder flick. The thumb is to easy. I have 2 zt flippers, they are ok but thumb and hole are 3x faster to deploy. I've always thought as my edc knife as a tool, but just in case, i want something easy to grab from the pocket and quick to deploy to get in front of you if needed to protect yourself. I'm new here as well. I've really enjoyed this post. Thanks op
Thanks for your indight
 
My situation is a bit odd...
But so far: only my Para-3 seems to work with my thumbs.
The rest will deploy with varying degrees of slowness...
Thumbstuds (to me); all seem to work uniformly.
And the flippers just flat-out rock the house!
 
Agree that you can get some great actions from well tuned thumbstud knives. That being said, if you only have tried spyderco back locks and a manix 2, you owe it to yourself to try some of the compression lock paramilitary line. They can be pretty snappy if tuned right.

Did you miss the Sage 5 on my list? "Tuned right" might be the issue. I think mine has a weak detent. I've heard from other people who feel the detent on their Sage 5 is a little "blah" too. The difference is that my detent experience involves like a hundred liner locks and just one compression lock. I may try messing with mine to see if I can improve it.

Still, I think there is a difference between thumb studs and holes in terms of geometry and thumb interface. The contact surface of a thumb stud is more like a point versus the contact surface on the rim of a Spydie hole. The Spydie hole knives I've tried also put the hole in a different place than most thumb holes and have different shapes. It varies from knife to knife but generally, it feels like my thumb has to travel farther and at a wider angle to initiate a proper flick from a Spydie hole.

Of course, I say this as a guy with a Rockjumper in his back pocket. Another thing to consider is how comfortable a particular stud or hole is. For instance, some thumb studs can be sharp and pokey. Fixing that can be complicated or made an issue by anodization, coatings, etc. Meanwhile, some Spyderco knives have very crisp edges along the rim of the Spydie hole. So long as the blade isn't coated, that's extremely easy to fix with the proper file. Chamfering the Spydie hole on my Rockjumper went a long way towards improving overall comfort in use.
 
Good question. I use to be all about the Spydie-hole, but now I have 0. I guess I’ve just come to really like a well designed and placed thumb stud. (Looking at you Sebenza)
Yes the sebenza and inkosi studs are awful. I couldn't even one hand open the large 21 I had, so I sold it.

Best studs I've experienced are on my SG Spider Monkey.
 
Did you miss the Sage 5 on my list? "Tuned right" might be the issue. I think mine has a weak detent. I've heard from other people who feel the detent on their Sage 5 is a little "blah" too. The difference is that my detent experience involves like a hundred liner locks and just one compression lock. I may try messing with mine to see if I can improve it.

Still, I think there is a difference between thumb studs and holes in terms of geometry and thumb interface. The contact surface of a thumb stud is more like a point versus the contact surface on the rim of a Spydie hole. The Spydie hole knives I've tried also put the hole in a different place than most thumb holes and have different shapes. It varies from knife to knife but generally, it feels like my thumb has to travel farther and at a wider angle to initiate a proper flick from a Spydie hole.

Of course, I say this as a guy with a Rockjumper in his back pocket. Another thing to consider is how comfortable a particular stud or hole is. For instance, some thumb studs can be sharp and pokey. Fixing that can be complicated or made an issue by anodization, coatings, etc. Meanwhile, some Spyderco knives have very crisp edges along the rim of the Spydie hole. So long as the blade isn't coated, that's extremely easy to fix with the proper file. Chamfering the Spydie hole on my Rockjumper went a long way towards improving overall comfort in use.
Ya I missed that but the comment still stands i think. My experience has been that the Paramilitary line almost always has a stiffer detent than the other compression lock knives including the Sage 5, Shaman, and kapara. It could be true for other compression lock knives in their lineup as well but I havent handled those.
 
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