Origin of tip-up

[Joel McNamara]

Sal:



Quite some time ago I recall a discussion on the origin of tip-up models. The story went that up until the Delica/Endura, all Spydies had the clip mounted on the pivot end of the handle (tip-down). Because of the lower price point, compared to the previous all steel models, a decision was made to change the position of the clip to decrease the one-hand opening speed. The rationale was because of the price, the new models would be more available to less than civil folks.



Is there any truth to this, or was tip-up simply a required function of design with the molded handles?



Joel



(The story came from a rec.knives post ages ago. Unfortunately Deja is no longer carrying message threads over a year old, and I can't precisely reference the source.)

[sal]

Hi Joel. Actually your memory is good. There were two reasons for the tip up choice.

1) as you mentioned, we knew that the lower price would make the knife more popular.

Our concern was having a bunch of kids doing quick draw drop openings, either in public (giving perhaps a less than desirable image). or...

2) the tip up draw is more easily executed. A drop opening requires some practice. We didn't want kids throwing them down into their foot. Also the lighter models require considerably more force to snap the lighter handle down. More than I felt was safe for beginners.

sal