Hole or thumbstud?
It's probably been done (the disscusion) but there are models that I would prefer with a hole (keep you dirty little minds in check) and I like the oval hole, looks less spydercoish which IMO lack easthetics and imagination but that's for another time.
And who sais it has to be just a hole or a oval hole, could be a nicely ground groove or a slit to give purchase to the thumb, I always thought that the Ritter blade would look interesting with a oval hole, for example.
The thumbstud has it's drawbacks, it limits the full cutting ability of the blade as it gets in the way, some times my Contego gets opened on the way out of the pocket by the stud like that wave action and a few other drawbacks.
Any input?
And who sais it has to be just a hole or a oval hole, could be a nicely ground groove or a slit to give purchase to the thumb, I always thought that the Ritter blade would look interesting with a oval hole, for example.
The thumbstud has it's drawbacks, it limits the full cutting ability of the blade as it gets in the way, some times my Contego gets opened on the way out of the pocket by the stud like that wave action and a few other drawbacks.
Any input?
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If given the choice I'll always take the opening hole. BM's are a little small, I love the 14mm spyderco ones. I find with gloves the hole is much easier to use. That being said the flipper on my hinderer is better than both 
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quote:Originally posted by SCSU74:
If given the choice I'll always take the opening hole. BM's are a little small, I love the 14mm spyderco ones. I find with gloves the hole is much easier to use. That being said the flipper on my hinderer is better than both
You modification of the BC/520 was actually the inspiration for this thread and I do like the hole better, when ever I use a knife with a thumbstud for food prep there is always some crap trapped around the thumbstud plus on a few models they actually get in the way of the sharpening stones of my Lansky.0 -
I’m a big advocator for BM’s thumb-studs, but holes are nice too. I’d like to see a regular AFCK hole on a Ritter Grip That’d be cool!
They should change it up a bit & experiment - us knife nerds would go nuts lol0 -
Some models look better with one or the other. I think the 806 looks best with the round hole. The oval hole doesn't look too bad either. A thumb stud wouldn't have done it for me though.
BTW, I never use holes or thumb studs to open Axis knives. I bet some of you always open and close with an Axis flip...right?0 -
I prefer a well positioned stud over a hole on most knives. But looking at the 30 knives in the current rotation there are probably as many holes as studs.Its just one feature of a knife. I will grab an 805 over an 806, but use both. On the Lum's or 800-1101 a stud would seem weird. So, I it might be safe to say its based on the design of the knife.
Also, the oval hole never worked out well for me.... Might just be me though.
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I find studs gen'ly work better (faster) for me w/ or w/o gloves, but the hole placement on the 806 and the BC blades make them just as effective. 550 is slowmo molasses for me tho, which is why I seldom carry it.
Pity, as I love the blade design.0 -
quote:the oval hole never worked out well for me...
Agreed ...... round is more functional , IMHO0 -
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805 Thumb-hole Club -- President0 -
I've always had a problem with the oval hole. As the blade starts to move open, the angle of the oval changes and it slightly bites against the thumb, sometimes messing up the blade from swinging open smoothly. I had to learn to get my thumb out of the way once the blade starts moving.quote:MCM wrote...Also, the oval hole never worked out well for me.... Might just be me though.
Like I mentioned before, just using the Axis flip to open the blades eliminates most of these problems, but if I have gloves on, a stud probably works better.0 -
quote:(keep you dirty little minds in check)
You know you just limited my post ......LOL0 -
Studs for Studs 
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I have knife models that I like that have holes and I have knife models that I like that have studs, and I have a few knife models that I like that have flippers.
Basically comparing my knives I find that all holes are not created equal and all studs are not created equal. The larger holes that Spyderco uses are most functional for me, both because of the size and because the edges of the holes are fairly sharp. It is very positive for me to hit the hole with my thumb and get enough grip to open the blade. I have some knives with thumb studs that work well also, such as the Benchmade 581 and the Kershaw Blur, especially the Blur. The size and sharp edges of the thumbstuds on the blur also make it easy to hit and get enough force transferred to open the blade. All of my other knives are significantly less positive and that includes my Benchmade 760 and my old AFCK. At some point I find that the thumb studs are smaller and positioned such that they barely stick up above the scales, you have to hit them just right in order to get enough force on the stud to open the blade. For some knife models it just takes me longer to open a knife like that.
The negative aspects of the blade hole is that it can significantly weaken the blade. I see this and worry about it but I have never heard of it actually being a problem. The other aspect of the blade hole is that it usually makes the blade taller and the knife takes up more room in the pocket. This affects most knives of the size that I like except for something like the AFCK and it has a relatively small hole and not much metal going over the top of the hole.
I don't normally worry about whether a knife has a hole or thumb stud when I consider buying it, I look at all of the features of the knife as a whole.0 -
quote:Originally posted by dj:quote:the oval hole never worked out well for me...
Agreed ...... round is more functional , IMHO
this has been my experience as well...
As far as whether holes or studs are preferred... I think it really depends on the design of the knife.0 -
get a strider and you can have both.))
i will take the hole,i started with them in my early years.0 -
My only contribution to this thread is that I just today purchased a full sized Griptilian with an oval hole in 154CM steel.
I like it because the profile is less tall than a round holed knife.0 -
quote:Originally posted by something:
As far as whether holes or studs are preferred... I think it really depends on the design of the knife.
Pretty much…
I think a stud is very practical, and the blade retains more strength.. Could be biased, I only own one knife with a hole - onslaught, & I’m not too crazy about it.0 -
Not crazy about the onslaught???
That's one if the blades I want to get my hands on.
I prefer studs on medium and small knives, larger knives generally get axis flipped, wrist flipped(not wrist flicked, ya know done lightly like a thumb flick) the main reason is that smaller blades get a lot wider, larger knives only get a bit wider.
For sharpening I prefer holes, saves me the step of removing the studs.0 -
Honestly, I'm not too fond of the way Benchmade executes the Spyderhole in general. I have an admittedly small number of Benchmade models with the thumb hole - an old Ascent, the recent limited AFCK, and, most recently, a full sized Onslaught. On Benchmades, I much prefer thumbstuds.
I'm not too sure how much positioning factors into it, but I think it's mostly the smaller diameter compared to Spyderco's implementations.
But I also do notice that the edge on the hole isn't as crisp on Benchmades as well. I know before Benchmade used to chamfer the edge of the hole, which gave it less bite, but, as I understand it, they've stopped doing that. Even among Spyderco models there are differences; my Sage 3 has a noticeably crisp (almost uncomfortably so - feels a little freaky) hole compared to my various Para 2s.0 -
I just picked up a full size grip with the oval hole and 154CM blade. I like the oval hole. I own a few Spydercos and really don't see that much difference. Plus I really think the oval hole looks much more Griptilian like. Benchmade should bring it back. 0 -
I generally find the stud easier to engage than the hole, but that depends on the position of either in relation to the handle and the pivot. I liked the Onslaught except that my thumb passed the hole if I wasn't careful. A stud wouldn't look as nice on that knife, but it would work much better. 0
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