Spyderco Advocate Titanium Frame Lock Knife (Gen 1)

Seriously, why cant Spyderco make a flipper that doesnt suck? I went to the knife shop to check out the Sliverax (no, not Silverax, SLiverax; apparently they're no better at naming flippers than they are designing them), and the damn thing pinches your finger with the lock every time you flip the blade open. But that's nothing compared to this beauty, the Mantra 3, that I got stuck with because I apparently went insane for just long enough to prepay for the thing months before its release. Look at the choil: [image] ...and for some perspective on how a normal-sized hand fits the handle, here's this: [image] My fingers are pulled back so you can see the size of the handle, but otherwise that's a natural grip. Now, looking at that pic, does the choil seem like a necessary feature? Does it seem like the knife might be seriously unsafe without it, because the index finger would have absolutely nothing inhibiting a straight, smooth slide right on to the cutting edge of the blade? If you said, "hell no, that choil is totally superfluous" then congratulations, you could be a Spyderco knife designer. Because that choil is an aftermarket addition I made with a dremel tool. The knife was designed without one. I ground one in because it was a choice between that or throwing it in the garbage--I wouldnt give a knife with that kind of terrible, unsafe design to someone I knew, and I wouldnt feel right selling it either. I honestly couldnt believe my eyes (and finger) when i first picked that knife up. And now here i see that the Advocate is junk too? My god, im just giving up on Spyderco flippers. Id be thinking about an Advocate because i figured all Ti build would = decent quality. Guess not. Thanks for the heads up.

I watched the video but do not buy that argument. I have the Resilience which is very close in size and shape and have never had an issue opening. I had to actually check and see if I was scooting it up in my hand because I never thought about it. I am not. When I grab a knife from my pocket, I do not grab it on the end like in the video with thumb and index finger. I insert my thumb inside the pocket along the hilt while my index finger lands under the pocket clip so my hand is in, or very close to, exactly where it need s to be to open the knife. Not sure if this in the usual for most people or not. As I said, I actually had to pay attention to how I did it to see why opening it was not a problem for me. I wonder if Spyderco has an explanation. The safety issue of the knife opening in your pocket...maybe. Maybe as in that is some kind of military requirement? That said, after decades, I do not recall that ever being an issue for me. So, still a tip up guy here. Even for big blades.

The Military is tip down because you wouldn't have been able to comfortably open it one-handed otherwise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VnaNPcVQVA