I have one of the early Spyderco Guntings. I am enamoured of this knife and use it as my daily carry and utility blade.
I have one of the early Spyderco Guntings. I am enamoured of this knife
and use it as my daily carry and utility blade.
I have been looking for ways to carry my Gunting in my pocket in circumstances where it is not appropriate to wear it openly. I had several long telephone conversations with Frank Olesen at Skunkworks (509-534-6113) about my requirements, and Frank designed a pocket holster for me. Frank is also the equipment director for Common Sense Self Defense. Both Frank and I are fans of Greg Kramer’s pocket holsters for small pistols. The Gunting holster is designed to have the same type of functionality, although the materials and appearance are quite different.
The pocket holster is designed to be worn with slacks or suit pants, although it will also work with other types of pockets. The sharp tip of the Gunting ramp is enclosed in kydex to minimize wear on the trousers. The J shape of the holster engages the top of the pocket and retains the holster in the pocket as the knife is drawn. The holster is designed to be ambidextrous, in that it will work in either front pocket.
The holster grabs the knife with a tight grip, requiring the knife to be rocked forward to break the grip prior to drawing it. An alternative is to not quite seat the knife all the way in the holster. The holster still retains the knife, and the knife can be drawn directly upwards out of the holster. The knife can be drawn with thumb and index finger, or if the pocket will accommodate more of the hand a fuller grip can be taken prior to drawing.
The knife can not be easily reholstered while the holster is in the pocket. The stem of the J is composed of two thin flaps of kydex, and the tip of the ramp must seat between the flaps. Reholstering requires the holster to be removed from the pocket, and the ramp to be positioned properly prior to seating the knife in the holster.
This is the best of the pocket holsters I’ve tried. The other method that I believe to be equal to this holster is the use of a small knife pocket or retaining strip inside of the front pocket to hold the knife in position. However, this option requires either purchasing pants with the necessary pocket, or retrofitting the wardrobe with pocket modifications.
As a utility blade my Gunting is often called into service to cut apples or other foodstuff. It is carried in my pocket in its sheath so it is regularly exposed to pocket lint. As I was idly playing with the knife one evening I found that I could unlock the blade with just light thumb pressure ( 2 or 3 lbs.) on the back of the ramp. I locked and disengaged the knife this way at least 10 times.
I got out my drone to compare the two and locate the problem. The liner on the back of the drone travels over halfway through the open space when I lock the drone. The liner on my carry knife was traveling only a small fraction of this distance and barely engaging the locking mechanism. I am sure that the knife was not doing this when I first purchased it and put it through it’s paces.
I got a thin screwdriver and pried on the liner. Now it travels about 1/3 of the way through the open space and engages the locking mechanism solidly. Perhaps the liner was glued in place by gunk, or perhaps the spring is fatiguing. Another possibility is that when I applied blue Loc-Tite to the piviot in order to secure the pivot tension adjustment some of the Loc-Tite ran in between the handle scale and the liner and glued them together.
I don’t intend to return the knife unless this problem becomes worse. I like it too much. But I am going to be aware of this failure mode and check the lock before I go stabbing any tires. Other Gunting owners may wish to periodically check the travel of their liners also.