Most folders are not recommended for tip up carry, due to gravity and Murphy's Law dictating the inadvertent opening of the knife. Tip down has always worked for me. I'm a lefty but carry my folders tip down in my right pocket. The Benchmade, Voyager X2 and M16-14ZSF are particularly fast to deploy in this manner; the Benchmade because it's an auto, the Voyager because it's a BIG knife and the weight of the blade does the work with the flick of a wrist, and the CRKT because it has a "Carson Flipper" that doubles as a hilt but allows the knife to be flicked open in less than a second.
My SWAT has withstood a combat tour as well as years of use, but it is not my first recommendation (or last for that matter). Of course, I like to think it is better than the newer SWATs, but I have no evidence to back this up. For the price and the way they are built, the CRKTs are possibly the most rugged run-of-the-mill knives out there. For $27 I would not be broken-hearted if mine were lost like both of my Leatherman Waves and countless other knives and multitools. It is more sturdy than any other folder I have besides perhaps the Benchmade, and it just feels right in the hand.
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