Long shot, but P-F often delivers: “Civilian” hex screw sizing?

[Totem Polar]

OK, so the deal is—or should be—pretty simple. I want to change the pocket clip on my Civilian from tip down to tip up carry, just because. After finding out that I’m not smart enough to figure out which size hex goes in the 3 screws holding the clip on, I made a trip to the mom n pop hardware store to see if I could buy a hex/allen that would work. I’m both relieved and dismayed that the small crowd of 2 carhart/flannel/worn work boot-wearing employees couldn’t figure out what was up either. One would have thought that one of the small metric or American allen wrenches in one of the fold out sets would have fit, but no.

Someone here might have some ideas ( @blues ). Failing that, Imma gonna send it to Colorado and ask them to swap the clip for me—which is pretty absurd.

Any of you folks who’ve forgotten how many knives you own have any ideas?

TIA.

[blues]

I think a number 6 torx.

But I don't have a Civilian

[Duelist]

I’ve never had a Civilian, but all of my necessary hex tool work on Spydercos have been satisfied with a stubby driver/multiple bit set I got years ago at a hardware store.

[blues]

Just pick up a small set of Torx drivers...6, 8, 10 being the most useful for most screws on Spydercos, including the ones that had different size screws.

They should probably have that at most any hardware store.

[Totem Polar]

I appreciate the input so far. I do indeed—as one might expect—have a full set of torx drivers. These are not torx screws on this thing, they are definitely hex.

As well, despite being mechanically retrograde, I have in days, times, and places past had the allen wrench kung-fu on tap to be able to, say, replace a coil spring in a protech (no mean feat), to say nothing of replacing a pocket clip. As well, I haven’t heard back from spyderco on this topic yet—although to be fair, it is still covid times, and I’m sure they are not exactly long on staffing right now. Plus, they may not even know offhand—I’m sure there are people working CS who were born after this thing was designed.

All of which is to say, this should have been a non-issue, but so far there’s three people in a hardware store who couldn’t figure out why nothing seemed to fit. I mean, I’ll live if I never sort this out, but now I’m sort of like a pitbull locked on an old stick: it isn’t the importance of the stick that’s driving me now.

[blues]

I dunno...post on the spyderco forum on bladeforums or their own site. Somebody can probably answer the bell...unless you are not original owner and somebody changed the hardware.

The only knife I had to have exotic drivers for in the past was Microtech which used spline drive.

[Half Moon]

I appreciate the input so far. I do indeed—as one might expect—have a full set of torx drivers. These are not torx screws on this thing, they are definitely hex.

As well, despite being mechanically retrograde, I have in days, times, and places past had the allen wrench kung-fu on tap to be able to, say, replace a coil spring in a protech (no mean feat), to say nothing of replacing a pocket clip. As well, I haven’t heard back from spyderco on this topic yet—although to be fair, it is still covid times, and I’m sure they are not exactly long on staffing right now. Plus, they may not even know offhand—I’m sure there are people working CS who were born after this thing was designed.

All of which is to say, this should have been a non-issue, but so far there’s three people in a hardware store who couldn’t figure out why nothing seemed to fit. I mean, I’ll live if I never sort this out, but now I’m sort of like a pitbull locked on an old stick: it isn’t the importance of the stick that’s driving me now.

Sounds like it's not applicable here but, FWIW, on my Delica it's a T6 torx and my wife's Dragonfly is a T9 torx (totally different clip styles between the two of them).

[trailrunner]

Bicycles have a lot of hex screws, so I have accumulated a lot of hex wrenches, ranging from pretty small (1.5mm??) to larger (8mm for taper-fit cranks). Hex screws turn up in other random places around the house, such as set screws and faucet handles. I have both metric and imperial. My advice is to ensure that you have the correct size before applying too much pressure. If you use a wrench that is too small, you could round out the screw.

Can you post a photo?

[blues]

Here's a photo I found online...don't know how much good it will do. I'm sure TP can provide a closeup.

[Totem Polar]

Here's a photo I found online...don't know how much good it will do. I'm sure TP can provide a closeup.

Looks about right to me!