The Knife Thread

[Doodles]

Currently I carry a Spyderco Delica 4:



Fortunately, no harrowing experiences to share.

[H Romberg]

I normally have a small folder (Kershaw Leek) in my pocket. It's thin, opens one handed, and has a serrated section for cutting hard stuff. When I'm sailing I keep a Winchard marlinspike/fid/shackle tool in the cockpit.

As for harrowing adventures requiring cutting tools, I had to cut the tail off a stingray a while back to retrieve my rig.

In the spirit of caution, I used my short-sword. :-)

[Kenomac]

Cutco drop point serrated outdoor sheath knife. My wife and each have one one us whenever we're underway.

I've needed to use one in an emergency when my thumb was stuck in a knot under tension by the jib sheet and didn't have one handy while sailing alone. Don't want that to happen again.

It's important to have a sheath type knife, in case one of your hands is stuck. You need a knife that doesn't require both hands to open.

[micah719]

An old Bundeswehr sheath knife....very good stainless blade, robust and takes and holds a heinously sharp edge. It has an alloy sheath so the blade is well protected. The only downside is that the spring clip inside the sheath that holds the blade away from the walls is made of carbon steel. After using the knife to dispatch a big tasty muddie I resheathed without cleaning and forgot to clean it later, and got some pitting. All in all, a dependable tool.

For other uses, a Leatherman, the original boxy kind. On the keyring, a Swiss Army knife.

No nautical emergencies as yet. None in the forseeable future, as I am 1000km inland. But, you never know. Noah would second that.

[boatman61]

Manual flick knife with locking blade.. just hold and push with the thumb and she opens and locks...
Good for peeling potato's, slicing meat, opening cans, cutting rope, cleaning fingernails and other gross stuff like cutting out splinters...
Brass handle, stainless blade...

[Hartleycruiser]

No Harrowing stories either . Just brought a small ceramic knife very sharp . Not sure how it will hold up if it is bent time will tell . Have a few strategicly placed knives on deck for emergencies and a diving knife for heavy jobs .

[Lake-Effect]

Knife/multitool junkie. -gulp- Drawer full of them.

In my knapsack (man-purse). I have a 26-year-old Swiss Army knife and a Leatherman Juice multitool, (also a multi-blade screwdriver and a tiny meter, but i digress)

On my wife's PFD is a Wichart rigging knife with a sort of spike/shackle-opener. On my PFD I have a Swiss "Navy" knife (you see what i did there...)

.... actually purchased in Switzerland. It's a nice unit, great locking blade, but I don't know if it's "fast" and light enough for emergencies. I may relegate it to my pocket and get a more basic knife for the PFD pouch.

[Lake-Effect]

Re ceramic knives, my wife's a professional cook. Ceramic is nice, but fragile. She prefers good solid steel. Also, if you tend to use your blade as a screwdriver/pry-bar/anvil...

[Randyonr3]

I keep a 12 inch bowie in a sheath at the pedestal. Used it many times. Recentlly was doinga race, called tacking, and started to roll the boat around.. had a NEW Guy at the grinders, he did an overwrap and the sail backwinded.
One quick slice across the sheet and I set the sail free...
He didn't like it much when I informed him that he would be buying 60 feet of new line .

[ReMetau]

I have a SOG multitool ready, but I don't carry it.
I also have a Hooknife that I have used once to cut a line from the shaft.

[sww914]

I'm is Mexico now, can't carry a knife here, only on the boat. I felt naked...

[roverhi]

I carry a Leatherman Skeletool. It's handier to use than the Wave that I also have and smaller in the pocket.

FWIW: Have a friend who was on board a racing boat that had a chainplate failure. They easily pulled the pins for the rod rigging but had a hell of a time cutting away the Dyneema/whatever running rigging. These new synthetics are a bear to cut with a regular knife. Tight jaws with the mast banging against the hull as they went through every knife on the boat to cut the synthetic. If you feel you'll need to cut this type of line in an emergency, best to have a couple of ceramic blades on board.

[model 10]

I found Swiss Army knives not to work because the separators between the blades are aluminum and don't hold up in salt water. To bad. Guess I'm still looking for the perfect knife.

[Kenomac]

Here's the Cutco bad boy my wife and I carry while underway:

http://images.cutco.com/1500/5718_p2.jpg

It cuts even the thickest crustiest lines and ropes like butter. One quick swipe is all it takes.

If you end up needing to go under the boat to untangle a line or lobster trap from a fouled prop, you don't want to be fooling around with a multi-tool or kitchen knife. The same regarding a hand, finger or foot caught by a deck line, furling line or sheet. These are very high quality knives and will last a lifetime. Worth every penny.

[shipofools]

Spyderco salt series is pretty solid in our environment. Actually have a friend that found one on a dive site and it had zero rust on it. I carry one on me at all times.

Leatherman seems to not be up to the quality of old, and I get lots of rust on all of mine, and have had to use the warranty three times in the last couple years because of failures. The SOGs I have seen seem to holdup better from rust, but the stainless is softer and we have stripped parts on the SOG.

deep see titanium squeeze lock is my top choice for in the water use diving/spearfishing.