What sort of boat knife is best?

[Paul Z]

British Navy Issue

To take advantage of this thread: I found a surplus Royal Navy rigging knifebrand new in cosmolene. Trouble is it is so stiff I can't get it open with two hands! Does anyone remember how to loosen up a clasp knife so it works easier. THis is the saltiest tool I have ever seen.

 

[tom h]

holy crap

cheap STAINLESS pocket knife from Sears ($10.00)with plastic handles. I see them everywhere now from $5. to $7. Go to a Flea Market and pick up a few.The blades are half serated and the straight near the tip. Perfect for cutting the lines and other stuff in a hurry. A must for boaters.Rich is smoking seaweed if he thinks you don't need a pocket knife. The ones above are cheap and stainless and lightweight. And they work.Other knives. I have and old Marlinspike knife that I use to make dock lines out of three strand. Made dozens of them, cause once someone sees you know what you are doing, they will bring you all their junk lines, which aren't really junk, just need thought for usage, and some fine ropework (unless you are Rich or rich).For general purpose in the galley, serated stainless kitchen knife. Of course steak knives.Abiut Rich...recently three guys at a cat rental place wre found guilty of negligent homicide after a young girl was trapped under the fishnet front and held underwater, after the cat flipped. The guys, who worked at teh rental place all tried to help her but none of them had a pocket knife to cut the nylon mesh, and the courts said they should have.

 

[jaysweet]

Most of these replies...

seem to hinge on "what kind of knife you absolutely need to have on hand so you can cut the line which will save your life within 1.5 seconds of realizing this is necessary". I've never had this situation arise, but I suppose it could. Maybe. I think a serrated sheath knife wins here.But in any case, it is a very different question from "what kind of tool is the most useful to have day in and day out on a boat"? I think a pliers tool wins hands-down here. And if you give me the extra 3 seconds, I can open the serated knife in the pliers tool, as well.Maybe attaching a serrated knife to your inflatable pfd would be a good idea if you were regularly tethered to the boat, since this is the most obvious way you might need a knife to keep from dying. I.e., if you fell overboard and were being dragged behind the boat underwater, or if you rolled the boat. On the whole, I think people are debating apples and oranges, though. I'm with Rich.

 

[Rick Webb]

Not Here Rich

I have a 3" rosewood folding Buck knife in my pocket all the time except when flying commercial. I can also be seen frequently walking to a neighbor’s house with my Daisy pellet gun to shoot some menacing squirrels out of the tree.On the boat I also have a 4" Buck locking blade with a serated edge.

 

[Tom s/v GAIA]

Ya gotta love the Rich's of the world!

Jeez guy, lighten up.Toms/v GAIA

 

[rsn48]

The guys that need a knife fast

The guys that need a knife fast are the canoeists and the kayakers. What they do is fasten a knife upside down on their PFD's so they can reach up in an emergency, grab it and cut. Their big fear is the painter from the boat wrapping around their legs during a spill in white water.I have included a link to a kayaker's knife.

 

[Cap'n Rons]

Knife Life

I'm baaaaaack...had a bit of a time coming up the coast in a 30ft sloop with 14h.p. inboard; hove to overnight at one point.This is my expert opinion on carrying a knife on a passage, and free too...;-)No malice intended Rick (Groton), but you 'sound' inexperienced no experienced seaman will go to sea without a sharp knife, read Steve Callahan's "Adrift" library of congress.A good retort Rick Webb, and great cruising in the channel Isles.1) When that emergency happens, and it has happened to me, dismasted THREE times! the knife is a lifesaver as, a. to free the lashed liferaft, inflatable dingy and a bail-out-bag that has fouled on the many tangled lines you are dealing with, along with cold water, cracked ribs and 'the washing machine' effect.2) If you are trapped within some 1X19 wire, you can saw through with the serrated blade. 3) even if you had time to go after the "hack-saw" (usually better than bolt-cutters as they often will 'bend' the wire) they will be buried under junk from the slam-dunk you just took.You're serrated blade could just save the boat from being holed or free a mate tangled.4) Practice untying a knot that has been loaded, at night, it is wet, and you are in a hurry...you cut, but careful of the liferaft, sometimes there are no good choices only "best" of bad ones.Some break the sharp end of the blade off.My crew always have a sharp often new (cheapo stainless) serrated folding knife on them at all times, and a headlamp at night, ever awake and step into water up to your ankles, no power, pitch dark, and fumble for a flashlight?A marlinspike is a good tool too, and can used for many jobs.I like the oval cut-out in my knife, stick shackle ears in to loosen them.If yer thar Tony, bon voyage to you and your crew, you'll have a great trip.

 

[Bob]

Still Carry My P-38!!

Everyone who sails must carry a knife either it be on the person or on the boat. Period. The times you need it are the times you never expected to use it. When that times comes that you do use it, you are as happy as a lark you have it. What suites you is a matter of preferential taste (marlin spikes, versus switch blades, meat cleavers, etc), but at a minimum make sure your blade is always sharp and you know where it is kept. From my Vietnam days I still carry my trusty P-38 c-ration can opener on my key chain as fishing and samll line cutter and sometimes as a can opener. I cannot ever invision going onboard a vessel without a knife in my possession (mostly left in the ditty bag). Having a marlinspike takes no more room then the opposite blade end itself and adds an additional tool that I guarantee if your around boats long enough will be used in time. Bob

 

[Big Windy]

P 38

I did not mention that because I thought everybody carried one! I have one on each key ring and one one the boat. Guess in this day and age, we are showing our age...not that many of us around any more.