Adrift in a life raft... Knife/sharpener?

FoxholeAtheist

FoxholeAtheist

Joined
Apr 7, 2003
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Okay, since you folks love running with hypothetical situations, here's one for you. I've just read a few books by people who spent extended time surviving on the open sea after their sailboats sank out from under them, and (of course) I started thinking about what kind of knife I would want in my abandon-ship bag. The tasks it would be required to perform would include, but not necessarily be limited to....

Cutting cloth and rope
Carving wood
Cleaning/butchering fish (think 40 pound dorado/mahi-mahi)
Butchering turtles, including prying shell pieces apart(as in 80 pound sea turtles)

All of these tasks will be performed in or around salt water, and it's unlikely that you would find a dry place to store the knife aboard the life raft. Also, the people doing these tasks would likely be tired, undernourished, and/or dehydrated, so nothing too thin or fragile.

In a similar vein, what kind of sharpener would you want to have along with you? When considering both questions, keep in mind that you have a limited amount of space, so you can't pack lots of specialized knives or a big sharpening rig.

To start things off, this is what I am currently thinking would be good.

Knife: 3/16" Busse Satin Jack, coated blade. This would be thin enough for some fairly fine tasks, but still thick enough to handle the heavy prying for ripping turtles apart. INFI isn't stainless, but the coated parts won't rust, and you could probably fit a Marine Tuf-Cloth in the bag.

Sharpener: I'm not sure about this, but I'm currently thinking that one of the DMT folding diamond sharpeners in coarse/fine (blue/red) would be the way to go. The two different grits would allow for quick sharpening, and it folds up to not take up much space. You could also drill a hole through one of the handles to fit a lanyard. I don't know how these do around salt water, though.

Okay, guys, have at it! :D
 
the salt water spray will turn any exposed carbon steel into a chunk of rust in short order. You dont need a very thick knife to butcher a turtle because you cut the shell on the sides between the top and the bottom shells. It's hard, but not so hard that a regular knife can't do it. You don't catch big fish or turtles on a raft as you would not have the tools, nor the strength to haul it up, nor will you have the room the butcher. Realistically, I think an extra pack of lifeboat rations would serve you better than a sharpening system and big knife.
 
Most commercial life rafts come with a knife as part of the kit. It's usually a safety, seatbelt cutter style knife so as to avoid slicing the raft. I think the benchmade rescue knife would be the best choice otherwise. It's designed for rafting.
 
first, good luck getting yourself a 40-pound fish with whatever you've got on a life raft!

i'd want water. lots of water. and water-traps for when the water ran out.

then i'd want food. MRE's or whatever should be stocked on it.

fishing line and hooks. plenty of fishing line and hooks.

for a knife, i'd want something like, a Benchmade Nimravus 140 in 154CM.

and entertainment. something to write in. something. i dunno. and a waterproof blanket. something like wool with Gore-Tex insert.

then you need a good First-Aid Kit. you WILL suffer from exposure and you WILL get an infection. you need things to battle and treat it. and something to provide shade or shield your skin.
 
You will die of thirst long before you feel any real hunger. I would worry about a transmitter and water first, and fishing last. Knife? a good SAK would be small enough to safely sqeeze into a kit and handy enough to help with many small problems. What ever you get, make sure that you have a way to sharpen it, and tie it off with a good sturdy lanyard.

n2s
 
A Benchmade 100SH20 would be the knife to have, as it is VERY corrosion/rust-resistant. For a sharpener, one of those folding pocket V-hones would be just swell.
 
I appreciate all of the advice about watermakers, fish hooks, etc, but I already know about that. I'm not asking for a comprehensive list of equipment to take into a liferaft, just for what knife and sharpener you would want with you.

As far as catching large fish and large turtles, I know it can be done because Dougal Robertson did so many times when he and 5 (!!) others were adrift in a liferaft and hard dinghy for 38 days in the Pacific back in the 70's. The raft lasted about 17 days, then they spent the rest of it in the 9'6" dinghy. During that time they caught a few dorado, many turtles (I didn't count, but over 6), and one shark. (Well, they caught two, but he caught the first one with his bare hands... a five foot Mako... and threw it back rather than risking the integrity of the raft.) He partially credited the survival of himself and his family to the sharp, strong knife that he just happened to grab while abandoning ship, as the cheap life raft knife wasn't good for anything.

The knives that come with life rafts are generally cheap pieces of crap, hence my question as to what would be a better bet.

Steve, I can't tell if that was a "Cast Away" reference, or if you're setting me up for a joke, so here goes. "Why would you want a pair of ice skates?"
 
Gee, hypothetically, I'd want a bunch of knives and DMT stones along with most of my survival gear... realistically, I want a 406 EPIRB with GPS attachment so that the coast guard or the US navy can be enroute to my position in 20 minutes.
 
*sigh*

Yes, yes, that would be fine and dandy. ASSUME for a second that your EPIRB is one of the ones that doesn't function when activated (it happens) and/or that you are in the middle of the pacific ocean, 2000 miles from the nearest land, and you don't know if any shipping traffic is going to be anywhere near your position, much less the search and rescue folks from the nearest country, if they even have any.

I'll bet you folks didn't give the guy who started the "if you were attacked by zombies" thread this much grief.
 
The book Adrift by Steven Callahan is a story of how his sailboat sank and he then had to spend 2 1/2 months in a rubber life raft. If you have not read this I would highly recomend it. His knives came in very handy. Steven also thought extra rations and water would be a good idea, but the extra rations did not make it onto his life raft when his boat sank. This is a good book to read if you like quality equipment. Everytime a piece of equipment would fail it was littleraly life or death if he couldn't get it working again.

What knife I would want would depend on if I was in a rubber raft of a "hard" boat. If I was in a raft I would actually want 2-3 knives. I would like a blunt tipped utility knife in a kydex sheath set up for neck wear, a SAK with sissors, and a small skelatonized utiity knife that could also double as a harpoon point. A double sided ceramic stone would be my choice of sharpening tools as would not have to worry about it rusting. I think S-30V would be my choice of steels. While not super worried about rust, this would sure cut down on it.
 
FoxholeAtheist said:
*sigh*

Yes, yes, that would be fine and dandy. ASSUME for a second that your EPIRB is one of the ones that doesn't function when activated (it happens) and/or that you are in the middle of the pacific ocean, 2000 miles from the nearest land, and you don't know if any shipping traffic is going to be anywhere near your position, much less the search and rescue folks from the nearest country, if they even have any.

I'll bet you folks didn't give the guy who started the "if you were attacked by zombies" thread this much grief.
Click to expand...

Alright... alright :D

I'd want a microtec OTF and maybe a Benchmade AFO or Autostryker so I can flick it all day long to alleviate boredom.

Oh, if you're in the middle of the pacific ocean, chances are, you're gonna be close to Midway ;)
 
A small wharncliffe should be enough. I wouldn't want a huge pokey knife on a rubber raft :D
I'd go with one of David Boye's new folders. They're around $140 and dendritic cobalt won't rust.
 
The first knife that comes to mind for the situation is the Victorinox Rucksack or Locksmith.

Allen.
 
Ok, the knife I'd want on a raft would be a Mission MPF1. All titanium (means no rust), big tactical folder, frame lock and quite strong. Then probably a diamond sharpener. DMT? probably.
Answer your question? :D
 
I would use a VG-10 knife possibly a Fallkniven. As far as sharpeners go use a Meyerco Sharpen-it. It can be used on Horseback
 
A whale harpoon. One whale should feed you for as long as you need versus fishing everyday for small fish.
harpoon.gif
 
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