Best Paddling Knives

hso

hso

Joined
Dec 16, 1998
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I've spent 20 years as a recreational whitewater canoest, kayaker and sometimes raft guide. I've paddled most of the well known southeastern whitewater runs and many less well known creeks. I've also been collecting knives for longer than that. The point of all that is, I've just finished reading the Blade magazine article on whitewater knives and I'm annoyed about some of the knives they identified as suitable for whitewater and astonished over the ones left out.

For you paddlers out there, whitewater, flatwater,and sea, what do you consider to be the best knives going and why?
 
Depends. I use one small and one large. On my PFD I lash a custom Blackwood stellite: double edge, top serrated with an exposed, flattened tang. If I'm in the high arctic kayaking with a survival suit and no pfd I use a neck knife. My favourite for that is another small Blackwood tactical in talonite, single edge. Talonite/stellite solves the corrosion problem, especially in salt water. It isn't always practical to clean and dry the knife for long whitewater runs or when you are fighting ice for hours.
I like to have a bigger blade handy too. In a canoe I just wear that one although if the canoe is covered it isn't accessible. In a kayak my bigger knife is on or in my deckbag. Which bigger knife really depends on where and what I'm doing. Lately it's either a Busse Steelheart II or a Busse NO although in the future I'll probably use a Simonich El Tigre in talonite. For serious ice you really need an ice ax.
In my youth [ 29 years ago] all I used was a ****** Gerber river knife, which was lousy, and a Magnum hunter on my belt. But then i also wore jeans and a wool coat. Times and materials have changed - for the better.
 
For whitewater I attach a Spyderco Harpy in a RiverCity Security Sheath to a side adjustment strap of my PFD. Easily reached with either hand, stays secure, even when taking a good thrashing. I find the Harpy works real well for cutting wet webbing/rope under tension, digging out splinters, pricking the tubes of a wrapped inflatable, and could make a very controlled cut on a kayak sprayskirt if needed. I also have an Emerson Whitewater stashed in a chest pocket.
See Ya On The River - Clyde

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A whitewater boater's cutlery needs are different from that of a sea kayaker or downriver canoeist/kayaker. The sea kayaker or downriver boater's knife is primarily for camp or food preparation, while the whitewater boater's knife is first and foremost a rescue tool ready for immediate action. We carry throw ropes for setting safety in particularly hard "drops", for extricating pinned boats/people, and sometimes getting to the put-in, and these sometimes can't be retrieved after a rescue, so become a hidden hazard for following groups. Rafts are rigged with rope and webbing, personal gear has more webbing, and fisherman leave a lot of line in rivers. What I'm getting at is that we'll be cutting rope, line, webbing, and maybe personal gear in the event of a broken limb or treating for hypothermia and/or shock. In a rescue situation time is a prority, so our tools used must be efficient and quick to employ. This means a serrated knife in a "snatch & use" sheath. The knife/sheath package should be big enough to do the job, but small enough not to interfere with the bodily contortions we do in playboatining and rolling. Best choice is a small fixed blade or a folder in a location on your PFD that will keep it out of the way, yet instantly accessible. Blunt tipped or pointed is more a personal decision than anything else, but points will allow you to deflate a raft tube (pin extraction) with less damage to repair and are also great for removing splinters. Lanyards and leashes are more a liability than a help, so I'd keep costs under $100 (in case of loss), but still get the best quality I could 'cause someone's life may depend on it. Cheap knock-offs don't cut it (pun intended). My personal choice is the Spyderco Merlin or Harpy because of its cutting efficiency and the built in safety aspects of the blade shape. It's carried horizontal, in one of my sheaths, on the chest adjustment straps of my PFD, and I don't even notice it unless I need it. Most predominant knives seen on the river are either some kind of Spyderco (it's a serration thing and great bang for the buck), or the Gerber River Runner/Shorty (good little fixed blade but factory sheath is notorius for loosing knives).

HJK,

Sounds like you boat in some brutal conditions! I've done a bunch of winter boating, but only had to contend with dodging ice slabs while surfing, not actually having to chop it with an axe.

SYOTR
 
I've done a few but in my advancing state of decrepitude I prefer to sea kayak the high arctic [Ellesmere Island, northern Greenland] where I still do whitewater, but the white is ice :).
I still have a few runs on my wishlist, including the Hood, the Futafu in Chile, and the Tat. But I never learned to kayak whitewater: I canoe. I know I'm missing out, maybe one day I'll make the jump.
Even in an oceankayak I treat my knife the same as if I were running rapids: easy access etc. Speed of recovery and the the potential for entanglement are also there when the water is cold enough to kill you and you have lines and gear all over the place.
It isn't precisely the same, as you point out, and many guides don't have knives handy at all: the key piece of equipment is a shotgun for scaring off the walrus and bear, and I kid you not. That's another reason to go North :)
 
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