Boat/Marine Folding Knives With Marlin Spikes/Fids

oregon

oregon

Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
5,874










Confession from the start: I have no boat. I have no knots. But I am ready now! Ha. :) However, I double dog guarantee that I have a cap somewhere in a refrigerator near me that could be lifted. Uh huh. Yup. I betcha.

First Photo: Names from top to bottom: Sailor with blade hardness 55-56HRC and note no shackle unlocker, B91/6 with blade hardness 53-54HRC with cap lifter and shackle wrench and finally Magellanvs (v and not a u, Bill DeShivs would be able to explain this...) with blade hardness 55-56HRC and cap lifter plus shackle wrench in the fid. And thanks to the currently strong US Dollar vs the Euro $80 delivered in 3 days from Rimini, Italy.

The middle, all stainless steel, folder is a slippie. Stiff jointed but still a slipjoint. The other two have locking fids and the one with the yellow lanyard also has a locking blade (liner lock for fid and blade on this one).

I like them all. The company, Mac Coltellerie, began in the 1920s with 14 year old Di Bon Giovanni and continues today as a family business working out of Maniago, Italy. A long heritage of knife making.
 
Last edited:
Oregon, those are really cool... I didn't know they made a lot of different Boat/Marine knives... :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

ITE


:)
 
Interesting knives for sure.
.. however, before I became a full-time bladesmith I was a full-time sailor. 200ton Ocean Yachtmaster (I'm on cruiserlog.com under the same user name) and to be honest I never found a use for anykknd of sailors multi tool. A T handled fid is much handier than a pocket marlin spike. And I always carried a small fixed blade for lines and odd jobs.

When my wife (just crew at the time) came aboard, she had one of the sailor multi-utility knives... we both thought it was neat, but it never seemed to leave the chart table... there was always a better tool for the job.
 
very cool blade, where can i buy them?

o.png
 
I have a couple of old Vosscut sailors knives which are very well made .
As far as definitions - I wish you would decide ! AFAIK the word is 'shackle key' rather than 'shackle unlocker ' or 'shackle wrench' or 'fid' . LOL
 
FID definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fid

A fid is a conical tool traditionally made of wood or bone. It is used to work with rope and canvas in marlinespike seamanship. A fid differs from a marlinspike in material and purpose. A marlinespike is used in working with wire rope, may be used to open shackles, and is made of metal. A fid is used to hold open knots and holes in canvas, and to separate the "lays" (or strands) of synthetic or natural rope for splicing. A variation of the fid, the gripfid, is used for ply-split braiding. It adds a jamming cleat to pull a cord back through the cord split by the fid's point.
 


This is my target boat knife. I am drawn to the color. The dual robust liner locks keep it safer to use with a will. And there is a will. However, the blue version was the last one available to me so I nabbed it. These are on back order last time I checked. My order is in for the next yellow version of the Magellanvs. You betcha.
 
Myerchin makes some handy combos too. Their fixed blade/spike sheath combo is quite nice. Spyderco now makes one too but I haven't handled it yet.
 
It's called a 'shackle key' to differentiate from a 'church key' . 'Church Key ' ? A bottle opener !!
 
I really like those. I've been wanting a marlin spike for awhile.

I live in Florida, so naturally, I've been on the water my whole life.
If I couldn't find a use on the boat I'm sure I could use one to untie the knots some of the younger boyscouts tie.....
 
Here's the Spyder version.
[video=youtube;kIJJUO0VJaI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIJJUO0VJaI[/video]
 
Highly recommended, and required by some rules for some sailboat races, is one handed opening. If you're holding on with one hand and need to cut the line that's fouled, how are you going to do it if it takes two hands to open your knife?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top