Idea for boaters/paddlers ...

[willOthewisp]

But first, the whys and wherefores.

A lot of paddlers' PFDs are equipped with a knife lash tab. Usually not a very good one, but a lash tab none the less. I don't know about everyone else, but when my paddling (fixed) blade is attached to my PFD, it's inverted.

It occurred to me that under more adverse conditions (bracing to prevent a capsize, whitewater, rough seas, tough portage, etc) I could bump the handle on the knife and could potentially knock it loose. That would be bad news. A) I could lose the knife; B) It could cut or poke me in the leg or arm; C) It could puncture/damage an expensive spray skirt; D) All of the above.

What I've done is taken my paddling knife, tossed on a short lanyard (a basic, but tough, loop - stitched, whipped, and stitched again) and a pull-apart type keyring. One end of the key ring is attached to the lanyard, the other end is attached to the sheath, far enough towards the tip that if the knife were to come loose, the lanyard would prevent the blade from becoming completely exposed. It means an extra half second to draw (bad news if you're trying to fend off a shark or school of sunfish), but it also means that when you must draw against marauding sunfish (and they can be nasty little things - calling you names, laughing at your funny appendages ) that the knife will definitely be there.

It may not be the most original idea, but I thought it worth sharing.

 

[afee]

I'm interested in what you have done, but can't imagine the type of "pull apart key ring" you mention. Pics are worth a thousand words, but maybe a link or brand name would work. Also, most outdoor/boating supply places sell extra lash tabs, so if you don't like the position you currenlty have, you can sew on another. I have a Lotus Sherman rescue vest, and my lash tab puts the knife at the bottom of my vest, near the zyphoid prosess of my sternum, in a horizontal location, off center enough so I can reach it with either hand. I need to do more practice drawing it in a pinch, but it seems to eliviate some of the shoulder-hook I've had on other vests (especialy when crawling over filp-lines on a raft). I run a BM 100 river knife, so the sheath and handle are a little diffrent then the normal Gerber though.

 

[willOthewisp]

I have no way to post a picture of the completed rigging at the moment, but the type of key ring I referred to is the type shown here.

I suspect that you're smacking yourself in the head, exclaiming "OH! Those things!"

Hope that clears it all up.

(As for my own PFD, I've found that I rather like the location of the lash-tab. It's the flimsiness of the tab itself I'm not keen on - it allows the knife to shift and twist quite a bit.)