Kayaking (salt water) knife?

not to get off topic. but have any of you guys ever had any close encounters with any big fish ie; sharks? only tought of this because i remember reading some time ago about a kayak found of the coast of san francisco bitten in half and covered in blood.
 
I have been brushed while skin diving and surf fishing. I think they were just checking me out. Got a buddy that got tagged on the foot. These were all bull sharks. Once I had to back one down by jabbing it with my poke pole. Every year someone gets whacked by one of these bulls. Kid lost his leg at one of my favorite surf fishing spots a couple years ago. He had bait in his cargo pocket. More folks around here get tagged by sting rays, your's truly included. Real rare considering the number of people in the water around here during the summer.
 
I have freedived many a time among countless numbers of bull sharks off the Emerald coast. I used to head out in the morning at about 6AM on the weekends and hit all the bayous with a pair of binocs in search of dolphins. Dolphins were a sure sign that it was safe to dive, as the bull sharks would be moving fast with their 6 towards the dolphins. Alone, smaller sharks like bulls aren't particularly dangerous, but they tend to travel in packs of anywhere from 10 to 50 sharks, and at that number they get aggressive and curious. I've encountered various other species of potentially dangerous sharks and other saltwater marine life, but if you're comfortable in water it really isn't any different than backpacking in wolf/bear/lion territory. I carry a .357 magnum when backpacking, for piece of mind. While freediving, my knife and a speargun were the best I could do. I know more sharks caught my fist than have ever contacted my knife. As I said, at the time I was carrying a 5 inch USMC Kabar with the thick black finish, and it performed well underwater. Was it ideal? Probably not, but I was making E-2 wages at the time, and I probably got more money's worth out of that 30 dollar knife than most people get out of any of theirs.
 
I use the Gerber River Shorty as my primary knife for Packrafting, and the Gerber E-Z Out Rescue folder as a back up.

I prefer a fixed blade, blunt tip knife as the main tool.

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Both knives have a Hammerhead Industries RT2 Mini Gear Keeper retainer attaching them to my life vest, the snap clip (below) and a threaded pin model.

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I bought a MUK almost a year ago for whitewater rafting, costed me 7 dollars. Paypal sent it to my old address in Texas so somebody got a nice knife for free. Nessmuk style 7 dollar 420 steel slicer with a scaler on the spine? hell yeah.
 
PayetteRucker said:
I bought a MUK almost a year ago for whitewater rafting, costed me 7 dollars. Paypal sent it to my old address in Texas so somebody got a nice knife for free. Nessmuk style 7 dollar 420 steel slicer with a scaler on the spine? hell yeah.
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Yeah read about that crap in the ESEE forums, lame of paypal... so u never got to use it?
 
I carried an h1 ladybug SE on my lifejacket all last season, wether I was in a power boat, my kayak, or just around the water. Typically freshwater (CT river) but everyday, and doing a lot of work in an out of the water. I was really impressed with the little guy.

Usually carry a knife (delica or RC3) but have had to cut a good amount of 3/4", 7/16" and 1+" yellow poly rope. Doing that with an under 2" blade for a bunch of cuts without cutting, after having been on my lifejacket for a few months has sold me on getting a tasman salt SE. H1's edge retention is good enough that I don't think about it, holds longer than bucks 420 for me.

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(TazKristi's pic from spydie forum) Aqua Salt from Matt on the Northwestern (deadliest catch)
 
No, I wanted it primarily in case a strap or something got hung up on a rock or I got tangled if I got upside down... my plan was to put an edge on the scaler so I could cut through nylon strapping easily. I wound up bringing my 70 dollar Zero Tolerance shroud cutter instead, which I lost to this rapid... the flow was twice as high when we went through, it was big water carnage, 25 foot waves...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HrDCCs7iDc&feature=related
 
I used a Spyderco Tasman Salt for a while and have used the yellow Atlantic Salt in the photo for a year -- zero rust or patina, holds and edge, easy to sharpen. The black one is the plain edge version with a blade reground by Tom Krein.

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why is no patina a big deal? patinas are great, they harden and protect the surface of the blade and prevent bad oxidation.
 
PayetteRucker said:
No, I wanted it primarily in case a strap or something got hung up on a rock or I got tangled if I got upside down... my plan was to put an edge on the scaler so I could cut through nylon strapping easily. I wound up bringing my 70 dollar Zero Tolerance shroud cutter instead, which I lost to this rapid... the flow was twice as high when we went through, it was big water carnage, 25 foot waves...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HrDCCs7iDc&feature=related
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I'd like to try one but I dunno bout that weird blade cover? I'd rather not buy a knife and have to buy a kydex sheath for it?
 
shelbysguns said:
I'd like to try one but I dunno bout that weird blade cover? I'd rather not buy a knife and have to buy a kydex sheath for it?
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for the price tag it'd be worth it IMO, that weird sheath was designed for mounting on a personal floatation device. There's a decent video review that covers it on the Columbia River site, it's on youtube as well. Personally for the price tag I think having a custom kydex sheath made for it is worth it.
 
PayetteRucker said:
why is no patina a big deal? patinas are great, they harden and protect the surface of the blade and prevent bad oxidation.
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For me, just one of those things. I acknowledge what you are saying, but it just looks kinda ugly and unclean to me. I've had carbon steel knives that cut like crazy, but can't grow to love the patina.
 
Yeah I guess lol I have a $25 sheath on my $5 carbon mora :p lol How large is it? I've seen the CRKT vid but I still dunno lol
 
I'd vote for both the Mora and the Salt line. Both have serrated models, so you can play around with which knife you would want serrated (the fixed or the folder).

I surf and free dive a lot and my Spyderco Salt 1 has amazed me. I take it out into the salty/ sandy Pacific ocean at least twice a week. It gets salt water grit and sand all over it and with a few shakes in clear water it cleans up perfectly. There are not a lot of places for sand to get stuck. For maintenance I like to give it a fresh water wash after every dip in the ocean. I found that after a while without a freshwater bath that salt can kind of crud up the pivot area and slow deployment. After cleaning it (a while back) I dropped some T9 bicycle oil on the pivot and the knife opens like butter every time now (I think it is wax based?). This lube holds up to salt water very well.

The more I think about it, the more the pivot pins make sense. They are tough and they wont come loose like screws might in turbulent waters.

Edge retention is adequate -it hones up really nicely so you don't need to remove metal often.

I liked the Salt 1 so much that I recently bought the Pacific. They are really nice.
 
A lot of really cool thoughts here, thanks!

I'm hitting the waves tomorrow with my Cold Steel Recon 1. Aus 8 steel should be more than fine for one trip :)
 
CanDo said:
A lot of really cool thoughts here, thanks!

I'm hitting the waves tomorrow with my Cold Steel Recon 1. Aus 8 steel should be more than fine for one trip :)
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I have taken mine river rafting and swimming, and even snorkeling with out any problems.

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