Need a knife to go sailing with! I'm a newbie!

C

camry

Joined
Jul 19, 2007
Messages
4
Hey there,

I came across this site somehow via Google and it inspired me to start collecting knives! This community looks awesome and seems to be very diverse and knowledgeable! I already bought a knife here based off a recommendation here, and used knowledge I gained from these forums to buy another!

Now, I need a knife to go sailing with. Prior to going sailing yesterday I bought a Gerber LST and some small rope to make a necklace for ten bucks (employee discount at a hardware store). This was just a temporary fix. I sail on a Hobie Cat 17, which essentially is a combination between a windsurfer and a sail boat.

If the knife were to be used in emergencies it would need to cut eighth inch wire cable, heavy duty rope, all while standing up to water. It should also have a blunt tip so it won't poke anyone in a rescue scenario. Up in the pacific northwest the water is cold so we wear wet suits, therefore we have no pockets for it to clip on to (need another form of carrying).

Thanks for reading my mini novel! I'd like to thank all people for responding ahead of time. I greatly appreciate all forms of help.

camry
 
Checkout spyderco's salt series knives, 100% corrosion resistant will not rust at all. Look into a custom quick release kydex sheath, a quick search will turn up some custom sheath makers, and use a velcro sinch to attach it to yourself.
 
Thanks 65535, I didn't think of rigging a velcro attachment. That might work out nicely.

I had my eyes on the Atlantic Salt, but was wondering I should go plain edge, fully serrated or combo for the jobs needed. I'd assume a serrated edge would be good for cutting the wire cables.
 
If you know for sure that all you're doing is cutting thick rope, then yes, the serrated edge is better. For all other tasks plain edge is better suited and easier to sharpen. Knives aren't meant to cut metal cables.
 
Cut 1/8" wire rope ? Hard to do that with a knife but one of the Leatherman tools with wirecutter would do it.
 
If you think you'll be cutting wire rope, the Leatherman Wave would probably do it. But I have sailed for over 30 years and not once have I needed to cut wire rope. Even in an emergency. I have kept a good pair of bolt cutters in the toolbox for the purpose, though.
 
The Myerchin are very nice for the money, especially the Zytel handled ones with the LED built in. F&F is comparable to Spyderco, well worth a look IMHO.
 
I have had very good luck with Myerchin. They really do stand behind what they make.
 
The number one knives used racing with my brother on his J29 are multi-tools, my brother has a mini-Gerber and I have a Wave. I bought him a nice Spyderco which is always near by but the multi-tools are used.

I wouldn't put anything around my neck on a boat unless it is designed to easily brake away.
 
Thanks guys for all the great responses. I'll definitely be looking at all those and making a decision soon. You've all been super helpful!
 
Thanks guys for the recommendations! I'm definitely going to be picking one of these out soon, and probably the Leatherman as well.
 
Another interesting tid-bit about H-1: Over time, as you use it, friction will harden the edge to the mid to upper sixties on the RC scale. On serrated edges this works quite well.
 
If you need to cut steel braided wire, keep a pair of correctly sized wire cutters in a sealed container with a light coating of grease, and store it as close as possible to where it will be used. Any of the recommended knives are good, either H1 of cobalt is the way to go for sailing. The Benchmade does offer the bull nose you wanted and it has part serrate and part plain so you can cut not only touch rope but fine rope and make cleaner cuts. You can't go worng with any of the suggestions.
 
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