Paddling knife

G

Guy Thomas

Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
1,370
Hey, if you guys were designing a paddling knife for canoeing and kayaking would you design it with a pointy tip or would you make it blunt tipped for safety? Serrated edge only or a combination edge?
 
Whats a paddling knife? Does it have a canoe/kayak speccific function like a horse knife? Id say if it will be used while the person is in there kayak I would go with round tip as they will be rocking back and forth in the water at the very least. If they will use it to cut cord rigging and rope serrations would be the best. Id give them some flat cutting surface if they will cut other things besides cord/rope but if thats its main purpose full serrated would work fine.

This is all just based of of my kayaking experience. If I am misunderstanding the use of the knife them ignore me. =P
 
Rafting knives are often tip-less so you don't puncture the raft, but there are no worries about that with a kayak or canoe. So, I'd go with a tip/point. Partial serrations would be important for cutting rope. Corrosion resistant steel. Excellent sheath (Kydex or Concealex would be ideal).
 
I used to use a Gerber River Shorty Knife which had a great little quick release sheath that I screw mounted to the back strap of my inflatable PFD. It was full serrated with a blunt point. I used it mainly for gutting line and rope and it was great at that. The steel was soft, but very stain resistant. I just kept it sharp daily when it was being used. It eventually found its way to the bottom of the lake.

I then replaced it with a Wenoka Squeeze Titanium Knife which I mount by the same process. It has a tanto style point and is ground on only one side of the blade. I hate this knife, cuts worse than a rusty tuna can lid. I completely reprofiled it with a Lansky rod system to 25o angle. This was a very tedious excercise as the titanium, though soft, doesn't like to sharpen much. The knife cuts better, but I suspect that won't last, and my impressions of this knife are very low. If this one goes in the drink, it eventually will, I will probably replace it with the cheaper gerber.

I think benchmade makes a dive knife that might be worth looking into as well.
 
I kayak and always take a serrated knife, its far easier to cut rope & fishing line with. I like a point as I kayak in a river where bull sharks have attacked kayaks before, it may not save me but then again it might. I use a Cold Steel Pro lite clipped to the top of my Tshirt so I can get to it easily if tangled.
Regards
Pinpoint
 
Hi Guy. I paddle quite often, never been in an inflatable though so I prefer pointy. CPM stainless, serrations on the spine and smooth on the main blade edge for me with a very grippy finished canvas micarta or G10 handle w/lanyard & a Kydex sheath with tek-lok for mounting to PFD ;) IMHO :)
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Personally I'd want to design a knife with a point and a single combination edge, but the main function, bull sharks aside, would be cutting rope and webbing in an emergency situation so practicality and safety would call for blunt tip. Part of me just doesn't like a knife without a point! Another consideration would be users perhaps not as familiar with knives as most but who should still have a rope cutting tool I think. Gerber's River Shorty fits the bill, and is inexpensive, but I also like the pointy River Runner as well. I could make the knives but a secure sheath with muliple fastening options might be as hard to make as the knife, at least for me!
 
Perhaps this thread has been worn out, but I just happened upon it. I took up knife making solely because I was unhappy with the choices for sea kayakers from the production knife makers. I wanted one knife that did it all from PFD emergency knife to camp chores to food preparation. I finally gave up on combining functions for the emergency knife, and still carry my Gerber serrated sharp point knife which cuts line and would be adequate as a survival knife should I get to shore without my kayak.

For camp and cooking, I have been experimenting with 3/16th inch CM154, about 8 1/2 inches long, with a Micarta handle. So far I am pleased with the results, but I tend to creat elaborate beach kitchens and meals, so I might be leaning too much to the food preparation aspects for some.

I like the idea of serrations on the spine rather than on the cutting edge, but I have not yet perfected serrations. I think stainless makes lots of sense in a salt water environment, but might not be so inclined if I paddled the Great Lakes or fresh water rivers.

If you want pics, e-mail me directly and I'll reply with pics.

Last year we paddled in the Queen Charlotte Islands in northern British Columbia. Pretty cool!!

Rookie 7 aka Phil Millam
 
The CRKT Hammond A.B.C. Aqua Blunt Dive Blade looks very interesting as well. Aus8 steel, one side combo, one side plain edge. Actually, I like the looks of this one quite a bit, and buy and large CRKT's are pretty inexpensive. I don't know what the sheath is like though.
 
I have played with the CRKT Hammond dive knife but not used it in paddling. It seems to have some positive attributes. I like the serrations, the steel, and the handle, but I think the blade is simply too thick to be functional for anything but a dive knife and a rescue/emergency knife. But that is not inconsequential if that is what its primary use is.
 
Buck made a crosslock 180 called a "rafter" that would probably fit the bill. It doesn't have a sharp tip and has serrations. I don't remember the composition of the steel, but it does have a lanyard hole as most do and has a snazzy little snap lock clip plus a pocket clip. Some of the other crosslocks may also be good choices because they have 2 blades, available with serrations on the spine and a gut hook which works quite well trying to safely cut small diameter rope while in an unstable environment with a PE or combo edge blade on the other side which are all easily and quickly deployed with one hand when needed. The biggest advantage: ther are readily available and cost effective!
 
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