Pool/Beach Knife - Dragonfly or Tasman Salt?

J

joshf128

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Jul 25, 2015
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Looking for a small-ish waterproof knife to take with me to the pool / beach / lake. I've narrowed it down to the Dragonfly and the Tasman. Plain edge for both. Which one would you prefer?


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As additional information, I am thinking IWB carry at least some of the time. It would be used for general cutting tasks, not necessarily rope. I don't have another hawk bill, which when combined with the titanium clip has me leaning towards the Tasman, but I don't want something impractical for general use.


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I carry a Ladybug Hawkbill 24/7 at the pool or beach in the trunks pocket. I personally would say no to the Tasman as it is a hand filling knife. You will feel it at all times and will freak out pool goers if you open it for something trivial. I would totally go Dfly and would recommend storing it inside a zipped pocket or waist band pocket and not clipped. The Dfly is more useful in blade shape for pool stuff like cutting limes, opening sunscreen, or emergency cutting of clothes/life vests. Get serrated whatever you do
 
The Tasman is a limited use design. I would go with a Dragonfly Salt or a Salt 1.
 
twinboysdad said:
I carry a Ladybug Hawkbill 24/7 at the pool or beach in the trunks pocket. I personally would say no to the Tasman as it is a hand filling knife. You will feel it at all times and will freak out pool goers if you open it for something trivial. I would totally go Dfly and would recommend storing it inside a zipped pocket or waist band pocket and not clipped. The Dfly is more useful in blade shape for pool stuff like cutting limes, opening sunscreen, or emergency cutting of clothes/life vests. Get serrated whatever you do
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Thanks! This helps a lot. I think I will still go plain edge, but you confirmed a lot of what I was hesitant about on the Tasman.


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The Tasman is best in SE and is a great knife for some uses (pull cuts and working with rope). If you want PE I'd go for the Dragonfly (or get a slightly larger Salt1)
 
Dragonfly. Tasman is good for certain uses but Dfly has far more value as a small general use knife.
 
The Dfly. It's a there isn't really a choice. I would spring for the se Dfly tho. I have 2 pe Dfly's that I almost Never use or carry. I've been carrying either

a Dly se or a Caly jr se micarta for about 5 years every day. I don't use mine se Dfly around water very much tho. It's a pocket chainsaw....it will cut almost

anything. Much more useful than a pe IMO!!!

I also carry a large folder everyday.
 
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The df will be more useful in a variety of tasks. I took mine to a resort in the Dominican Republic and it just disappeared. Went on a cruise with a pacific salt clipped to my bathing suit pocket and the pocket flap kept it hidden but as mentioned, for use at a pool I would stick with the dragonfly. A se df is my go to anytime I'll be near water.
 
As much as I love my Tasman, I'd say Dfly 2 for comfort + utility

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Carries better, nice clip

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Both are great options, though,

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and both in serrated edge of course!

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H1 serrated all the way

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And you have your perfect pool/beach knife
 
DragonFly2 Salt in H-1 steel with yellow FRN. Won't rust, weighs just 1.2 ounces and is only 3.3" when closed. I prefer the SpyderEdge (full serrations) myself.

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Thanks all! I have pretty much decided on the SE Dragonfly.


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joshf128 said:
Thanks all! I have pretty much decided on the SE Dragonfly.


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Click to expand...

Good choice going with the se. I didn't want to push you on that since it seemed like you were set on pe, but se really is the way to go with H1. The difference in edge performance is pretty vast between pe and se in this steel.
 
Congrats!
I think you'll love it...and it will be the start of a salty, yellowish addiction!

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:thumbup:
 
... I just noticed this thread, having ordered a Dragonfly2 Salt in plain edge earlier today... how exactly does the serrated edge outperform the plain egde in this blade steel?


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In my experience with a PE Dragonfly and a SE Tasman; I find the plain edge H1 does not hold an edge long at all, less than any other knife steel it seems.
Sort of like AUS6, 420J2 etc.
There may be work hardening of the edge of the SE versions but I think its because the more meaty geometry seems to protect sections of the edge.

SE does stay sharper longer as a mix of edge retention and hacking ability of serrated blades.

Having said that there very few steels that can take a fine razor like H1 in such a quick time on a sharpmaker.
Its almost as if you "smear" the edge sharp and it gets VERY sharp with no effort.

My answer to the original question would be get both ;o) PE Dragonfly for precision cuts and the Tasman in SE for rope and bigger tasks.
 
Thanks shark_za. That answers my question and makes me want yet another knife.

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Pictures speak louder than words ;
Fine work use the Dragonfly , harder outdoor tasks use the Tasman.



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