- Joined
- Dec 29, 2005
- Messages
- 1,367
Well, I knocked out 'bout half a dozen of my new fixed Blade.
I'm ready to unveil them in Atlanta.
This particular model was designed due to a general lack of functionality in knives for river guides.
I spent quite a few years a whitewater rafting guide on the Kern River in California.
I always hated all the guide knives that were available, and got sick of losing them all the time.
It's the same with all the other guides I know.
The problem with most of the knives is the retention system, they ALL suck. Period. At least all of them we have seen.
Either the retention system is weak, and you lose your knife regularly, or the retention works, but you have to remember how to unlock the damned thing to deploy it.
I don't want to be trapped under my boat, drowning, and have to remember how to deploy my knife.
That would SUCK.
The mechanism on this knife is designed so that it is positively locked, yet requires no thought as to how to deploy it.
The simple act of grabbing it releases it from the sheath!
Also, loads of the knives marketed to guides have a blunt point.
That is asinine.
In all the years I spent on the river, I know of 3 times a knife was used in an emergency.
2 of those times were cutting through the floor of a boat.
Once from the top down, rescuing a trapped customer, the other from the bottom up, a guy saving himself.
If either of these people had a blunt tipped knife, there would have been a drowning.
The 1st revision of this knife is designed with a chisel ground, tanto point.
A very strong, and very piercing tip. Specifically designed to slice right through the thick Hypalon many boats are made from.
The flat backside makes a real nice Peanut Butter spreader. (The most typical use of a guide knife)
The sheath on this revision is made from ABS plastic. It is one tough plastic. I have discovered its chemical resistance is lacking, so the next revision will use something else. Fortunately, on the river, we seldom encounter many bad chemicals.
Ideally, if this knife goes into production, they will be molded from some sort of high impact, UV/Chemical resistant plastic.
There is a detent, or pawl like flap in the sheath, pressing against the blade, keeping it from rattling.
I hate it when knives rattle.
I've started the patent process on this mechanism, and have received a provisional patent on it.
This mechanism could have an awful lot of different knives for different applications built around it.
I envision knives for Military/LEO, Search and Rescue, Swiftwater Rescue, etc...
The orange handled knife in the photo's has seen some time on a lifejacket now.
I spent the day kayaking the day before yesterday, and she made the trip.
I even had a pretty rough, Class IV swim, and she came out AOK.
Sliced my bagel, salami, and thumb like a champ too!
For a full page of pics, and all the same drivel I pasted in this thread, look HERE.
I'm ready to unveil them in Atlanta.
This particular model was designed due to a general lack of functionality in knives for river guides.
I spent quite a few years a whitewater rafting guide on the Kern River in California.
I always hated all the guide knives that were available, and got sick of losing them all the time.
It's the same with all the other guides I know.
The problem with most of the knives is the retention system, they ALL suck. Period. At least all of them we have seen.
Either the retention system is weak, and you lose your knife regularly, or the retention works, but you have to remember how to unlock the damned thing to deploy it.
I don't want to be trapped under my boat, drowning, and have to remember how to deploy my knife.
That would SUCK.
The mechanism on this knife is designed so that it is positively locked, yet requires no thought as to how to deploy it.
The simple act of grabbing it releases it from the sheath!
Also, loads of the knives marketed to guides have a blunt point.
That is asinine.
In all the years I spent on the river, I know of 3 times a knife was used in an emergency.
2 of those times were cutting through the floor of a boat.
Once from the top down, rescuing a trapped customer, the other from the bottom up, a guy saving himself.
If either of these people had a blunt tipped knife, there would have been a drowning.
The 1st revision of this knife is designed with a chisel ground, tanto point.
A very strong, and very piercing tip. Specifically designed to slice right through the thick Hypalon many boats are made from.
The flat backside makes a real nice Peanut Butter spreader. (The most typical use of a guide knife)
The sheath on this revision is made from ABS plastic. It is one tough plastic. I have discovered its chemical resistance is lacking, so the next revision will use something else. Fortunately, on the river, we seldom encounter many bad chemicals.
Ideally, if this knife goes into production, they will be molded from some sort of high impact, UV/Chemical resistant plastic.
There is a detent, or pawl like flap in the sheath, pressing against the blade, keeping it from rattling.
I hate it when knives rattle.
I've started the patent process on this mechanism, and have received a provisional patent on it.
This mechanism could have an awful lot of different knives for different applications built around it.
I envision knives for Military/LEO, Search and Rescue, Swiftwater Rescue, etc...
The orange handled knife in the photo's has seen some time on a lifejacket now.
I spent the day kayaking the day before yesterday, and she made the trip.
I even had a pretty rough, Class IV swim, and she came out AOK.
Sliced my bagel, salami, and thumb like a champ too!
For a full page of pics, and all the same drivel I pasted in this thread, look HERE.
