Vantage Select Small is my kayaking knife

[pinnah]

Cool update!!

Question...

Do you find the "spydie hole" on the Vantage to be enough to feel comfortable deploying it if needed quickly to deal with tangled lines?

I've been impressed how easy/fast it is to deploy the Slimline (Spitfire variant).
Untitled by Pinnah, on Flickr

 

[screened porch]

Probably my last post on this. I started in Dec 2014, so it's been 20 months, and about 25 kayaking trips, with the knife being dunked in fresh water after every trip. Last Sunday we did rescue practice. I was in the water three times, along with a handful of Eskimo rolls. No doubt the knife was immersed in salt water. Afterwards, I could not clean up right away, so it sat for 10 hours inside a damp bin. There was not a spot of rust on the blade. The 420hc has great corrosion resistance. The only thing wrong was the action was a bit gritty from sand, so I cleaned the knife and it is good as new. It's been 10 months since I put vaseline between the scales and the liners, and no additional corrosion has been noticed.

In conclusion, unless you are sailing around the world and never clean the knife, I'd say just a basic Buck knife is more than up to the job for salt water use. The Vantage Select is one heck of a knife.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Thanks for the dogged and detailed reporting.
Good old Buck.

 

[dogstar]

Cool update!!

Question...

Do you find the "spydie hole" on the Vantage to be enough to feel comfortable deploying it if needed quickly to deal with tangled lines?

I've been impressed how easy/fast it is to deploy the Slimline (Spitfire variant).
Untitled by Pinnah, on Flickr

I usually deploy by the flipper, but I can use the hole reliably. I am left handed so I pinch around the hole with my thumb and index finger to deploy. Best would be a small sheath knife, but for a folding knife I am very pleased with the Vantage.

 

[Retired45]

Good informative thread. This is my EDC and I really like the knife even though mine doesn't get the this kind use.