Many folks don't carry knives. Many don't know how to close a locking knife, and the ability to sharpen a blade seems to be a rare skill in some circles. Yet these people generally reach a happy old age. I think we can sometimes be a little too obsessed with the necessity of equipping ourselves to cope with the worst.
I have carried a pocketknife nearly every day since I was very young. And I have used a knife often....and have been called on for my knife by people who knew I had one. My Dad (who I felt should have known better) would sometimes not have a knife in his pocket when we were out together. When I quizzed him about it, he just said he knew I'd have one. Dang, I could never be like that.
So while my knives (and the attachments on my pocketknives and multitool) have been very handy and well-used over the years, I have had few emergencies where they have made a significant difference.
But one adventure does spring to mind...
I was on holiday on a fairly remote island in NZ's Marlborough Sounds. A man who was staying in a bay next to where we were asked me to go with him to help check his long, monofilament nylon set net. The wind had come up, and the water was a bit choppy....and unfortunately the net was set a long way off close to an exposed bit of the mainland. I have done this sort of thing many times, and I was happy to go with him.
We approached the net from upwind...the seaward side...which I didn't think was particularly wise. However the net was fairly close to shore, so maybe the guy knew of some dangerous rocks which prevented going between the net and the shore.
My fears were soon realized when we drifted over the net, and it became entangled in our propellor. There was a solid mass of twisted, stressed nylon bound in a big lump around the prop.
The boat turned side-on to the waves and was quickly being washed ashore. The man jumped over the side and tried to hold the boat, but he lost his footing and the boat washed over him. He resurfaced quickly, much to my relief.
I was reluctant to cut a good net, but it was obvious that there wasn't a practical alternative solution. I asked him where his knife was (surely every fisherman has a long sharp knife in his boat) but was told he didn't have one.
I got over the side pretty quick. I had a sheath knife with me...probably my best one in those days. I used it to attack the nylon which was very difficult to cut. Not only did we have to stop the boat smashing itself on the rocks, the violent motion of the waves made things very tricky, and the nylon was so strong and so tightly packed. The loose net was also washing around the place, and this concerned me a bit...although I didn't get tangled in it. I find that often things like buttons, and toggles and the metal lace-hooks on some boots are easy to catch on netting.
Anyway, I cut all the strands away from the prop and pulled the net into the boat...and we got home safely. Shortly after that I gave the guy an old stainless boning knife to stash in his boat. I had only one knife as I recall, and things could have been fairly bad if the knife had been knocked from my hand before the job was finished. The coast was fairly tricky to walk over, we were wet and cold, and the nearest farmhouse was maybe nearly a kilometre away. We would have survived, but the boat might not have...and our holiday would have been changed significantly.
Any knife you carry is better than no knife. But I think to get maximum usefulness from a blade, it needs to be easily accessable, and located (and opened) with either hand in any weather conditions. Getting a pocket knife out of my wet trouser pocket in cold conditions, and then opening it as I was trying to hold the boat, would not have been as easy as drawing my big knife from its sheath.
But mostly I do just carry a pocketknife nowadays. I prefer a light plastic folder with a thumb hole in the blade to allow one-hand opening.
I have modified my Swiss Rucksack knife and my Leatherman to make them easier to open the blades when my hands are cold and wet. I used a Dremel tool to cut another slot into the Rucksack blade (on the opposite side of the existing slot). This allows me to pinch the blade between thumb and forefinger... and by holding the handle of the knife against my body I can open the blade with one hand if I really have to. My Leatherman is a handy tool, but it can take forever to have the blade ready to use. To help speed things up, I cut away a bit of the case around the blade nail slot to allow easier access, and I ground the nail slot deeper with the Dremel. I can now also open this with one hand if I have to. In the past I have also cut away the case on a Mercator folder to allow me to pinch the blade and open it with one hand.
Here is a pic showing the knife that hacked through the net, and the modified Rucksack and Leatherman.
I have carried a pocketknife nearly every day since I was very young. And I have used a knife often....and have been called on for my knife by people who knew I had one. My Dad (who I felt should have known better) would sometimes not have a knife in his pocket when we were out together. When I quizzed him about it, he just said he knew I'd have one. Dang, I could never be like that.
So while my knives (and the attachments on my pocketknives and multitool) have been very handy and well-used over the years, I have had few emergencies where they have made a significant difference.
But one adventure does spring to mind...
I was on holiday on a fairly remote island in NZ's Marlborough Sounds. A man who was staying in a bay next to where we were asked me to go with him to help check his long, monofilament nylon set net. The wind had come up, and the water was a bit choppy....and unfortunately the net was set a long way off close to an exposed bit of the mainland. I have done this sort of thing many times, and I was happy to go with him.
We approached the net from upwind...the seaward side...which I didn't think was particularly wise. However the net was fairly close to shore, so maybe the guy knew of some dangerous rocks which prevented going between the net and the shore.
My fears were soon realized when we drifted over the net, and it became entangled in our propellor. There was a solid mass of twisted, stressed nylon bound in a big lump around the prop.
The boat turned side-on to the waves and was quickly being washed ashore. The man jumped over the side and tried to hold the boat, but he lost his footing and the boat washed over him. He resurfaced quickly, much to my relief.
I was reluctant to cut a good net, but it was obvious that there wasn't a practical alternative solution. I asked him where his knife was (surely every fisherman has a long sharp knife in his boat) but was told he didn't have one.
I got over the side pretty quick. I had a sheath knife with me...probably my best one in those days. I used it to attack the nylon which was very difficult to cut. Not only did we have to stop the boat smashing itself on the rocks, the violent motion of the waves made things very tricky, and the nylon was so strong and so tightly packed. The loose net was also washing around the place, and this concerned me a bit...although I didn't get tangled in it. I find that often things like buttons, and toggles and the metal lace-hooks on some boots are easy to catch on netting.
Anyway, I cut all the strands away from the prop and pulled the net into the boat...and we got home safely. Shortly after that I gave the guy an old stainless boning knife to stash in his boat. I had only one knife as I recall, and things could have been fairly bad if the knife had been knocked from my hand before the job was finished. The coast was fairly tricky to walk over, we were wet and cold, and the nearest farmhouse was maybe nearly a kilometre away. We would have survived, but the boat might not have...and our holiday would have been changed significantly.
Any knife you carry is better than no knife. But I think to get maximum usefulness from a blade, it needs to be easily accessable, and located (and opened) with either hand in any weather conditions. Getting a pocket knife out of my wet trouser pocket in cold conditions, and then opening it as I was trying to hold the boat, would not have been as easy as drawing my big knife from its sheath.
But mostly I do just carry a pocketknife nowadays. I prefer a light plastic folder with a thumb hole in the blade to allow one-hand opening.
I have modified my Swiss Rucksack knife and my Leatherman to make them easier to open the blades when my hands are cold and wet. I used a Dremel tool to cut another slot into the Rucksack blade (on the opposite side of the existing slot). This allows me to pinch the blade between thumb and forefinger... and by holding the handle of the knife against my body I can open the blade with one hand if I really have to. My Leatherman is a handy tool, but it can take forever to have the blade ready to use. To help speed things up, I cut away a bit of the case around the blade nail slot to allow easier access, and I ground the nail slot deeper with the Dremel. I can now also open this with one hand if I have to. In the past I have also cut away the case on a Mercator folder to allow me to pinch the blade and open it with one hand.
Here is a pic showing the knife that hacked through the net, and the modified Rucksack and Leatherman.
