Your favorite kayaking knife?

I had Neil Blackwood make me a custom stellite double edged beauty with serrations and exposed tang. I carry a bigger knife on deck or in deck bag or an ice ax, depending on where I am.
 
I haven't yet carried a knife on my trips (as I am a knife newbie) but I would carry any serrated spydie. serrations are ultra important for kayaking, me thinks as there will not be any push cutting type work....
 
I have a Gerber with straight and serrated edges that come together in a blunt point. It has a very cool snap lock Kydex sheath and a canvas sheath also. I believe Gerber still carries it.
 
We've got some real hard-core kayakers out there, and i hope they'll chime in. i was never very happy with my Gerber [the Blackie Collins] or that snap-in sheath, which is why I kept looking for something better. There are better production knives out there readily available from MEC, Nantahala etc. But I'd prefer a good quality neckknife, as long as you can find a convenient way to lash the sheath to your PFD, if you use that rather than a survival suit.
BTW, I agree with serrations, but some excellent kayakers and knife knuts don't agree at all. Gus? You out there?
 
I keep an Emerson white water rescue La Griffe taped to my PFD wile kayaking.

Edited: for stupidity

[D]
 
Serrated Merlin for a whiewater rescue knife. Proposed Spyderco XL Harpy would be ideal. I've been doing whitewater since early eighties. Do a search on this subject - seems to pop up every 4-6 months. Lot of good answers.
 
I carried a Spyderco folder until salt water froze it up. Now I
carry a Gerber in a snap sheath attached to my Lotus life jacket's
lash tab. It's not the ideal knife, but it hasn't rusted yet. I've
never had to plant it in a shark's nose yet!
I would like to carry my LUDT in a kydex sheath, if I were sure that
salt water wouldn't "gum" it up.
Any other ocean paddlers out there? What do you carry?


Mike:)
 
I use a Stiff Kiss. It's cheap and sharp enough to do whatever cutting I need it for. Used it for several years in saltwater marshes and lots of times I don't even rinse it off, unless I've taken a dunking, and very few rust spots on it.
 
Hi Guys, I just recently started to kayak, and I love it. I have discovered Muscles I did not know I had. For now I carry my trusty Spyderco Merlin.
 
Two knives actually...a Spyderco serrated Merlin in one of Mike Sastre's Kydex sheaths (lashed to the lash tab) and a Spyderco Snap-It EMT snapped on a beaner then tucked into a mesh pocket. Both are also doubly attached to the front zipper-pull through the lanyard holes with a foot and a half long nylon stretchy thong. Haven't lost one yet.

Joyce @ Spyderco
 
I love the sport. At 47 I can still see myself on rivers into my 60's (God willing). Although the young guns laugh at us at the top of the Ocoee when my friend and I limp our way to the put in (we ham it up a little :)). (They look at us a little differently at the take out, since I grew up in the area and consider the Ocoee a playground compared to stuff like the Gaulee and Chatooga section IV :D)

I have the same knife that HJK has without serrations (on the way some day). I decided against serrations since this knife was only going to be used kayaking or rafting for rescue purposes only.
I went with a double edge that will be mounted to the breast of my PFD. In the meantime I am using a Gen 1 Gerber river master designed by Blackie Collins.

My brother is heavily into sea-kayaking and I just sent him an Emmerson WWR version of the LaGriff. He loves it.
 
I kayak a little - did a 5-day trip on Lake Powell in Utah last summer, beautiful!! - and on that trip I used a 1/2 serrated 154cm Camillus Talon, the Simonich Cetan design, around my neck. It's a great knife, performs all sorts of chores, & it's about $50 now which is a crazy value.
 
Waiting for the fixed blade version of the Emerson SARK. For now I will continue to carry my old Gerber double edged knife. Don't want to have to open a knife while under duress. My training is to keep it simple, fixed blade all the way.-Dick
 
I carry two knives on my person when seakayaking. One is a small folder of unknown pedigree which I actually found on a beach [ true story!:) ] which I carry on a lanyard around my neck along with a whistle.
My second knife is a Gerber which I bought in the States when I was last visiting. Just looked it up on the Gerber site. It is a Chameleon, partially serrated folder. This I carry in its nylex? pouch attached to other safety kit on my PFD. OK, it is probably not designed for marine use, but I liked the idea of being able to hook a finger through the large eye. Good purchase when you are battling fatigue, and or hypothermia and frozen hands and fingers.
Never used a knife at sea in anger [ but as you will read elsewhere, I am in the market for a serious shark killer ! ]
The Gerber will suffice to slash line, and webbing. Don't like the sharp point which could cause personal and boat damage in an emergency, but you can't have everything I guess.
Regards, PJay.
 
Hey, I just ordered a new kayak knife from Michael Cooper
of L6Steel. It will have a trail point S30V blade, Blue G-10
handle and kydex sheath with neck chain and lash points.
If you've never seen his neck knives, you should take a look.
Good looking knife for the money.
Should fit perfectly on my pfd.
Watch out sharks and gators!
Heaven is a good handmade and fitted kayak, carbon fiber Lightning
paddle (21 oz.), Lotus pfd with a custom blade attached.

Mike
 
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