A knife to hand at all times?

[ylop]

Do you have a link to show your first paragraph is legal, please?

He’s slightly paraphrased it but there is an exemption when the knife is part of national dress.

It's a mystery why these exemptions still apply in the 21st Century. A bit of consistency might be helpful.

Is there any evidence that people in national or religious dress are associated with knife crimes? The law has been the same for decades and I don’t recall a single publicised case where the police said, “if only we’d been able to arrest the man in the kilt”. Whilst it provides an exemption to the posession in public problem it doesn’t mean it’s ok to use it or threaten someone with it etc.

 

[chris-s]

Late to this thread, but to add in my short sailing experience I use to carry a safety knife when dinghy sailing but after moving up to something less prone to capsize I no longer carry a knife or have one nearby. But on a 10m boat the galley isn’t far away. But recently when I made a mess of furling the headsail away on a lee shore (3-4 boat lengths) in a fair bit of swell and wind and, well, really just making a dogs dinner of it, the leach tension line whipped itself around a shroud. I could probably have unravelled it but it seemed quicker to go back to the cockpit, grab a knife from the galley and go back up and cut it. Probably an ideal example of why I should get a knife.

 

[colind3782]

If it's good enough for Gibbs, it's good enough for me!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We have a dyneema cutter within reach. Only ever used it for splicing. Ropes round the prop are not such a terror when you’re outboard powered, and very rarely motor except in and out of harbour. I have never ‘needed’ a knife sailing in 60 years on the water. Only conventional wisdom makes me keep one within reach.

 

[adamstjohn]

I have one in my jacket pocket all the time, never really used one in anger, had to go over the side with the bread knife (somehow felt that as it was longer i would have to go less far underneath - pysological thing for me that) a few times to clear prop of lobster pot line but nowt serious.

A mate on the other hand was rafted up to a boat in a full lock in belgium and saw that the guy next to him had tied his boat to a bollard at the top and the lines pressure was growing as the water level dropped, friend jumped aboard and cut the line pronto just as the stern was being held out of the water, scary stuff in a packed lock , the owner was very grateful.

 

[finestgreen]

I don't have a strong opinion on this either way, but how long would you need to go sailing without the need for a fire extinguisher to decide that was unnecessary?

 

[dunedin]

Late to this thread, but to add in my short sailing experience I use to carry a safety knife when dinghy sailing but after moving up to something less prone to capsize I no longer carry a knife or have one nearby. But on a 10m boat the galley isn’t far away. But recently when I made a mess of furling the headsail away on a lee shore (3-4 boat lengths) in a fair bit of swell and wind and, well, really just making a dogs dinner of it, the leach tension line whipped itself around a shroud. I could probably have unravelled it but it seemed quicker to go back to the cockpit, grab a knife from the galley and go back up and cut it. Probably an ideal example of why I should get a knife.

Or don't do manoeuvres 3-4 boats length off a lee shore
Starting sailing in days when the only motor was a rusty outboard, that often wouldn't start and rarely did any good in waves, we were MUCH more wary of lee shores.

 

[Sea Change]

I don't have a strong opinion on this either way, but how long would you need to go sailing without the need for a fire extinguisher to decide that was unnecessary?

The comparison is more like- do you carry a fire extinguisher on your person, or do you have to walk a few metres to get one?
I seriously doubt anybody sails on anything bigger than a dinghy without having some sort of knife onboard.

 

[Cspirit]

I have been following this thread with interest and I can agree with many of the contributors’ views. However, I have just bought a new sailing knife, the old, similar, one lost in the mists of time. My shiny new purchase, important for me, has single handed opening for the main blade. By way of explanation, like many here, I’ve sailed quite a lot, only wearing a life jacket when it gets ‘serious’ and relying on a bulkhead mounted knife for emergencies although I reality it’s main use was for gutting fish.

I have now downsized to a smaller boat, I’m fast approaching 80 and I sail single handed. In view of this and the handicaps to mobility that come with age, I’ve now taken to wearing a LJ and I have a PLB as going overboard without these is probably terminal, as is going overboard, still attached by my lifeline and unable to cut myself free. Hence a knife on my belt is an important safety item for me but probably not everyone.

 

[Zing]

I don’t store a knife in the cockpit as many do and I think it’s quite a good idea. I hate the thought of a boarder finding it at night and arming themselves, so I have one hidden very near at hand in a locker for an emergency. I often also carry a Leatherman.

 

[The Q]

Do you have a link to show your first paragraph is legal, please?

https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/29883/carrying-a-sgian-dubh-uk/29997#29997

 

[HarbourDog]

Long ago it was a kind of Rite of Passage for a youngster after his first trip or two at sea to make a belt for his deck knife. I still have my effort as a 16 year old second trip Deck Boy. I still carry it when onboard, in fact I used it today making a new Topping Lift and splicing in a couple of Thimbles.



The sheath is a piece of old canvas fire hose and the knife is a Green River copy, bought in my first foreign port at the Fishermens Cooperative in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, 65 years ago...

I still have my Green River knife too, bought in the early 80s!

 

[billyfish]

I just can't help myself, found a very shiny nearly new Swiss army knife for a tenner in a junk shop. now got one in every pair of trousers

 

[scozzy]

I have a frighteningly sharp knife next to companionway,as per another thread recently on Velcro use,it's one more thing I use it for,it's sheath has a purposely situated long strip of 3M duolock Velcro next to the one I use for the Bluetooth speaker ready for the impending day of woe ......in reality it's mostly used for cutting limes

 

[Thresher]

The only knife I have that isn't in the galley is tucked into the cover of the liferaft that I keep on the deck when on a long passage. My fear is of a fire in the boat and I have no option but to throw the tethered liferaft over the side, give it a tug to inflate it and jump in. I'm then tethered to a mass of burning fibreglass. There's probably an easy way to detach the line from the liferaft and its probably in the instructions that I haven't read, hence the sharp knife. Pssst. Oops!

 

[Sea Change]

The only knife I have that isn't in the galley is tucked into the cover of the liferaft that I keep on the deck when on a long passage. My fear is of a fire in the boat and I have no option but to throw the tethered liferaft over the side, give it a tug to inflate it and jump in. I'm then tethered to a mass of burning fibreglass. There's probably an easy way to detach the line from the liferaft and its probably in the instructions that I haven't read, hence the sharp knife. Pssst. Oops!

The raft likely has a knife just inside the door. But no harm having one to hand on deck.

 

[Slowtack]

When in the southern united states one time I bought myself a Buck pocket knife... The lady at the counter told me "thats a good Christian knife"... Apparently they donate some of their profits to a church... She didn't explain that and for some time I was left unsure of how to determine the religious affiliation of American cutlery in general.... Unlike their owners who generally make it clear...

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I don’t store a knife in the cockpit as many do and I think it’s quite a good idea. I hate the thought of a boarder finding it at night and arming themselves, so I have one hidden very near at hand in a locker for an emergency. I often also carry a Leatherman.

Ours is in a bulkhead pocket just inside the hatch. I wouldn’t leave it in reach of the public.

 

[Keith 66]

I usually have an opinel folder in my toolbox & have several knives on the boat. The opinel came in handy some years ago at the great river race when unloading boats for the great river race, boat next to ours couldnt get a lashing undone & was asking for a knife so i produced the opinel & did the job. Someone said "Ooh you shouldnt have that its illegal!" A copper was standing 20ft feet away & obviously heard the exchange, he actually rolled his eyes & turned away.
A couple of years ago all instructors & helpers at cadet week were told by an RYA directive to cut the end of their knives off & grind them round. Apparently in case someone gets stabbed? I mean really!

 

[ylop]

A copper was standing 20ft feet away & obviously heard the exchange, he actually rolled his eyes & turned away.

Might have been more helpful if he educated rather than ignored! There’s no shortage of people who will regurgitate something they heard with little thought for what the actual rules say. Talking of which:

A couple of years ago all instructors & helpers at cadet week were told by an RYA directive to cut the end of their knives off & grind them round. Apparently in case someone gets stabbed? I mean really!

If the RYA actually made such a directive (it would be unusual, they are usually more advice than absolutes) it would probably have been advice that having a knife close at hand can save lives in boating situations but that “rescue knives” would be preferable in such situations because points don’t really mix with rib tubes, dry suits, pulling kids into boats, slippery surface etc and ACCIDENTAL injury risk is higher with a point. If their advice was actually about stabbing (which suggest an intentional act) then I suspect it wasn’t to all instructors and people working with youngsters but perhaps was to specific high risk groups where misuse of knives is more common and getting the balance between accessibly and security would be a legitimate consideration.