A knife to hand at all times?

john_morris_uk said:
I was answering someone who said he’d been forced to use a knife because he had forgotten to unlash the tiller.

I’m still waiting for a list of the scenarios where having a knife instantly to hand is necessary. (to the point of keeping one by the mast, one by the helm and one in the companion way) As I said before, in 50 years of sailing, I can’t remember any such incident occurring. Have I been extraordinarily lucky?
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We have one mounted just inside the companionway, this way it's easily accessible to the pit person (most likely to need it) but is out of the elements so doesn't go rusty. In circa 17 years of racing we've needed it "RIGHT NOW" twice. Both times had a spinnaker in the water, the boat on its side and a line jammed. One was a halyard, one was a guy.

Back when I made my crust driving corporate "racing" boats I always had a leatherman on my belt. I used it a number of times to cut lines. Most normally the jib sheet when I hadn't noticed a riding turn in time and it had been ground all the way home by enthusiastic newbies. Often the only way to clear it was to knife the sheet. You get bonus points from the shore crew if you knife the bowline at the clew, not by the winch....

When cruising I cannot remember needing a knife with any sort of urgency at all.
 
When I sail on someone else's boat, unless I know the boat is well set-up and equipped, I carry a little pouch with a multitool with a viciously sharp, serrated blade, another with a small adjustable spanner, a shackle key and a fid, just in case. It's surprising how often "in case" happens.
 
Worth saying that the offshore special regs, which are well written and evidence based safety rules, require the following.

4.25 Cockpit Knife** A strong, sharp knife, in a securely restrained sheath shall be readily accessible from the deck or a cockpit.
 
I haven’t needed to use my seat belt in over 40 years but still wear it.

I have had to cut my mooring line when the shackle to the buoy would not undo whatever I tried and I wanted that mooring line.
 
Well, I use a penknife almost every day - not just on the boat but at home, and for many jobs it's simply the best tool. Probably opening parcels is its top use at home, being a) handy and b) better and quicker than scissors.

I can relate one time when my habit of carrying a knife saved a field season! We shipped our equipment to Spitzbergen in a knocked-down state. On arrival, we found everything - except the toolkit that was meant to be with it! The person responsible for packing it (not me!) was pretty unpopular. My Captain Curry knife became about 50% of the tools; it has a screwdriver blade and the shackle key could be used (at a pinch!) to tighten nuts. Of course the knife blade came in for things like stripping wire.. We managed to scrounge a few spanners, and the season was saved.
 
When we were in tropical rivers during the rainy season we had to use these quite a few times: the current brings huge floating blocks of vegetation (and sometimes small snakes) which accumulate around the anchor chain putting an enormous strain, the only solution is to try and cut them in smaller pieces before everything risks being swept away :(

knives.jpg
 
Mark-1 said:
I've been tangled up underneath a turtled Fireball and that's exactly how it was for me. I made a conscious effort not to panic. That's the bit I remember most. Everything had gone quiet, and I genuinely willed myself to stay calm. I felt down to my foot and just dragged all the line I could feel downwards over my foot. (Or maybe it was upwards, I'm not sure what my orientation was.)

I've never thought about it until now but there is no way I could have guessed what to cut and getting a knife out would have used up time.
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My gut reaction is more of "oh, darn" than panic. I've been "Maytaged" too may times, beginning as a youth, to react as anything other than routine.

Sort of like my feeling about heights, after 40 years of rock and ice climbing. You just work the problem.

---

Finally, food for thought. If you are caught under an overturned dinghy, you do NOT want ...
  • An inflatable PFD
  • A PFD with any excess buckles or gadgets. Nothing that can snag.
My current favorite for performance beach cats and kayaking is a HERO ISO/USCG vest that, unfortunately, is no longer made. Poor sales I guess. All they market now is the rash guard, which I guess fit their target market better. You can see that mine is a little more robust.
kayak%203.jpeg




Hero Water Wear
 
Stemar said:
When I sail on someone else's boat, unless I know the boat is well set-up and equipped, I carry a little pouch with a multitool with a viciously sharp, serrated blade, another with a small adjustable spanner, a shackle key and a fid, just in case. It's surprising how often "in case" happens.
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Do you lug that about on your person all day or have it below in a bag where you have to go below & hunt for it when you need it?

Do you have those in your trouser pocket & can you get them easily & quickly from inside your wet trousers?

Do you always remember to transfer them to the pocket of your waterproof jacket, Then back again when you take that off?
 
flaming said:
We have one mounted just inside the companionway, this way it's easily accessible to the pit person (most likely to need it) but is out of the elements so doesn't go rusty. In circa 17 years of racing we've needed it "RIGHT NOW" twice. Both times had a spinnaker in the water, the boat on its side and a line jammed. One was a halyard, one was a guy.

Back when I made my crust driving corporate "racing" boats I always had a leatherman on my belt. I used it a number of times to cut lines. Most normally the jib sheet when I hadn't noticed a riding turn in time and it had been ground all the way home by enthusiastic newbies. Often the only way to clear it was to knife the sheet. You get bonus points from the shore crew if you knife the bowline at the clew, not by the winch....

When cruising I cannot remember needing a knife with any sort of urgency at all.
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I can understand all that because once upon a time we went racing. As we only cruise nowadays I’ll keep to my current practice. Lots of sharp knives on board but not usually in my pocket or by the helm or mast.

I gave up racing because of all the gear breakages and couldn’t afford the new suits of sails one had to regularly buy to be competitive.

We also carry an oil stone for sharpening things along with a guide for maintaining the angle. (And a little whetstone in the galley drawer.) Anyone else carry sharpening kit?
 
capnsensible said:
Consider fishermen's pot lines around your prop. As well as lines, there are those 'builders bags' that blow out to sea and lurk semi submerged. :confused:
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But something like a pot line will need some time to think out a safe solution before acting. A pocket knife is hardly likely to be a useful tool. Probably need something bigger - and perhaps attached to a broom handle or similar.
The 5 seconds difference between fetching a knife out of a pocket or getting one from the drawer won’t make much positive difference - whereas the time spent to get the right tool might be useful thinking time that comes up with a better solution.
 
My favourite "Always carry a knife" is from PBO or similar in the 90s.

The author was sailing singlehanded in the Solent. Went forward, with the autohelm on, to stow the anchor (or fiddle with the anchor locker). Locker lid slammed - trapping the hood toggle from his jacket under the lid. Couldn't reach the anchor locker catch. Looked up - boat heading for large navigation buoy. Luckily had a knife in his pocket. Got knife out and cut hood toggle cord, freed himself and dashed aft to switch autohelm off and just avoid the buoy.

I have a leatherman on my salopettes, and a knife on the pedestal. Haven't needed them urgently. Yet.
 
john_morris_uk said:
That’s perfectly true, but in these scenarios I nip down to the galley and get the bread knife and start taping it to the end of the boat hook. I’m not convinced that the few seconds saved by having a knife by the helm is doing me any favours.
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Yup it takes far more ingenuity, effort and a certain amount of bravery to get stuff off the prop. Especially if it's the floating poly rope so popular with fishermen that welds itself together with friction.
 
dunedin said:
But something like a pot line will need some time to think out a safe solution before acting. A pocket knife is hardly likely to be a useful tool. Probably need something bigger - and perhaps attached to a broom handle or similar.
The 5 seconds difference between fetching a knife out of a pocket or getting one from the drawer won’t make much positive difference - whereas the time spent to get the right tool might be useful thinking time that comes up with a better solution.
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Did you miss that I was replying to someone who wondered when knives would ever be used? Having been in such a situation more than once I know how to deal with it. But thanks for your advice,
 
Daydream believer said:
Do you lug that about on your person all day or have it below in a bag where you have to go below & hunt for it when you need it?

Do you have those in your trouser pocket & can you get them easily & quickly from inside your wet trousers?

Do you always remember to transfer them to the pocket of your waterproof jacket, Then back again when you take that off?
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At sea, the multi-tool lives on my belt. The pouch will probably be below. So far, I haven't needed them in the sort of emergency where a second matters, but the screwdriver on the multi-tool did allow access to the steering on a friend's boat, allowing a repair, when it failed in boisterous conditions.
 
I carry a folding Stanley type blade all day, every day for various farm related reasons. Rarely do l need anything longer but I have available a veritable armoury of bbladed items suitable for the task. I don't take these off farm because l don't need them once I go out the gate. My sailing knives remain on board, and went with the boat when I sold her.
 
john_morris_uk said:
I can understand all that because once upon a time we went racing. As we only cruise nowadays I’ll keep to my current practice. Lots of sharp knives on board but not usually in my pocket or by the helm or mast.

I gave up racing because of all the gear breakages and couldn’t afford the new suits of sails one had to regularly buy to be competitive.

We also carry an oil stone for sharpening things along with a guide for maintaining the angle. (And a little whetstone in the galley drawer.) Anyone else carry sharpening kit?
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Sharpening kit - you cannot fillet fish without a stone. But a filleting knife has limited uses on a yacht, other than for filleting. The stone is multifunctional - sharpens any knife.

Jonathan
 
Stemar said:
When I sail on someone else's boat, unless I know the boat is well set-up and equipped, I carry a little pouch with a multitool with a viciously sharp, serrated knife
Click to expand...

When I first began sailing and was on other people's boats I quickly got into the habit of taking a multimeter and a basic 12v electrical repair kit. it seemed as if every boat I got onto, including the commercial sail training boats, had some sort of long standing and usually easily repairable electrical fault; usually a dry/corroded/loose connection, most often an earth.
 
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