sailing knife

[TonyBuckley]

Knives? Very illegal. Could end up chopping an onion or some other heinous crime.

 

[xyachtdave]

I've got one of these and wouldn't be without it. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wenger-Sui1-Alinghi-Sailing-Knife/dp/B002YJB0KO

You can open it with one hand, it's still razor sharp after a few years use and has a shackle key that also trips spinnaker trigger shackles nicely.

The pliers could be stronger but fine for light jobs and the pozidrive screw driver is on top of the handle which again just gets an ok.

 

[Tom_Brewis]

To make sure we have each got a knife to hand we all have one of these attached in our life jackets .

http://chandlery.force4.co.uk/searc...P4QPNGyALJOf&method=and&isort=score&view=grid

 

[JumbleDuck]

I have a Victorinox "Skipper" knife on board.

It has a fantastic blade, and the other tools are useful, though the pliers are a bit of a joke. If I were replacing it I'd probably get a "Helmsman", which seems to have been introduced recently and is the same main blade in a simpler knife

I also have a Currey Lockspike "Bosun's Mate"

The knife on it is so-so, but the spike is one of the most useful tools I have on board and teh shackle key, though small, works very well too.
On of the mags reviewed the emergency harness-cutting type knifes recently and, as I recall, the results were pretty unimpressive.

 

[Iliade]

Divers knives

I used to use this, but then it became too valuable to risk losing overboard.
The rusty carbon-steel blade holds the most ridiculously sharp edge, even after using it to open champagne bottles!

 

[Uricanejack]

I have a leatherman and a folding exacto knife with the changeable blades the kind you can get at any hardware store in the chart drawer.
I also have a couple of those clasp knifes with the spike laying around the garage along with several dive knifes. used to wear a small one on each fore arm

 

[simon barefoot]

A cheap serrated bread knife works well, and can be replaced every year, only a fiver or so. Great for cutting ropes and mono.

 

[cagey]

Best knife I've found for cutting Dyneema etc is a ceramic blade kitchen knife, just bought some in Aldi bought 100 and 150 mm come in gel type sheath and bright colours, very cheap and viciously sharp.
Keith

 

[prv]

A cheap serrated bread knife works well, and can be replaced every year, only a fiver or so. Great for cutting ropes and mono.

Heh. As I said above, I've been meaning to attach a couple of knives to the boat and not got round to it - but I did get as far as picking up a set of very cheap kitchen knives as I was passing through Ikea. I even made sheaths for them out of white PVC waste pipe - heat with a hot-air gun until floppy and you can mould it around the knife, including pressing against a flat or rounded surface to make it fit the mast or binnacle it will be screwed to. I must admit that the aesthetics of the result was part of the reason I never fitted them, but it seems eminently practical and it's certainly cheap!

Pete

 

[JumbleDuck]

A cheap serrated bread knife works well, and can be replaced every year, only a fiver or so. Great for cutting ropes and mono.

Agreed. Particularly good for freeing oneself from fishing gear.

 

[Vallich]

Strap your knife of choice to your person, life preserver etc., surely you need it where you are?

 

[prv]

Strap your knife of choice to your person, life preserver etc., surely you need it where you are?

What if I'm only wearing swimming trunks?

My boat is not that big; "where I am" essentially boils down to "in the cockpit" or "on deck". If I have a knife in both of those places, then there always is a knife where I am. Unlike if it's in the pocket of my shorts screwed up on my bunk in the aft cabin.

When I used to sail on square riggers I did wear a knife and spike, in a sheath at the small of my back, much of the time. Canvas smock, tar-stained trousers, fur-lined rigger boots with a steel plate in the sole, black woolly hat and a scaffolder's harness - the full works. But I'd feel like a poser wearing a sheath knife on a yacht.

Pete

 

[William_H]

I think a knife for sailing is very over rated. Especially at the prices you can pay. I don't think I have ever needed a knife in anger (emergency) in my little boat in 35 odd years. (and about 5 dismastings) I do carry a Gill knife in a sheath attached just inside the companion way.(It is not particularly sharp from new) Partly cos I won it and partly cos standards I have to meet require a knife. In the workshop I find that there are some far better devices for cutting rope or webbing. A hacksaw works well or garden secateurs. Even if I use a knife on rope it would be on a wooden board to get the pressure on the blade. A knife just does nt work that well on modern ropes.
Regarding wearing a knife I would attach to the boat in a handy place rather than onm my person. I don't need the ballast when I am in the water. good luck olewill

 

[cryan]

One of the reasons your having issues cutting Dyneema may be that your using a serrated knife. It always puzzles me why knifes sold as marine safety knifes are always serrated? A plain sharp blade will always cut through rope quicker and easier. Serrated knifes hack and saw through fibres where as a plain blade slices them.
I have a handy little folding pocket knife made by Stanley and bought in B&Q for about £15. I'll sharpen it on an oil stone after two or three uses. it can be opened in one hand and despite having a 3" blade I have cut through 4" diameter hawsers when working on tugs and it even slices through fibre reinforced hoses. Leave the serrated stuff to the Bear Grills of this world and get your self a proper plain blade knife.

 

[lustyd]

I have one of these and it really is surprising how easily it cuts any rope when compared to other knives. It's not cheap and it only does one thing, but it does it well enough to justify the price.
http://www.marinesuperstore.com/item/06971-Y/gerber-ez-out-rescue-safety-knife

 

[Blue_mischief]

A cheap serrated bread knife works well, and can be replaced every year, only a fiver or so. Great for cutting ropes and mono.

+1
In a home made wooden holder inside the companionway.
The long blade gives a good sweep at the rope to cut more easily and gives a longer reach when fixed to boat hook for getting at a submerged rope (or the rigging I suppose). The price means I won't swear so much when (always when!) it eventually goes overboard.

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

I keep a Wichard, which has a non-pointy blade, half serrated and half plain. It keeps its edge well and lives in my salopettes pocket and attached by a lanyard to my lifejacket, so always available. Must see about purloining my daughter's no-longer-used diving knife

 

[chinita]

Like me, Moitessier used one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_2zikwekqng_b

Cheap, floats and the blade can be made razor sharp.

 

[dansaskip]

I reckon you need at least 2 knives for your boat.
I folding sailing knife you can carry in your pocket at all times including taking the tender to the pub - ever got something wrapped around the outboard prop in the dark? Obviously needs to be within legal limits as it were.
I am also a Opinal fan - probably from all the time I spent in France.
and a boat knife - sheaf type which can live just instead the companionway. Use for chopping onions, cutting bread, cutting ropes, cleaning & gutting fish etc etc.
Have a look at this classic boat article:
http://www.classicboat.co.uk/practical-advice/top-10-sheath-knives-tried-and-tested-by-cb/

Myself I've got a Helle Hellefisk which is superb and although I prefer carbon steel blades for life ashore they really need to be Stainless for a life afloat

 

[prv]

I folding sailing knife you can carry in your pocket at all times including taking the tender to the pub - ever got something wrapped around the outboard prop in the dark?

I have a Leatherman copy (nothing like the quality of the original, but good enough) in the dinghy kit. Would be useful for minor outboard repairs, replacing shear pins, etc as well. The kit is in one of those screw-top yellow flare containers, which also serves as the dinghy seat. Also contains a torch for the "in the dark" part

Pete