What would your ideal sailing knife have?

[pteron]

Does a sailing knife still need a spike? Shackle key? What about pliers? Should the blade be serrated? Should the whole thing float?

What would be on your ideal sailing 'tool'?

 

[sarabande]

multi-function tools are a (sometimes convenient) compromise. Purpose designed and made kit is best, so I use a knife, spike, pliers set in a leather sheath on an elastic sheep shearing belt for ease of pickup.

For single items:-
Captn Currey's Skipper locking knife set seems pretty good, but is very slippery. I 'd go for a knife with a bulky bright grippy plastic handle, blade partly serrated with a blunt tip for safety; a floating one is going to be very bulky.

 

[Skysail]

A knife is not amultitool, IMHO. So I go for a good sharp blade, does not matter to me if serrated or not; a spike, which will undo shackles too; shackle key, though often this is difficult to apply to a shackle. Robust enough for anything, so unlikely to float, and a lanyard is essential.
Ideally with a corkscrew!

A Leatherman or similar does the other jobs.

 

[oldsaltoz]

All stainless steel construction with a broad blaade and strong fixed point for a halyard.

 

[Robin]

Does a sailing knife still need a spike? Shackle key? What about pliers? Should the blade be serrated? Should the whole thing float?

What would be on your ideal sailing 'tool'?

For me a knife is for cutting things and the 'immediate use' one is just that. Tools I have aplenty in the toolbox so I don't need an array of functions in one tool hanging off my belt. If I need to cut rope off the prop then the knife for that is probably in the galley. So the best one for immediate 'cut it free NOW' emergency use is probably a sheath knife or even better an illegal flick knife operable one handed and kept in the pocket. This latter suggestion of course doesn't apply in UK waters as we are far too irresponsible.

 

[Woodlouse]

My Leatherman can do pretty much anything asked of it including drawing the knife single handed.

To be honest though, all I ask of a knife is for it to be sharp. After that I'm really not fussed.

 

[shmoo]

A get out of jail free card in case I get caught with it in the car.

 

[davidfox]

A get out of jail free card in case I get caught with it in the car.

Yeah, what is the law on this? I pretty much use my leatherman multitool thingy everytime I go to the boat, if I walk around with it in my pocket could I get done?

 

[DogWatch]

Does a sailing knife still need a spike? Shackle key? What about pliers? Should the blade be serrated? Should the whole thing float?

What would be on your ideal sailing 'tool'?

As said sharp, but I will add my tuppence to the mix.

I bought er outdoors a knife a few years ago and one of my go/nogo criteria was no point on the blade. This was not a desirable for me, it was an essential.

The knife should be locking, but one handed too. I looked at many knives and quickly found the perfect sailing knife, to add to the feel good mix of this choice it was also excellent value for money.

I chose the Gerber EZ Out Rescue.

I have a Gerber Suspension 1471 Multitool, a reciprocal gift, a great tool, but not a knife and to pretend so would be deluded. If we are on deck together I will always ask to borrow her knife as it cuts through rope like butter, no really it does. The multitool fulfils it's function, but if my life depended on cutting through a line I would wish to have the EZ Out in my pocket for use.

If I was to make one complaint about the Gerber it would be the unnecessary belt clip and lack of lanyard hoop. This is easily rectified with careful use of a small electric drill.

So, if you are thinking of buying a knife, my recommendation is confidently the Gerber EZ Out Rescue

Usual disclaimers apply, I was a massive fan of victorinox prior to purchacing the ez out, now I happily recommend the gerber. I have no connection with gerber or any other outlet selling sailing knives.

 

[Goldie]

I bought er outdoors a knife a few years ago and one of my go/nogo criteria was no point on the blade. This was not a desirable for me, it was an essential.

The knife should be locking, but one handed too. I looked at many knives and quickly found the perfect sailing knife, to add to the feel good mix of this choice it was also excellent value for money.

I chose the Gerber EZ Out Rescue.

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For those in the Gosport area, I purchased a VERY similar knife from YouBoat Chandlery for less than 1/4 of the price of an EZ Out (it was £8.95). The blade is truly excellent. As for longevity, time will tell but it's all good news so far....

 

[tinkicker0]

Does a sailing knife still need a spike? Shackle key? What about pliers? Should the blade be serrated? Should the whole thing float?

What would be on your ideal sailing 'tool'?

One with a built in outboard motor, beer fridge and helicopter, all of which require no fuel to run.

 

[oldfrank]

I'm confident it's not the macho response ... but I can't think why you need to carry a knife. Over 50 years in small boats, my own use has been so infrequent as to be not worthwhile. OF

 

[DogWatch]

I'm confident it's not the macho response ... but I can't think why you need to carry a knife. Over 50 years in small boats, my own use has been so infrequent as to be not worthwhile. OF

no

 

[Boathook]

A decent multitool for me at present. It it has a shackle key as well even better.

 

[pteron]

I'm confident it's not the macho response ... but I can't think why you need to carry a knife. Over 50 years in small boats, my own use has been so infrequent as to be not worthwhile. OF

Personally I think it is irresponsible to be around tensioned lines, winches and the like without some way to cut them should the worst happen. For example, the girl in Greece died because she became trapped under the dinghy she was trapezing on. People lose fingers or worse being pulled into winches and blocks.

I also insist on a first aid kit, lifejackets and a PLB. All of which I hope not to need.

If I'm going to carry a knife for the possible emergency, I might as well have one that can be useful for other things.

It's not the macho thing - or at least not in the sense you mean it. But every man I grew up respecting had a pocket knife. It's something I've had since I was a kid. I like the incredible utility of a knife. Even those who don't probably still use several every day of their lives.

 

[V1701]

A lot of dive knives have blunt ends, don't rust and have a proper sheath. If you want to be macho you can get one that straps to your thigh...

 

[planteater]

If I need to cut rope off the prop then the knife for that is probably in the galley.

I chose an unnecessarily large bread knife for this reason and wrapped the top of the handle with tape to improve the grip. So far it has only been used for cutting toast but I suspect it will outperform any pocket knife or multitool when faced with rope.

 

[Woodlouse]

I chose an unnecessarily large bread knife for this reason and wrapped the top of the handle with tape to improve the grip. So far it has only been used for cutting toast but I suspect it will outperform any pocket knife or multitool when faced with rope.

I think there is a lot to be said for taking a decent bread knife and cutting the blade down to about 4 or 5 inches. It would be as good as any of the £100+ professional jobs out there.

 

[Lizzie_B]

I'm confident it's not the macho response ... but I can't think why you need to carry a knife. Over 50 years in small boats, my own use has been so infrequent as to be not worthwhile. OF

Like you, in nearly 50 years the number of times I, or my crew, have had to use a knive with urgency have been half a dozen at most. However, those half dozen have brought me to a point where my boat has one good knive with lanyard, for each bunk position plus a glow in the dark one (with the white handle) that hangs on the companion way grab rail.
By comparison, in the same time span I, or my crew, have never once had to use a lifejacket, harness, clip on point, jack line, life raft or man overboard rescue device in earnest, but I wouldn't think of not carrying them. I have had to use a handheld VHF in earnest once after a storm carried away our VHF ariel and I needed to med evac a sick crew member.

I've found over time that a strong serrated blade with a slight curve is best for getting through rope in a hurry. Those on my boat will cut through any rope on the boat with one stroke. They all have lockable blades, with shackle key slots, lockable spikes and red light torches in the handles that shine on the blade and what you're cutting when the blade is open. They cost about £12 each.
As well as the emergency use, it is so much better that snags requiring a knife and/or spike can be dealt with on the spot without having to go and get a knife, or ask someone else to pass one to you. However, I wouldn't recommend asking my crewman to demonstrate their use.

 

[puddock]

corkscrew.............