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Is your knife up or down?

in th nidepocet of my pfd,afely stowed so that it does not accidentely release during re-entry rescues or grab on somethng.

learned that one the hard way!

if i was in whitewater though i carry it facing down for easy release into a quickly useable position.

mike
 
I wear mine blade up, because you never know where the fundamentalist jihad will turn up (I am, of course, referring to the Destroyers of Innukshuks).

Brad
 
Re: do I even need one?

mewisemagic said:
Being a newbie, do I even need one? When would I use it?
Sorry to change the topic.
Click to expand...

lets say, for example, you are paddling in an area where there are lots of crab traps. what would you do if you went over and got tangled in a trap line? cut the line with your knife.

fishermen break off line all the time, and the line is left in the water. if you get caught in some of that, you're in trouble, unless you are carrying a good knife, quick to hand.

ok, so you hit a rock and put a hole in your boat. paddle the boat to shore and carve a plug out of wood to use as a stopper till you can get home and repair it properly.

it's not a weapon, it's a tool. i may go out without a pump, but i will never get in any of my boats without a knife.

DarenN.......
 
As Daren mentions they do have their uses and I would advise to buy a cheap one as (especially if you have it on your PFD blade up) it is possible to lose one (I have) and you do not want your $60 knife going for a free dive.

Brad
 
That is an informative article -- thanks for posting the link, Dave.

I decided to mount my knife blade up. I didn't like the way the knife came close to the neck and face when pulling it out of the sheath if mounted blade down. I picked up a Gerber River Shorty blunt tip knife and am pretty confident that the sheath will hold the knife firmly in place until needed.

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I was anticipating that I might develop a bit of a Rambo attitude with this piece of cold steel firmly and predominently attached to my PFD but surprisingly, I didn't even think about the knife while out paddling today. Maybe I need something a little more formidable.

*****
 
jurgenk said:
As Daren mentions they do have their uses and I would advise to buy a cheap one as (especially if you have it on your PFD blade up) it is possible to lose one (I have) and you do not want your $60 knife going for a free dive.

Brad
Click to expand...

I would recommend against this. The main reason being that cheap knifes tend to rust quickly. As a dive instructor, I carried a knife on my vest (blade up) for around 2000 dives. I never came close to losing it, even when in some pretty rough conditions. If you go with a quality knife, it should stay in the holder without you having to worry about it. Any local dive shop should have a good selection of knives, but beware, a lot of the cheaper ones will rust if you are using them around salt water.
 
I first bought a titanium model similar to Dan's for $60 which went swimming when I was practicing some wet exits so I then went for the McNett River Knife from MEC due to its lower cost. I then took a small piece of shock cord and put it through the handle and when it is in the sheath stretched the shock cord over the sheath so that it would not easily unclip. I know that it is not reccomended to wear a lanyard when using a knife on the water but it serves the purpose of holding it in the sheath securely and releases easily. The blade is lower grade stainless and shows some rust spots but it does not cost an arm and leg either. Keabird is right in that you do get what you pay for when buying knives, but if you do pay more make sure that it is well secured (unless you are independently wealthy of course).

Brad
 
Knife positioning?

Diagonal up....had it on the chest cinch strap on my stohlquist.....the new pfd has a hidden pocket....works better....
i will carry instead of a blade a diving line cutter.....safer.....two razor blades mounted in such a way that you cannot really easily get your fingers in there....
also safer to carry too...
r
 
I carry mine on my left shoulder strap. It is blade up with the serrated edge outward ( I am very right handed ) for proper orientation to cut line or rope quickly. I also have it secured with some shockcord to prevent accidental loss.
 
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