Looks like you have plenty of pocket space where you can tie it off with a tether. Even that scabbard is a danger in the neck area. Many keep knives where yours is, however why risk a freak accident by having a knife/scabbard aimed for your neck when other safer easy to get to spots are available.
I have mine in the same place where it will stay.
1 Like
Thank you for your concern, all good. I have considered the risk and decided that it is manageable.
2 Likes
This guy is a rafter, but I like his takes on river gear. He has several knife reviews as well.
1 Like
Good video.
Iāve had an NRS Pilot knife on my PFD for years ā once you attach the clip the lash tab it is never coming off. Iāve never been in a situation where I needed to use it for anything other than spreading peanut butter. The blades definitely rust over time. When it gets too rusty I buy a new knife (relatively cheap, maybe you get what you pay for) ā Iām on my third. They hadnāt changed the design in years, so the new knife still fit in the old clip. I knife I have is now in close out, so maybe itās time to buy one more:
I never thought to actually try to cut rope until I saw this video. Just like in the video, it took 5-6 swipes to get through an old safety rope. I think the little cutting hook at the base of the blade made it harder to get through the rope. I had better luck with just the serrated section of the blade - on the newer version that hook is a lot smaller.
Just for kicks, I dug out my fatherās old river knife ā turns out itās a Gerber Blackie Collins River Master. Looks like there are different versions, but this is the one I have:
With a longer blade and better serrations it would usually cut through the rope on the first or second swipe. Leave it to my father ā he always bought the best stuff. Iāve never used it as a river knife. Itās been in my kitchen kit for years. Still really sharp - guess Iāll keep it there.
2 Likes
I solve the problem with an MSFit PFD that has a knife pocket (w D ring) inside the flap. Accessible by unzipping or just leaving unzipped and relying on the two clips. )Kokatat PFDs all pass CG standards with just the clips fastened.)
1 Like
Knives are tools. Tools differ somewhat one for another and workers have preferences, depending on the manor in which they use those tools.
I have looked hard for the knife Iād call Ideal for my own uses and preferences when kayaking and have not found one. It seems that no one makes a stainless knife without serrations and I for one canāt stand a serrated edge. As a gunsmith who works on guns of the types made 200-250 years ago, I use knives, chisels and gouges literally every day of my working life and I sharpen blades every day too. So I know how to make an edge sharp and how to keep it sharp. Not everyone does however.
There are arguments about how sharp a water knife should be.
I saw that argument among SCUBA divers year ago, when dive-knives were said to be best when dull and blunt. Yet in the USMC and the US Navy SEALS, we used the standard combat knives (collectively called āKa-Barsā) and we kept them honed like razors. In working circles we see the same debate in shops, kitchens and in the field among workers on farms and ranches.
One school of thought is that a knife should not be very sharp because only light pressure is needed to cut (yourself)
The other school of thought is that a knife should be super sharp because only light pressure is needed to cut (whatever needs to be cut) and because of that light touch you are far less likely to cut yourself because you need not put a lot of pressure on the blade.
Meā¦I subscribe to the 2nd way of thinking.
The ideal kayakers knife (to my way of thinking) would NOT have any gimmicky serrations and no line hook. It would have a blunted tip like a rounded nail, but an edge like any of my working knives I carve hard gunstock woods with. The handle would be flat to lay down against the PFD or a wrist sheath, but have a swell at itās bottom to help the user hold it if his hands were cold. The handle would have a hole in it to take a stud made into the sheath that would spring into that hole to retain it, but the release button would be recessed into that sheath so it could not be hit accidentally. (Similar to the gun retention buttons used on Fobis and Blade Tec holsters for handguns) And such a knife would have a slim profile to the handle. The blade would be only 2" long and so would the handle. Compact is the key here. This is an emergency knife. A working knife for use in camp can be carried inside the kayak, but on the body what I have in mind is for cutting lines and ropes in an emergency.
It seems no such knife/sheath combination exists for sale.
So my next-best option was simply to use a small 1 handed folder and I attached a loop of bungee cord to it. I slip the knife into my PFD pocket but leave about 2" of the bungee loop sticking out. I can easily grab the bungee and draw out the knife and I can deploy the blade and fold the blade with 1 hand. Not as fast as a fixed blade knife, but I find I use my āPFD knifeā maybe 2 times a year to cut things with, and I practice reentries several times a month. So the advantage to my folder inside a pocket is that itās ānot thereā in all the times it would get caught in deck rigging and it is there when I want to cut a rope or line. The bungee loop can be slipped over my wrist in a second, so I am not as likely to loose it in the water but if it were a life and death situation where lines had to be cut to keep from drowning. I could cut them and drop the knife to sink to the bottom rather then risk getting cut by it after I was done with that emergency cutting. The folder I have cost about 45 dollars. I can buy another knife ā if I am alive to do it.
To my thinking, the knife I use as an emergency cutter is not all that important in itās design but the sheath is.
But what Iād consider perfect doesnāt exist, or if it does I am not aware of it.
2 Likes
I use my dive knife
Itās by Zeagle and it goes on the chest Halcyon tech webbing.
JB wears one in float planes
1 Like
Cool, it looks like a shark in profile!
1 Like
I never noticed that 
From my days taking swift water rescue course, we had a discussion of having and the need to have an accessible knife. One point that was made about the knife was that of it not having a tip that came to a point for safety. If you needed to use the knife in a rescue situation the sharp pointy tip could potentially injure the rescuer or rescuee. The recommendation was to have a blunt tip.
I didnāt know thatās what that pocket was for, thanks!
Since Iām in a canoe with day pack in front of me I keep a stainless fixed blade knife in one of the external drink holders; the sheath is tethered to the pack. I bought the knife from Dave Curtis and I think it was only $20.
1 Like
I use a Mora knife made for commercial fishermen. It is stainless steel with a plastic handle and sheath. It fits perfectly on the tab on an NRS life jacket.
2 Likes
Mora knives are great, especially for the price. I have one but it is a carbon steel model. I have this one on my āCanoe Tripā list on Amazon.
Morakniv Floating Fixed-Blade Fine Edged Stainless Steel Knife https://a.co/d/dpGZsfA
1 Like
I have a Myerchin knife which is similar to the BF300P, which is an upgraded model. Mine does not have the pocket clip. The updated model features one-handed opening and is constructed with a more corrosion resistant German marine grade stainless steel. Mine has held up well in spite of over 20 years use in salt water. The blade and marlin spike lock in the open position.
I find the combination straight/serrated blade very useful. The serrated part works better on cutting larger line. The marlin spike is useful for untying stubborn knots.
I store it in a nylon sheath that has a belt loop onto one of the adjustment straps on the side of my PFD. It has a Velcro closure. The knife is further secured via an expandable coil loop tether that is about 6" in length and up to 36" when released and stretched out. Scuba shops normally carry these. The knife is easily completely released from the tether if need be.
Besides general use around camp and on the water, itās used mostly for retrieving abandoned fishing line around the shoreline. We see a lot of crippled and dead gulls and geese around the Chesapeake that have been caught up in fishing line.
3 Likes