I keep it fastened to the front of my PFD, upside-down in a plastic sheath. The blade's held in place by a little spring thingy, so I only have to pull down to release it from the sheath.
Personally I wouldn't be comfortable with a folding knife as I like to be "ready for business" when it clears the sheath. :)
So far I've only used it to cut fishing line, but I'd rather have it there and never use it, than not have it and wish like hell that I did.
I carry a pocket knife all the time, feel naked without it (not in a sexy way) and pretty much use it every day. I tend to misplace them so < $10 and brightly colored are my big criteria.
Not sure its ever gotten me out of trouble, but got them confiscated at the airport, boarding a cruise ship, and trying to visit places like the US Capitol.
Hah, that reminds me - my swiss army knife had to be checked every day on jury duty - I just couldn’t remember to leave it home.
I used a knife on the water once, to free my paddle which got pulled out of my hands when tangled in overhead fishing line on a narrow, tree-lined connector between two ponds. I tried pulling it free but came close to capsizing. It wound up hanging in the air mid-channel, I hand-paddled back to cut it free.
It’s a blunt nose knife mounted handle-down on a lash tab. If it was in a compartment, I would have had to use the spare to paddle out to a pond, beach, retrieve the knife, then paddle back to get it, likely half an hour or more. Overall, I use the blunt nose as a screw driver more than the blade.
I carry a folding knife that I can open with one hand on my PFD. A year or two ago I was collecting lost lures and tossing them behind me in the canoe. Turns out one still had many yards of line attached so maybe 25 yards after I continued upstream my boat was violently jerked to a stop. In current. I was lucky and happy to have a knife handy. I’ve also used my knife to rescue a bird trapped by fishing line and to recover and throw away fishing line that I find in the water. Fishing line is wicked.
I don’t carry a knife on my PFD, not that there’s anything wrong with doing so. Whenever I’m on the water, though, I have a fixed blade buck knife that I used to carry on my belt and now carry on the straps of my emergency bag. I use it for cutting cheese or summer sausage, in case I need to whittle some tinder, cut a rope, etc. I have carried a Swiss Army knife (and a lighter) every day of my adult life in my pants pocket. Rarely a day goes by that I don’t use it for something, though not always the blade -sometime scissors, screwdriver, or awl. I’ve always maintained that a person without a source of fire, a backed blade, and some linguistic ability is just another primate.
Others seem to differ on that point though…
When I broke my leg and was hospitalized I asked a nurse to grab my Swiss army knife from my pants pocket so I could use the awl to enlarge a hole and I could hang a bag for my book on my hospital bed. She was aghast that I should have a knife. I was aghast that anyone would consider that a be somehow dangerous. She confiscated it and turned it over to security. I pointed out that I was a peaceful man, unable to even stand up, and not really a threat to anyone with that folding 3’ blade, the corkscrew, or the toothpick - besides this is a hospital not the county jail.
She told me that if it saved even one life it was worth taking it from me.
Where do these ideas come from?
I have the same one. I carry it attached to the underside of my shoulder strap where it can’t catch on anything . I also have a swiss army knife on me all the time. For a fixed blade in camp I have the smaller version of the Marine Kabar.
It’s 9 years old and not a spec of rust. I paid $56 for it - it’s significantly more expense now. It’s very sharp and effective, and I can open it one handed. I had a custom sheath made for it which is lashed to my pfd, but that was for whitewater. I think I’ll start keeping it in my pfd pocket.
Mine has the serrated edge and I’ve cut a lot of fishing line and rope with it. I was knifed when I was a teenager (long wrong-place, wrong-time story…) and I have a very healthy respect for knives. This one doesn’t come out of the sheath accidentally.
Isn’t that some crazy pricing? I pulled up my invoice just to make sure I wasn’t misremembering. I am quite certain I wouldn’t have this knife had it been that spendy when I got it.
