I didn’t cut my tow rope belt as it doesn’t seem to get in my way. This last summer we did pass it back and forth while towing someone against a strong wind and choppy waves. We were on a coastal island and had over a 10 mile paddle back with about 3 miles of open water to cross before reaching the marsh creeks. I hooked up to the weakest paddler so they wouldn’t tire out in the rough conditions. They paddled too which makes towing much easier.
I leave a knife attached permanently to both of my PFDs. If you check my avatar you can just make out the yellow handle on the left shoulder of my PFD.
Put knife on lash tab
@Sparky I have been out in a lot of groups of “experienced” paddlers, a mile or two offshore on salt water, and gotten counts like 4 tow belts/systems among 8 or 9 paddlers. And I will lay odds that only two of us had any real practice using them. They were all solid at paddling and staying upright, but the other skills were a hodgepodge.
When my husband and I were putting together our own groups, the only people without a tow belt were newer paddlers we invited. But this is not the world out there. Most groups without consistent training between them go out IMO deficient in spare paddles and tow belts. (And no, I really do not understand the first on. Jim and I always both carried our own spares.)
@Celia said:
But this is not the world out there. Most groups without consistent training between them go out IMO deficient in spare paddles and tow belts.
This goes a long way to help explain why I’ve gotten away from group excursions. Not only for the issues you’ve mentioned, but a number of related ones too.
@PaddleDog52 said:
Put knife on lash tab
@PaddleDog52 said:
https://goo.gl/images/KkiZEg red jacket
Too many doodads on the front of that jacket. Lanyard is a good idea, though.
@Rookie said:
Lanyard is a good idea, though.
I don’t agree. If my knife ever pops out by accident, I want it to go as far away from me as possible. I do not want it to swing wildly around at the end of a lanyard - perhaps even while I am upside down under water.
Doubt it swings wildly in the water. It doesn’t pop out good lock squeeze system. I have mine on thin bungee. Even under water I could get it back easily. To me better than no second chance at it.
I know it has a good lock. I have the same model. But if the knife has a good lock, you don’t risk losing it, so you don’t need the lanyard.
I still think you are too optimistic about what will happen if you are under water and you don’t know that your knife has popped out and dangles at the end of the lanyard. To me, that sounds as pure disaster.
Things do come out of people’s hands. What do you think will happen with the knife on a lanyard in the water next to you?
Isn’t that obvious? When I move my arms around and hit a knife which is dangling at the end of a lanyard, I will get cuts. More cuts if the knife is somehow held in position, for example because the lanyard got tangled around something.
@Allan Olesen said:
@Rookie said:
Lanyard is a good idea, though.
I don’t agree. If my knife ever pops out by accident, I want it to go as far away from me as possible. I do not want it to swing wildly around at the end of a lanyard - perhaps even while I am upside down under water.
The kayak knives sold like that have blunt tips and serrated dull blades. You’ll have trouble cutting anything.
@Overstreet said:
The kayak knives sold like that have blunt tips and serrated dull blades. You’ll have trouble cutting anything.
As I already wrote: I have the same knife. It has one serrated side and one sharp side. Which you can also see in the photo in this thread.
First if you have your Wenoka knife out in your hand and then it’s not there you will conscious of it. Then you can follow the lanyard to it. It’s not like a whirling blade. With no support it’s cutting nothing. Better for me than dropping something I can’t recover.