Kelp Sucks
Kelp is a good reason to carry a knife.
I Jumped To A Conclusion
I have to admit I jumped to a conclusion when you mentioned article, thought you meant magazine, my mistake. Still the fact remains there’s no need for a knife on your vest. I said no need that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t if you want to. Go right ahead. Spend the extra money.
I should point out that I’ve paddled my SOT kayak in rougher conditions than many ocean paddlers. I’ve been in up to class IV rapids on western rivers. Have dumped many times. At no time did I ever separate from my kayak. In addition to kayaking I’ve done quite a bit of back country skiing and thousands of miles of hiking and camping. I used to own a fixed blade knife. I got rid of it. It was a pain to carry on my belt. A good Swiss Army knife is far more useful than any knife made for a vest. I’ve opened mine in subzero weather without problem. Put one in the pocket of your PFD it will only take a few more seconds to access and is more secure and won’t get hung up.
Machetes are also a waste of money. A small folding pruning saw in more effective. I’ve used both and I can clear brush quicker with the saw. I used to have a trail maintenance business. It was part of my job to know about things like that.
Depends on the situation…My PFDs…
are fitted with either a Myerchin Shark or a CKRT Bear Claw. In My Thwart bag I carry a Myerchin Alaska Guide Knife. Camping brings a whole list of other items but my tastes run to Bark River’s Northstar, Grohmann’s Boat or survival Knife and finally a few pieces by Bob Dozier. Dozier’s are the finest cutting tools I’ve ever been honored to hold in my hands, I’ve got an Arkansas Traveler, Delta Traveler with a frighteningly sharp convex blade(only 5 in existence), ProGuides Knife, and a Wilderness model.
Best-
~Glenn
often in WW it’s…
…quite dangerous to hang onto your boat.
It’s the size that counts
I’ve had Army, the cheapies, and the one I like most I bought at an 'Unclaimed Freight Office in 1974. It’s 29 1/2" long and made in Guatamala.
I’ve hacked out more brush, and can delimb a tree faster than most guys can with a chainsaw.
I’ve never seen one like it, and I don’t ever go out in the world without it.
.
– Last Updated: Aug-18-06 1:51 AM EST –
Blunt tipped Ti Scuba Knife
Posted by: cooldoctor1 on Aug-16-06 11:49 PM (EST)
http://www.northeastscubasupply.com/knives/Scuba_Max_titanium.htm
Like this, and I paid about that for it in Hawaii. Ti. Slightly harder to keep a sharp edge., but no corrosion whatsoever. Serrated back to tear your prey's chest and heart open like when a rusted door hinge rips a pink fleshy fingertip on a hearty slam. (I suppose you could cut a rope with it also--a less common use).
Titanium. Live it, man. And blunt tipped, so I don't mistakenly drive the point into my femoral artery and attract hammerheads with my crimson thigh chum. Mostly kept in my deck bag, but if I want to look wicked sporty, I strap it to my calf, Jaques Cousteau style.
http://www.cousteau.org/en/cousteau_world/our_mission/index_inc/medias/jacques-yves_cousteau.jpg
"Welcome to ze Calypso. I will be ze guide, Jacques Cousteau. Billions and billions of plankton all around ze ship, and I can't get a freaking tuna fish sandwich on rye to beat ze band around here."
I like that a scuba knife stays put in the sheath, and that it has a one handed clip to click and release the knife. I keep it on hand so that, if a shark comes up to my sit on top, I will grab it off my calf, take it out of the sheath, and then pop that dead lifeless eye out of his skull with the blunt tip like picking an oversized "shooter" marble out of a shotglass. Goodbye, you now solo-eyed beast, you.
Don't mind me, I'm finishing a Hemingway fishing tale.
Huh???
""“Machetes are also a waste of money. A small folding pruning saw in more effective. I’ve used both and I can clear brush quicker with the saw. I used to have a trail maintenance business. It was part of my job to know about things like that.”""
I don’t think so!! Im not sure where these trails are, but I know I can take out a 2" maple in 3 to 5 hits, which I’m sure is faster than most can get the pruning saw out and unfolded.
Yes, I’ve done trail maintenance, and whenever I’m packing into rough terrain, I’m the one who gets stuck clearing the way.
Sorry if I’m getting a little sarcastic, but the army usually doesn’t issue pruning saws for lite jungle duty.
sorry you seem to disagree pahsimero…
…but I believe in the ‘safer than sorry’ creed. if you can be, without any terrible side effects, it would just make sense to be as prepared as possible. when you’re out in teh bush and something happens, you could be hooped without the proper equipment.
The shark stared back. Eyes…
…Unblinking. Dull. As empty as Paris
Hilton’s watching “The Learning Channel.”
It is good to free yourself from kelp…
quickly in following seas. Carry your knife where you wish and according to the possibilities that exist where you paddle.
Dogmaticus
Blunt nose is harder to penetrate your
enemy.
Knives
I carry a bunch of different knives. But the one that stays in my PFD is the Spyderco Atlantic Salt Yellow.
http://spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=172
Papa’s Shark knife
– Last Updated: Aug-18-06 11:21 PM EST –
And Santiago, his skin flecked with coal-like cancer upon the sea worn wrinkles in his neck, raised his brown hand into the air and gazed down toward the fish. "You will die, mighty marlin," he said aloud. The fish will kill me if I do not kill him first, thought the old man. I have cunning, but the fish has strength. Just then, the marlin leapt from the water only two arms breadths from the skiff, and waved his bat length nose as if to puncture the sun. Santiago grabbed for his ti scuba knife and, like a homer from the great Dimaggio from the Yankees of New York, he stuck that 8 inch blade deep into the pale underbelly of the beast. Or so he thought. Bloodless, only then did the old man realize that he had a blunt tipped knife, and that he had left the pointed tip ti knife with the boy back on shore. The huge airborne fish, uninjured but now enraged by the attempted stick, turned his large head, opened his gaping mouth, and swallowed Santiago whole before flopping back into the ocean.
I, Ernest Hemingway, favor a pointed tip titanium knife to this day. And to make my point, this is an edit that is still in the Trash Bin of my PC from one of my better books.
Nice
Pruning Saw
I’ve worked over 1,000 different miles of trails in Washington, Montana and Idaho. Trouble in brush country is it’s too thick to even swing a machete. To take out a vine maple I’d bend it then draw the saw at the bend. After two cuts I can break it off. Machetes are harder on the muscles and wrists. They will wear you out sooner. With a pruning saw I’ll grab a handful of brush, usually willow, with a gloved hand, to keep it from bending then use a swinging draw of the blade at the base. For that matter a brush hook, which I own, gives more bang for the buck than a machete when clearing brush. For that matter I own two chainsaws, two crosscuts, a double bitted axe, a pulaski and several wedges. Working in the woods is something I know.
A good Leatherman and folding pruning saw are far superior to axe and fixed blade as survival tools in the backcountry. I know this for a fact from years of experience. If you’d rather be safe than sorry then listen to the voice of experience. I lived in the mountains of Idaho for almost 20 years. Lived in Idaho for 29 years. One of my greastest passions was to follow elk migration trails through the mountains. I’ve run into mountain lions, wolves and bears. The Forest Service had a wildlife biologist visit me to ask about big horn sheep and mountains goats because they knew I wandered the mountains behind my home more than anyone else. Many a time I would get off work, get home, grab my pack, and climb a couple thousand feet up the mountain right behind my house. Usually getting home after dark. Always had a flashlight with me but rarely used it.
Many a writer is better at writing than they are at practicing what they write about. I don’t read very many articles any more because other than recipes there’s very little left for me to learn. Used to read quite a bit. Subjectives get recycled. I’ve cooked on a variety of stoves from a small folding pocketsize woodburner to my dual, 30,000 BTU burners, Camp Chef. In fact I still own five different stoves. I own two sleeping bags, neither of them down. I prefer synthetics these days. I’ve worn out at least 25 to 30 pairs of hiking boots. Sometime more than one pair a year. Wore out a pair of low cut hikers in two months hiking the rough desert of Arizona. For winter camping I fashioned a sled to be hauled behind me while skiing and snowshoeing.
There’s a few folks that can share experiences like that, but not many.
I’ll agree with you
Yep, you have experience. (I’d rather be there than here any day) I’ll agree that Machete’s are hard on the wrists, and if your not carful, can screw up an elbow and and shoulder real quick. One item I have noticed over the years is that the short ones seem to wear you out pretty quick. I’ve had better luck with the longer one as it seems to take less energy and generates more kenetic force. Most of our brush garbage in the hell hole we call Ohio is brier, rose, raspbery, so if you can get a start under one section, you can pretty much plow away from under the edge.
It’s more likely a preference. If we are out hunting, I only carry one skinner, a really small pocket knife and then a saw for deer, beyond this, I don’t carry much any more as Ohio has been pretty much trampled over. Always a trail, and a few minor trimmings along the way any more.
Folding titanium dive knife with hook on
outside back of the blade, so it can cut rope even when closed.
Need for Fixed Blade
To those that say there is no need for a fixed blade on your PFD, belt or leg, I vehemently disagree, at least for my part of the country in the Southeast U.S. On rivers and streams here, trotlines and setlines abound, often with very strong nylon lines and stainless steel hooks. I see them everywhere and though I’ve never been tangled myself, I saw another person get rescued by a fellow paddler who fortunately had a fixed blade knife handy. He was sent to the doctor with two hooks still in him, but it could have been much worse. Myself, I wear a cheap China-made dive knife, sometimes on my leg, sometimes on my belt depending on what I’m wearing or paddling. It’s sole purpose is for emergency cutting of lines or rope and hope I never have to use it. I also carry a Swiss Army knife in my pocket that gets the most use, and pack a more rugged hunting knife when overnighting. Although I love and own numerous axes, machetes, and saws, I never carry them camping. I’ve always been able to find enough hand-breakable wood to fuel my fires.
Machete style…
I just received a “Woodsmans Pal” in the mail from a relative out of the blue. Works quite well on the brush and has a unique curved section on the back of the blade to “quick cut” smaller stuff.
pahs…
“I don’t read very many articles any more because other than recipes there’s very little left for me to learn.”
if you think there’s nothing left for you to learn…you’re right.