Some knife makers use heavy synthetic webbing because it drains and dries out, but I find it starts to fray or gets hard cracked edges that continually have to be repaired with a lighter. And you can have a sheath with a separate pocket for one or even two good marlinspikes. For a sheath, leather lets a steel rust, but is probably the best choice. It should also have a big (and I mean really big, like to fit a half-inch tether) hole. It's not a sophisticated knife and shouldn't cost that much, but it should still be pretty sturdy, stainless, and preferably have a blunt tip. Custom knives pop up all over eBay and any Google search. So if you have the shackle and the marlinspike taken care of, I'd suggest you go for a custom knife. You won't really find these at West Marine, but professional rigging and sail shops usually can find you a good one. You really need something skinnier and with more of a point so you can get it in and lever it to loosen the jam. Those marlinspikes (like the typical one on most of the pocket rigging knives) just aren't easy to use when you have a gnarly knot in braided Spectra. Today, cordage is a lot smaller in diameter and when braided, it really jams tightly together. Partly it was because back in time, people were using them to splice big three-ply cordage. Partly this was a way to avoid a stabbing weapon again. Frankly, one way to deal with shackles is to carry a relatively small crescent wrench - it fits better than a shackle key and can fit anything from a tiny baby shackle up to a good sized anchor shackle.Īs for a marlinspike, the old ones were pretty fat at the base and stayed pretty fat almost to the tip. I've seen shackles that are integrated into small marlinspikes simply bend or snap the marlinspike. The Spyderco Tusk is an example of a shackle without a big range (maybe large enough for a smaller boat) and without enough leverage to work a really stubborn shackle. But it has to have a wide enough range of sizes, and it has to be sturdy. Nowadays there are a lot of shackles in sailing, and a shackle key is very useful. So it's a good idea to keep a small stainless machete or axe near the bow should you ever have to chop a big line. You don't pound your knife with a big lignum marlinspike to cut braided rigging and running lines, but do realize that a small serrated knife isn't going to work well on a 1" or 2" anchor line or even on a decent sized mooring line. Plus, a modern sailor leaves her/his knife on the boat when going ashore - that's because in too many places, almost any kind of knife is illegal - the exception is if you need it for your work and you leave it at work, and that's what you do on your boat. Everything else is really for the marina. Offshore regs now require knifes, and many people get super-cheap folders, but the better knife is a fairly short fixed blade. Now bear in mind that when you need a knife the most you don't want to find it slipped off the clip on your pocket or that you can't get it open. Second, you aren't likely to want to have a scabbard on your belt or forearm, so you want a folder. In this case you are using braided lines that don't cut worth a dang without serrations on the blade. Assuming you're a basic recreational yachtsman and not a rigger. The blunted tip is because every first mate made sure that the tips were broken off a knife to prevent stabbing during a fight. A guard gets in the way, a curved blade will slip off whatever you're cutting, and the thick blade is because you are pounding on it. This is because cutting on heavy lines is best done by laying the knife on the cordage and hitting the back of it with a lignum mallet or marlinspike. An old-time rigger has a knife with a nearly straight edge, a blunted tip, little or no guard, and a very thick blade. Just happened on this thread, and thought I'd add a few comments from personal experience.įirst, choice of knife really depends on how you're going to use it.
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