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Lash tab PFD “rescue” knifes

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Glenn: The price on the Salt is crazy. If it's not sold out by tomorrow morning I'm going to grab one or two. Thanks.

Yes, it's either an overstock blowout sale or a pricing error. The normal internet street price is $60-$65. Buy it and see if the price is honored.
 
Hanz: The Izula set up is sweet, and it avoids the extra step of opening a folder obviously, but I wonder just how secure it is really. Have you ever had a problem or concern that it would detach while capsizing, swimming, etc.? Glenn: The price on the Salt is crazy. If it's not sold out by tomorrow morning I'm going to grab one or two. Thanks.

I've never had any trouble with it. The sheath has a firm "snap-in" hold on the knife.

I should also mention that Izulas come without scales - I bought them from an online knife supplier that I don't recall at the moment - and added them. You can see the hardware they provided isn't the most corrosion resistant. I wipe the knife off a couple of times a month with Break Free CLP to keep it rust free. So far so good.
 
The Saver Salt is the H1 equivalent of my 79mm Rescue. You could have gotten it for $34.95 from the vendor I linked in my first post.

[URL="http://www.bladehq.com/item--...item--Spyderco-Saver-Salt-Knife-C118SBK--9850[/QUOTE[/URL]]

That is an insanely good price on a very nice H1 rescue folder.

I would be tempted to send back the one I have coming from Spyderco and buy that one, but Spyderco has been good to me. My first H1 was a freebie via Paddler for review, and my second H1 was back in the day when I had pro-deals.

I’m still tempted to buy one at that cost, put it on my winter PFD and not have to remember to switch the lash tab knife back and forth. But I have more knives than I really need or use right now
 
The Enuff doesn't have a great sheet, but all my PFD knifes are secure with a bungie loop, I will take a picture when I'm back out west, and post it... I had to many people loosing knife wile swimming after dumping in a rapid, so I never took that chance. It take a second or two to get it out but better take a few second and get the knife than loosing it to the river bottom...
 
BladeHQ claims to have shipped (free) the Salt and Izulu/sheath/scales for less than $100. I've been meaning to upgrade my weak pfd knife, so it's good, but reading these forums sure can present irresistible urges that are hard on the wallet.
 
BladeHQ claims to have shipped (free) the Salt and Izulu/sheath/scales for less than $100.

Wow, Dave, both a H1 SS folder and a 1095 fixed blade for less than $100. Which Izula blank did you order (there are several with different prices) and which color sheath?

And which knife are you actually going to put on your PFD?
 
BTW – Spyderco’s complimentary sharpening - $5 for shipping and handling covers up to four knives at a time.

Spyderco will sharpen serrated blades? Benchmade won't.

BTW, further testing shows my Spyderco 79 Rescue has a little longer clip than my Benchmade Mini-Griptilian, so it clips a little better into my PFD's square lash tab.
 
[FONT=&quot]Glenn: Got the ESEE Knives Izula Tactical Gray Neck Knife Black G-10 Scales & Molded Sheath.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.bladehq.com/item--ESEE-Knives-Izula-Tactical-Gray--26925
It's carbon not stainless steel. Trade offs.

I figure to generally use the Salt on local or easier paddles, and the Izula on longer trips. Also just want to alternate and see how it goes. Now gotta order a small molle malice clip. Not sure how much effort goes into taking those clips on and off. Maybe have to dedicate it to a new pfd! Yeah, great idea, that reminds me, I want an NRS CVest pfd, after watching Beav's epic to, through and around Alaska videos. Frickin Epic. Talk about testosterone. My new motto "I'll deal with it."

I should have thought to find out what kind of knife Beav had. Not that I buy things just cause someone endorses it. Beav didn't endorse anything and, if he even cared at all which I think highly unlikely, would rather I shut up and leave him out of it. But, holy shoot, batman, how the heck can I ignore a feat like that.
[/FONT]
 
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It's carbon not stainless steel.

I know. I said 1095 because that's the kind of carbon steel it is. Probably considered the highest end carbon steel.

Beav's epic to, through and around Alaska videos. Frickin Epic. Talk about testosterone. My new motto "I'll deal with it."
And, in all situations, "paddle harder."

I should have thought to find out what kind of knife Beav had.

He switched to a bigger knife after finishing the Inside Passage and beginning the Alaska portion. 5,000 miles in never-before-canoed waters and wilderness, and he didn't bring an axe, hatchet or saw. (Shhhhhh, no one tell Oldie Moldy, Memaquay or Hoop.)
 
Spyderco will sharpen serrated blades? Benchmade won't.

From Spyderco’s website “Blade Sharpening: Complimentary on PlainEdges, SpyderEdges and CombinationEdges provided. Please include $5.00 USD for shipping and handling. $5.00 will cover the return shipping cost for up to 4 knives”

I’ll know for certain soon. I spoke with Noah at Spyderco a few days ago and asked about having my fully serrated Spyderco Salt sheath sharpened (say that fast three times). The answer was yes.

So I asked about having the rusty Byrd Cara Caras sharpened, expecting a “No”. Also a “Yes”.

The Salt sheath and two Cara Caras are in the mail to Spyderco. Time will tell.
 
From Spyderco’s website “Blade Sharpening: Complimentary on PlainEdges, SpyderEdges and CombinationEdges provided. Please include $5.00 USD for shipping and handling. $5.00 will cover the return shipping cost for up to 4 knives”

I’ll know for certain soon. I spoke with Noah at Spyderco a few days ago and asked about having my fully serrated Spyderco Salt sheath sharpened (say that fast three times). The answer was yes.

So I asked about having the rusty Byrd Cara Caras sharpened, expecting a “No”. Also a “Yes”.

The Salt sheath and two Cara Caras are in the mail to Spyderco. Time will tell.

Well, for the price you paid, Spyderco should come to your house to sharpen your knives.

I'd be interested in knowing how they sharpen a serrated blade. If all they do is put a bevel on the flat back side, that's not really sharpening the bevels inside the serrations themselves, but it will sharpen the knife overall by grinding off the tops of the serrations from the back. Do this enough times and you have no serrations left, but you will have a sharp knife throughout the knife's life.

To sharpen serrations from the front, you need to go into each serration with different size abrasive rods, which is a manual process. You can do it also on the Spyderco Sharpmaker, which has triangular rods. I don't believe Spyderco would engage in a manual process for sharpening serrations. Factory sharpening is usually belt sanding, which is inferior to manual sharpening with Japanese water stones or the Edge Pro Apex, according to those who are adept with those systems.

It'd inspect the serrations under magnification when the knives come back to see if there are abrasive lines inside the curves of the serrations. That should tell you whether they sharpened the serrations themselves. I'd also look at the direction of any intra-serration abrasive lines on a curved blade. If all the lines go in the same direction at each point on the curve--parallel to each other rather than perpendicular to the apex tangent of each serration--that could suggest some sort of belt sanding jig.

Disclosure: Nothing I've said in this post is from personal sharpening experience. It's all from lots of research, reading about sharpening and watching many YouTube videos on different sharpening techniques.
 
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Well, for the price you paid, Spyderco should come to your house to sharpen your knives.

In the end I paid only for shipping. Both ways.

The Salt Saver arrived today and it is a bit too small for my hand, so I returned it. I’ll put the one I ordered from Blade HQ on my wife’s PFD to replace one of the rusty Byrd Cara Caras

On another thread a smart fellow wrote:

I'd go to a sporting goods store where you can actually hold the knives they offer. Consider how the handle feels in you hand

Yeah, I shoulda listened to that advice. I think I need to buy my lash tab knife in person, maybe while wearing my PFD.
 
I think I need to buy my lash tab knife in person, maybe while wearing my PFD.

It's a common sensical idea to buy one in person, but good luck finding a store that has any sort of reasonable selection. I couldn't.

I'd like to mention another method of attaching a knife to a PFD's square lash tab. For years I lashed a folder in a nylon case that has a belt loop but no clip. I created a small "belt" by threading velcro tape through the lash tab and attaching it to itself in a tight loop. You could clip a folder to such a velcro loop with no need to snake the folder's clip through the plastic square every time.
 
QUOTE=Glenn MacGrady;n23212] It's a common sensical idea to buy one in person, but good luck finding a store that has any sort of reasonable selection. I couldn't. [/QUOTE]

Glenn, that dilemma might be worth bearing in mind while traveling. I expect that between well-stocked outfitters, manufacturer’s outlet stores or other funky knife vendors there must be some places worth stopping.

If I’m anywhere near Golden Colorado I’ll stop at the Spyderco outlet store for a test feel and fit.

There must be others.

???
 

Thanks! That is perfect. I pass through Frederick occasionally. I may look a bit strange walking up Market St in my PFD.

I’ll probably look even stranger when I walk into Bushwallers thus clad. Great Irish pub; I usually go for a proper pour Guinness and some Bangers and Mash.

http://www.bushwallers.com/

Edit: The Edgeworks store is in the same block as Bushwallers but I’ve never noticed. I have my priorities in order.
 
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I originally used a spyderco folding rescue knife back when they first came out, but found that the original plastic clips were too weak to hold it in place. In whitewater ( and I mean while actually in the water from a kayak swim) I'd have to gather the knife from the tether line and tuck it in while I swam. I love the edge on the spyderco, but found this and the fact that in an emergency there was the added step of fine motor skill to open the knife to be taking away from the rescue reason for the knife.

I switched to a SS Gerber river knife and it's been on my PFD since 1995. It's light and has a very positive lock in it's sheath. I don't dry it out, clean it or do anything and it still looks like new. I will rinse it with fresh water after salt water, but I do that for the entire PFD. The double sided nature of the knife can be a liability, but in a stressful situation/ entanglement, you know that the cutting edge will be where you want it to be. It does have a small dull section where you could put your thumb on the spine. That is if you are confident you grabbed it the right way.

That being said, this has been a great discussion and I really like the look of that one sided Spyderco fixed blade. My whitewater runs have calmed down from the days of staging people with throw ropes for different drops so I probably can get back to a more general rescue or general use knife. It would be nice to use that knife to cut pepperoni for lunch since it will see more use that way.
 
I originally used a spyderco folding rescue knife back when they first came out, but found that the original plastic clips were too weak to hold it in place.

The (metal) clip on the Spyderco Salt Saver is definitely a vast improvement on whatever was on my lost H1 Atlantic Salt or Byrd Cara Caras. Although it is too small for my hand (not the grip, but the thumb hole position) I tried it on my PFD lash tab and couldn’t see myself knocking it off. It’ll do fine for the missus smaller hand on her PFD.

I know the Atlantic Salt works for me hand size and thumb hole wise, and with the improved clip security that is likely my best solution for a lash tab rescue knife. But I’d still like to try a few on my PFD lash tab in person.

The 130 page Spyderco catalog that came with my order was an excellent read for knife unknowledgeable me. Beyond their catalog offerings there are pages on sharpening, steel elements and definitions, blade shapes, grinds and edges. The back 10 pages of that catalog makes for a nice primer on knives.

BTW – What went back to Spyderco for sharpening. One H1 Salt Sheath and two Cara Caras



After 10 years of zero maintenance the H1 sheath is blemish free. The Cara Caras started to rust after minimal salt water exposure, and once they started kept rusting.

 
The Cara Caras started to rust after minimal salt water exposure, and once they started kept rusting.

One tip I learned was to oil my folding knives with food grade USP mineral oil, which lubricates the pivots and also protects the blades against corrosion. Some people use gun oil or WD-40 for those purposes, but I wouldn't want to eat an apple or tomato sliced with those knives.

I find it particularly important to lubricate the pivot of my Spyderco Rescue knife because it's cheaply made with no adjustable pivot screw and no ability to remove the riveted scales to clean the interior. I returned my Spyderco Salt because the pivot was riveted on so tightly I couldn't thumb flick or hardly even Spyderdrop it open. Other or newer models might have an adjustable pivot screw.
 
Thanks! That is perfect. I pass through Frederick occasionally. I may look a bit strange walking up Market St in my PFD.

I’ll probably look even stranger when I walk into Bushwallers thus clad. Great Irish pub; I usually go for a proper pour Guinness and some Bangers and Mash.

http://www.bushwallers.com/

Edit: The Edgeworks store is in the same block as Bushwallers but I’ve never noticed. I have my priorities in order.

Mike, I was looking at axe videos and came upon one held at the Edgeworks store in Frederick.


If you're ever walking around Frederick in your wife's PFD after bangers and mash, perhaps you could stop in and buy a Wetterling's Fine Forester's axe--known in Canada as a "canoe axe"--and then post a review. I'm hoping to wear one on my Mustang inflatable PFD.
 
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