Knife tether

The recent post on everyone favorite yak knife got me thinking of mine. 

I use a Benchmade H20 fixed blade, a much appreciated gift from the father in law.  It is my dedicated "rescue knife", I use it for nothing else.. period (and have yet to use it, knock on wood). For most all cutting tasks (even cutting gills to bleed fish) I use a quality pair of scissors.  I am always paranoid that I will lose my knife over the side in the salt, either to a nasty huli or just me being clumsy.

I wanted to be able to draw and use the knife in an emergency situation but still be able to keep it on my person if I had to quickly drop it to say.. swim   I am going to try this out. Its a cheap, two buck, 40inch key retractor from Harbor Freight.  I know the salt will kill it, but for two bucks I can just replace it many many times and still not be out much.  I am going to try to improve its water resistantness with a little silicon to keep it alive a little longer. The length of the cable is longer than my arms reach and surprisingly strong.  It could be a slight hazard if the knife was fully extended and released, it could "get yah" on the way back but I'll risk it for a rarely used rescue knife. I tested this situation and the knife's weight kills a lot of the "zip" of the re-tractor. 

I saw a couple of you guys had little Velcro strips for lashing things.. where did yah get them?  I would like to use one to further connect the handle of the knife to the vest but still be able to access it quickly

I've seen the little velcro strips for sale at the local Ace Hardware. I have some that were part of the packaging for some light rope I bought.

Great idea on the knife,./// On Velcro,,,, In the Hobie parts catalog theres 'OneWrap'  velcro.. hook on one side, loop on other.. Royg

Great idea! Wondering if it would be possible to just put a larger (longer?) looped strap on the knife that you could slip your hand through before pulling the knife out?

I know that it's a moot point in an emergency situation but the idea that I could get zinged with a knife makes me a bit nervous. Putting a loop there would make me feel a little safer but then, when you're upside down, would I even think, "Boy, I'd better get my hand in that loop before I pull this blade out!"?

True

Very nice and clean work PP.
Absolutely love the knife.

Z

I am a big fan of Benchmade knives and carry a clip-on at all times.  Where did you get the H2O and what makes it an H2O?

By the way I just checked Joe's at Northgate and the Gerber Rivermate is listed at $27.99.

http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=100SH2O

Father in law gets me a Benchmade of my choice every year.  Benchmade is a great local company that makes a quality product so we try to support them as much as we can.

very nice knife and set up...

so i have a question: has anyone here actually required to cut themselves loose from a kayak while underwater and staring dave jones in the eyes?  i know that commercial fishermen carry them for this purpose and divers etc...frankly i am more scared of getting tangled up in all the tethers and leashes and therefore NOT having any loose line in which to get caught in the first place? i dunno, never been in that situation where i had to cut myself free or drown in the process...

obviously i may be missing something...

Wait until you donate a combo or two...  

A $20-$30 knife is cheaper than a new combo.  Losing a combo is much more probable than getting tangled up in a web of leashes under water in my limited experience.  I have landed two rods in the lakes (only one of which I recovered).  The key is be selective and smart about where and what you put them on. 

only a death grip allowed on the combo and paddle  no hands available for the rescue knife....took me a few minutes to figure out what a combo was!! all kinds of things running through my feeble mind

so i have a question: has anyone here actually required to cut themselves loose from a kayak while underwater and staring dave jones in the eyes? 

Not really about being underwater for us. More like you have some line around your hands/fingers/legs and a fish on and things are getting sketchy. You get hung up on something and the wind/current is going the other way pulling you in two different directions and you feel like you're gonna lose it. You've got a nice salmon/halibut/any other fish and you need to bleed it. You've got some bait and need to cut it down etc. etc..

Z

this i understand completely...

The recent post on everyone favorite yak knife got me thinking of mine. 

I use a Benchmade H20 fixed blade, a much appreciated gift from the father in law.  It is my dedicated "rescue knife", I use it for nothing else.. period (and have yet to use it, knock on wood). For most all cutting tasks (even cutting gills to bleed fish) I use a quality pair of scissors.  I am always paranoid that I will lose my knife over the side in the salt, either to a nasty huli or just me being clumsy.

PP,

From the pictures I can see tie-wraps used around the sheath and PFD straps to secure the sheath to the PFD.  However, those straps are soft.  What keeps the sheath from slipping down the strap?

the back of the sheath has a stainless clip that holds the strap snugly, and the stainless clip rests where the straps meet the vest proper. The zip ties are more to take the slop out of the attachment.  So far it works great for me and I can't even tell its there

the back of the sheath has a stainless clip that holds the strap snugly, and the stainless clip rests where the straps meet the vest proper. The zip ties are more to take the slop out of the attachment.  So far it works great for me and I can't even tell its there

Thanks.  I have the same PFD and when I was ordering one of these for pocket wear, I also ordered one of these for my PFD.

The folder is a very good deal.  Quite similar to my Benchmade Stryker at about half the price. 

Only time will tell if the Sea Hunter was a good deal.