Recommendations for a rafting knife/tool

[Beerplumber]

This could've belonged in the edged tool or rescue tool sections as I'm on the hunt for a tool for river rafting. Basically I want a fixed blade/one piece tool, on a neck lanyard/kydex sheath, with a serrated or combo edge, cutting hook and bottle opener. River rafting is a huge pastime here in Calgary and I feel so naked three miles down a river with nothing around except bottles and buddies. I usually spend as much time in my raft as I do out of it swimming and generally goofing off. It's not very dangerous but there is absolutely no one practicing anything resembling safety. Quite the opposite it's more common to witness college kids being completely stupid. Any ideas?


Stay multi my friends

[Steinar]

I have no idea about rafting, but given your specs, perhaps the Böker Cop Tool? Hm, that has no dedicated bottle opener, but it's easy enough to pop open a bottle with the back end of the tool, I guess.

[Nikos]

Grant (you know, the guy with the tactical pink kayak) should have some nice recommendations...

[Zed]

Grant (you know, the guy with the tactical pink kayak) should have some nice recommendations...

Ooh i love tactical pink 

[Beerplumber]

I like the cop tool, just worried if its going to work hanging from my neck. The bottle opener is probably the least important feature. I'm leaning towards more of a one piece tool so I don't scare away the ladies. It's true Grant should have some expertise here, hoping he pops in here at some point.


Stay multi my friends

[Nikos]

I have the subtle impression he'll recommend the CRKT Neckolas, probably coupled with some one-piece tool or SAK...

[Grant Lamontagne]

Grant (you know, the guy with the tactical pink kayak) should have some nice recommendations...

Oddly enough, I do...

You aren't going to find a better knife than this one:



CRKT Neckolas- it's secure in it's sheath, comfortable in the hand, easy to orient without looking and has a nice blunt nose so you don't stab anything important when things get really interesting.  Plus, it's bright orange so you can spot it in the water when/if it gets dropped  I don't go kayaking without mine.

You can also get a blue one that has a plain edge and a bit more of a point, but if you want something for whitewater I would suggest the orange one since you'll be using it on ropes or webbing and the rounded point means you are less likely to put a Bear Grylls' ego sized hole in the boat.

Oh yeah, and they are cheap enough that if you lose it it's not the end of the world. Travis just ordered one for me to give to my father.

Def

[jzmtl]

There's this titanium knife at MEC specifically made for this purpose. I've been eyeing it but right now I'm still stuck on land so not much use for it.

Being titanium the edge retention will suck, but if you use it for emergency only it probably doesn't matter.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Is this the one you are talking about?

 http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Paddling/KnivesSnorkelGear/PRD~5004-128/wenoka-squeeze-titanium-knife.jsp

I've used knives like that before and I much prefer the Neckolas.

Def

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

[jzmtl]

Yeah that's the one. They look to be well made from behind the counter. 

[Beerplumber]

There's this titanium knife at MEC specifically made for this purpose. I've been eyeing it but right now I'm still stuck on land so not much use for it.

Being titanium the edge retention will suck, but if you use it for emergency only it probably doesn't matter.

to me I didn't even think to check MEC. I'll try this weekend. Thanks guys! I do like the look of the neckolas I'm still wondering if it might not be so sheeple friendly. Eric showed me the benchmade 5 but it's lacking a blade which might be fine. Probably end up trying both.


Stay multi my friends

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah that's the one. They look to be well made from behind the counter. 

I'll maybe give that one a shot this summer.  I can't say it looks too bad, but the Neckolas will be a hard one to knock off the top spot.

There's this titanium knife at MEC specifically made for this purpose. I've been eyeing it but right now I'm still stuck on land so not much use for it.

Being titanium the edge retention will suck, but if you use it for emergency only it probably doesn't matter.

to me I didn't even think to check MEC. I'll try this weekend. Thanks guys! I do like the look of the neckolas I'm still wondering if it might not be so sheeple friendly. Eric showed me the benchmade 5 but it's lacking a blade which might be fine. Probably end up trying both.


Stay multi my friends

The Neckolas is small and almost cute- it's about as sheeple friendly as they get.

Def

[jzmtl]

I've always wondered, take a stainless Mora, blunt the tip, add a cutting hook to spine if desired would probably make a great alternative.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Possible, but you'd have to look at a better sheath and consider the handle orientation issue as well.  There's more to a good boating knife than a blunt tip, especially if you are dealing with whitewater, whether you are in a raft, kayak, canoe or other boat.

The most important thing to remember is that you are likely going to be launched into the water without knowing your orientation, and the age old diver's trick of following the bubbles doesn't work so well in a river since currents will push bubbles and froth down and to any side just as much as they will rise.  See what I mean here:



While most kayaking isn't that exciting, rafting is pretty boring if you aren't doing that kind of whitewater.  Even so, just about any moving water can disorient you in a hurry, and if you find yourself tangled in something you don't want to take the time to think about it- you want to cut yourself free and get the hell out of there, and if your knife is bass-ackwards in your hand you are in for a real bad time as you saw away at a rope or webbing with the spine of the blade.

Admittedly any blade you bring is going to be better than none, I much prefer something that is secure, safe and easily oriented.  The guy I go kayaking with figures I'm crazy and he usually carries an old Gerber lockback that he's going to need two hands to open.  I have told him I'll give his boat a good home when the fishermen find what's left of him.

Def

[Beerplumber]

Well despite good advice I decided to grab the benchmade 5. It's pretty much what I am looking for minus a serrated blade. I'll post when it comes in and do a little testing. Basically if it can cut through some 1/4" nylon rope I'll be happy. A neckolas will be in the near future for canoeing I think, looks like a tip top knife.


Stay multi my friends

[Beerplumber]

Hrmm... That pics not accurate the one I ordered has a small hard sheath which should work for around my neck and quick deployment.


Stay multi my friends

[Beerplumber]

Like so...


Stay multi my friends

[Swiss Man]

Just take Def/Grant advice, He is pretty smart?

[Beerplumber]

Yeah I'm in the process of ordering a neckolas today.


Stay multi my friends

[Sags]

I have this exact knife for whitewater canoeing/kayaking/rafting.

http://www.amazon.com/McNett-Saturna-Blunt-Outdoor-Yellow/dp/B00266D41S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332629036&sr=8-1



It's got all the features I want in a river knife.  Hard kydex sheath clips onto your PFD and stays very secure, full length tang for strength to pry rocks, blunt tip for cutting loose yourself/others from a snag without stabbing them, line cutter, serrated and straight blade, 420 SS blade.

Cost less then $20 too.

Personally I would not want ANYTHING around my neck while in whitewater.  Seems like a perfect thing to get tangled on a tree strainer and choke you.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have a breakaway clip just in case it gets tangled.  I felt the same way initially about not wanting things around my neck but to be honest it's not a real big concern for me now.  I have it hung loosely around my neck and clipped to my pfd so I am doubly sure I have it.  Plus, being a knife, if I do get hung up then I know I have it handy. 

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

I like my Neckolas so much that I got one for my father too. He's also a kayaker but he sticks to flat water. Still, its always a good idea to have a good knife.

I decided to have a quick look at it and you can see they have changed a little over the few years they have been out. The new one (top) has a much larger and more robust clip than the one I have (bottom).  You can also see that the mounting plate on the opposite side of the clip is bigger.  I have to wonder if there was a problem with the smaller clip that prompted this change.

Also, and this is probably unimportant but possibly worth mentioning to the detail oriented folk here, but the clip on the new one came on the opposite side of the knife.  Since the clip is reversible I doubt there's anything significant about that, but it makes me wonder if there was a change in the manufacturing process too?

Just wondering out loud and thought I'd share.

Def

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

[Beerplumber]

Thanks Grant, wow it's smaller than I had pictured in my head. I should clarify my rafting adventures are pretty mellow. It's quite shallow and slow, no PFD's, lots of people just go down in an inner-tube. That being said I have yet to see a water way that is without its dangers and the mellow ones are that much more underestimated. Now that I've done some shopping I realize there are SO many different tools/blades/hooks for this purpose. With the copious amount of time I spend in and around water I'm fine with trying a few until I find what works for me. The benchmade 5 ive ordered should arrive soon and then I'll order my neckolas. Grant did you have to put your own break-away piece in the lanyard or do they come with a break-away mechanism already?


Stay multi my friends

[Grant Lamontagne]

Thanks Grant, wow it's smaller than I had pictured in my head. I should clarify my rafting adventures are pretty mellow. It's quite shallow and slow, no PFD's, lots of people just go down in an inner-tube. That being said I have yet to see a water way that is without its dangers and the mellow ones are that much more underestimated. Now that I've done some shopping I realize there are SO many different tools/blades/hooks for this purpose. With the copious amount of time I spend in and around water I'm fine with trying a few until I find what works for me. The benchmade 5 ive ordered should arrive soon and then I'll order my neckolas. Grant did you have to put your own break-away piece in the lanyard or do they come with a break-away mechanism already?


Stay multi my friends

I added one from another lanyard- you'll notice the different colored cord on my knife.  It originally came with the more colorful one on my father's, but that got cut up to use for something else (I can't remember what- some emergency or another!) last year while kayaking.

Def

[Beerplumber]

Well this bad boy showed up today, it's definitely the size I'm shooting for, and I can picture myself swimming with it too. Wondering if the functionality is not that of a more traditional blade though. The search for a neckolas begins. This rescue hook should be sufficient for rafting but canoe trips demand something more useful. Thanks for all the advise guys, I had no idea how many choices and options there are in this genre of tool.


Stay multi my friends

[Beerplumber]

Doh!


Stay multi my friends

[Beerplumber]

Wowzers after playing around with it at the shop I see exactly how well it slices. I had no idea how efficient a hook could cut but this went through some 1/4" braided rope like nobodies business. Razor sharp, VERY impressed. The lanyard has a breakaway feature and the hard sheath feels very secure. I likey.


Stay multi my friends

[patrat]

I have had an old gerber river knife, in its hard plastic sheath, clipped through my PFD lash tab for the past ~12 years of kayaking. It has been a most excellent tool for peanut butter spreading, bread slicing, trailer wiring, and security blanket. I think it also made some chopsticks.