What Knife Should One Bring On The Boat While Sailing

Are you looking for the best type of knife to bring on a boat while sailing?

Or you just want a want to know what kind of knife is best for a skipper.

Knives are any skipper's best friend as it is a very useful boating tool.

This tool can be used for prying knots open especially if they are wet, frozen, or just too tight. 

Boating knives can also be useful during sailing troubles like getting trapped underneath a boat.

Overall bringing a knife on a boat while sailing offers peaceful and relaxed sailing.

However, if you want to look into buying a boat knife, they are a couple of things you need to consider because boating knives are a lot different from regular knives.

They come in distinctive shapes and sizes that may appear strange to a sailing newbie.

In this guide, you will learn the uses of boating knives, things to consider before purchasing a boating knife, the best type of knife to bring on a boat sail.


What are the major uses of boating knives?

Bringing a knife while on a boat trip can be very beneficial. 

Knives are an everyday tool that anyone can use almost anywhere, we can find knives mostly in every home.

However, the type of knife you use on a boat is a whole lot different and has more purposes other than cutting or slicing as opposed to regular knives.

So what are the uses of a boating knife? The major uses of a boating knife are as follows:

  • Cutting ropes ends after seizing,
  • Great for undoing shackles,
  • Open wet or frozen tight knots,
  • Untie netting that wraps around the propeller,
  • Cutting through a harness in the event of a boat capsizing

These are to mention but a few of the uses of a boating knife, at least the major uses. You get the gist.


What to consider before buying a boating knife

Before purchasing a knife to bring on a boat sail,  you must put a lot of things into consideration. 

Some of the important things to consider are as follows:

Invest in a small pen-knife-sized knife as it will be lightweight, easy to carry around on your lanyard

A knife with a blunt end is perfect to avoid poking yourself or your crew members. 

You will also probably want to buy the folding kind of knife with a good, solid lock to avoid jamming your fingers accidentally.

A knife made of stainless steel is best for a boat sail, as it will not rust due to constant dousing in water.

A knife with a serrated blade should be considered too as it tends to cut things a lot faster especially ropes.


The best type of knife to bring on a boat sail

As you have read through the "what to consider before purchasing a boat" you might be wondering what type of knife could have all these qualities.

The Camillus brand has a few knives collection that is loved by sailing enthusiasts.

One of their popular knives is the 696 Rigger’s knife but unfortunately, they are no longer made.

However, they have a new model now, the 6.5" Carbo Titanium Folding Marlin Spike knife which has all those qualities and is also much smaller and lightweight.

Although the marlinspike does not match up to the usefulness of the classic 696, it is still capable of performing a few crucial tasks.

So, at the moment the marlinspike is the go-to knife for boat sailing which you can keep safe with a long lanyard as opposed to a hostler to avoid losing it whilst sailing.


Conclusion

Before embarking on a boating trip, always ensure that you come prepared.

Including a knife in your preparation is one of the overlooked, however, it is very important.

If you didn't own a boating knife before, there are a couple of things you need to put into consideration before buying one.


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