Looking for an oddball; probably custom?

Hi guys,

I am looking for a solution that may or may not exist out there but I figure among this collective, you guys would know. I am looking for a small blade, possibly a folder, that is impervious to unfriendly environments, namely the ocean. I need to be able to clip it to my swim trunks without it getting in the way and forget about it. I have no pockets and a strap on dive knife is overkill.


A little background that you can ignore:
A number of us try to police the reef and remove fishing tackle that has broken clear from the rod and reel and left abandoned. I have a number of knives and cutters I can take out there with me but I am looking for something small and unobtrusive that I have on me at all times and something I don't have to worry about maintaining. A couple days ago, I came across about 30 yards of fresh monofiliment that had snagged and broken free in such a manner that it was strung tight like a trip line between two coral heads. I was able to break the inshore end free with some serious tugging but the hook at the other end held fast and I couldn't break the line. A young snorkeler could have dove down and swam along above the reef and possibly got hung up in the line! It was definitely a danger to turtles which is my main concern but this represented a threat to people, IMHO. I wound the line up on one hand as I swam towards the hooked end and when it was time to surface, I had a moments scare when the line on my hand didn't slip off freely! Duh! I needed a knife or some type of clippers and didn't have anything on me.

The solution I presently came up with is a Boker Ti folder that I drilled and tapped and mounted one of my Ti belt clips on. This little knife now with clip is about perfect but I have concerns as to how long it will hold up. It will jump to a magnet in a different county so I anticipate corrosion. The blade is ceramic and sides are Ti which are ideal for the environment and application but there is more to it and the more is where the problem lies.

Probably some type of credit card knife or other small utility blade will serve me well but method of carry and inert components are critical. This blade will not be used often and the edge doesn't need to hold up to constant use nor does it need to cut paper falling across it if you know what I mean.

Any ideas or sugestions?

Thanks!!

Choose any one of the models in the Spyderco Salt series.

There is a thread over on blade forums where the OP tried as hard as he could to make it rust, bleach, lemon juice salt water you name it.

Maybe not quite super exotic titanium but hence they are quite affordable. I should be getting my first one in about a week, I just ordered the Salt I off ebay for a great price.

Go to the Spyderco home page and search on "SALT" or select by blade material "H-1" to read about them. Then find a good on-line merchant and the price will be about 60% of MSRP.

http://www.spiderco.com/catalog/list.php?blade=H-1&per_page=19

Here is one of the threads I was thinking about:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=344293

You won't need to add a Ti clip because a while back somebody was able to make the clip rust so Sal at Spyderco switched the clip material to Titanium. The pivots and pins are all rustproof as well.

This is a knife you will want to use often. An interesting property of the H1 is the more you use it and sharpen it the better it holds an edge.

Thanks Dave. I have one of the Salt fixed blade knives and it has some surface bloom on it but strictly cosmetic I suspect. I also have an Atlantic Salt but it's much larger than what I had in mind here. I just looked at their site and the Lady Bug looks about like what I was after. I might be able to install a clip on it and if not, I can work with the lanyard hole. The one thing that bothers me though is lack of specific comment on the other metals, beyond the blade itself. All the metal on the Atlantic Salt appears to be magnetic and I doubt it's all H1 but what do I know.

I checked you link on BF. If people want to do a salt corrosion test, submersion in saltwater isn't that revealing. The way to really put something to the test is in salt spray and elevate the temperature if you want to accelerate the effect.

Thanks again!

Don,
I don't know much about knives, but I just did a bit of research, and people speak very highly of Mission Knives (made in California). They make a small (3" blade), called the MPF3-Ti from 100% Titanium (blade, handles, screws, pins, studs, and clip), which happens to be on sale on their website (although it still isn't cheap!). They also make bigger folders and fixed blades too.
I'm surprised you're not making your own! :duck:
Please let us know what you settle with!
:thumbsup: john

I like the idea of a hook knife -if you'll only be using it for lines.

Safe and quicker than any thing else.Plastic and SS -nothing expensive or fancy metals though!

Example
http://www.flyfirebird.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/261

Cheers
Dom

jch79,
Thanks. I didn't realize they finally came out with a smaller knife. I have their larger folder and a fixed blade as well. I recall a number of years ago that they said they were working on a smaller folder but I lost track of following up. Cool. I have been meaning to get another of their folders and this smaller one looks like a good call. The blade may not compete with other knives but these knives definitely hold up well in the environment and neglect I subject them to! It's still significantly larger than what I have in mind here but it would certainly do the job. Too bad they don't do a baby version!

Dom,

I was thinking somewhat along those lines with an idea of using a carbide insert in a custom rig that had a similar inlet for the line with the carbide at the root of the channel. I figured I could grind the carbide insert to an edge sharp enough to cut the line and it would be protected from accidental contact. I would guess that the stainless steel blades in that device would ultimately succumb to the salt exposure but maybe not. For strictly cutting fishing line, I agree, that device would be hard to beat!! Thanks.

A sign of my ignorance of knives and their discussion on CPF is evident in what I just realized as my placing this thread in probably the wrong forum. :green:

Well at any rate the good suggestions you guys are offering make me think I should have placed this in the knife forum.

dom said:

I like the idea of a hook knife -if you'll only be using it for lines.

Safe and quicker than any thing else.Plastic and SS -nothing expensive or fancy metals though!

Dom

Click to expand...

Benchmade also makes one. It looks to have a bigger opening then the example you posted and is also a one piece construction to prevent failure.

http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=7

Make sure you get the H2O model though. It is made of SS called X15-T.N and here is the description from their site

X15 T.N: This French steel was developed for the aircraft industry for jet ball bearings, as well as the medical industry for scalpels. It has the ability to resist rust in the worst of conditions while maintaining ample edge retention. The capability behind this steel is in the way it is manufactured, resulting in the finest steel for use in harsh environments such as salt water. The edge on an X15 T.N blade is easier to maintain.

Torpedo Vegas,

That does look like an excellent tool! Thank you.

Check out Boye Knives. The dendritic cobalt blades do not corrode.

Boye Knives

Thanks. The Boye have been suggested to me before and I have no doubt the blade will hold up and I like the Ti marlin spike too. But the component breakdown shows some key components being of 304 stainless which many don't believe should be taken to sea and for reasons I have come to agree with. IMHO, 304 is great in fresh water and the kitchen. It needs to be baby sat at the beach or out on the ocean. I am lazy and neglectful but I am willing to pay the price for this if given options.

Tom Mayo makes custom knives from Titanium and Stellite. He's from you neck of the woods.

http://mayoknives.com/

Emerson Titanium LaGriffe

Spderco Ladybug Salt - Was the first thing that sprang to mind. Great cutter and cheap enough to buy a few and keep as backups.

Warren Thomas makes some carbon fiber or G-10 handled knives with Ti blades and carbide edges.

May some kind of pen knife that has a waterproof cap?

I bet someone at BF or USN could whip something up for you in trade

The Spyderco Salt 1 should be an excellent choice. It is smaller than the Salt you have, 100% impervious to rust, and comes in a lovely yellow color. Serrations too, if you prefer them. It is bigger than the Ladybug which is positively miniscule.

Thanks everybody!! Since starting this thread, I have continued to carry the tiny Boker that I mounted a clip on and have used it once to cut away some fishing line. It served well.

I have purchased one of the Benchmade "7 Hooks" suggested by Torpedo Vegas as I can see where it would be the ideal tool in a number of possible situations I have encountered in the past. Twice now I have gone out with the intention of cutting some fishing line free from turtles and the 7 Hook would be unlikely to harm the turtle should it move at a bad time and I would be comfortable getting the tool in close to the target without fear of possibly stabbing or cutting the turtle! I can also invision it being a tool one would be willing to use on oneself whould the get tangled in up in tethers or gear in a bad situation.

I also purchased one of the Mission MPF3-Ti folders because I am more than happy with the MPF1-Ti I have but it is larger than I need and bulky. This is a knife I know from first hand experience that can be neglected and just placed anywhere for possible future use.

I do think the Spyderco LadyBug Salt would serve well also and if the Boker goes south on me, I will get one of them. Who am I kidding? I'll probably get one or two anyway! I have friends who also patrol the reef and are in need of decent tools....

My next step is to see if I can figure out a reasonably clean method of fastening one of these cutting tools to one of my swim fins. That way it wouldn't be poking me in the waist and it would be there if I needed it. As an aside, it would be cool to design gear that served as host to typically needed tools in addition to its primary function. I suspect that somebody will approach equipment in such a fashion one of these days and it will open a whole new vista in terms of utility and convenience.

From another thread on USN:

"Boye Dendritic Cobalt is a super-performing, non-rusting cobalt-based alloy that excels on tough fibers such as hi-tech rigging line, deck line, and net. Not a steel, it is a mixture of cobalt, chrome, nickel, tungsten, silicon, iron, and carbon. It cuts aggressively and keeps cutting. It is completely impervious to seawater corrosion, and is non-magnetizable. Each Boye blade is permeated by a dense, branching, "dendritic" network of hard carbide crystals (see photo at right). At the cutting edge, these carbide crystals produce micro-serrations, which can be felt with the fingertip and heard when the knife slices through rope. The crystals help the edge keep its shape and integrity over time (i.e. exceptional edge-holding) and enhance its penetrating power, for deep cutting action. Each sharpening exposes a fresh set of hard carbide micro-teeth."

The Ladybug is pretty darn tiny. I don't have one but I do have the larger dragonfly and the Dragonfly is considerably harder to open one handed than the mid-size models like the Salt 1 or Saver Salt.

Something to consider if you are underwater holding your breath and trying to cut yourself free.

+1 on the H-1. I have a Salt 1. It's a great knife, low maintenance. I just saw the H-1 ladybug on the Spyderco site. Looks pretty nice. I think H-1 is just about as good as it gets right now for edge retention and corrosion resistance. Although I've never gotten around to the ceramic and dendritic cobalt knives.

I was going to mention I saw adds for a new program, I think on animal planet. I can't remember the name but in the adds there was some good video of a Triton in action. I remember we spoke about this a while ago but I could never find decent quality video of the Triton doing the deed. I thought you might be interested. I was going to post in the photo thread, but since I'm already here. Anyways, good luck Don!