RE: [Paddlewise] Knives

Actually, in diving a piece of  50lb test line could kill you. Try to break
that with your bare hands underwater. I usually carry 2 knives, one on my
leg and the other on my BC so if I am tied up and unable to reach my primary
I've got the BC knife for a backup.

cu

		-----Original Message-----
		From:	owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
[mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net] On Behalf Of Julio MacWilliams
		Sent:	Thursday, April 08, 1999 12:44 PM
		To:	David Seng
		Cc:	paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
		Subject:	[Paddlewise] Knives

		My experience with knives is that they provide a false sense
of safety.
		Most people put knives on their PFD, but have never tried
them 
		in simulated or real situations.  When the time comes, you
may be
		in for a surprise. An example follows.

		In hangliding, the knife fashion is still alive. As kayaker
do, many
		hanglider pilots carry a knife in their chest.  One day I
decided
		to try one.  I hanged from my glider in the back yard, and
had someone
		measure the time it would take me to cut my attachment to
the glider.
		Surprise! The glider's strap was much stronger than what any
knife
		could cut in four hours.  Then I repeated the test with a
scuba diving
		knife, and I did cut the strap that tied me to the glider in
40 seconds.
		That is more than what most people can hold their breath
under stress.

		That clearly shows that the knifes used in hangliding are
useless
		when a pilot falls in the water. The pilot would be much
better off
		forgetting about the knife and looking for other means of
getting
		out of the harness and out of the water.

		Back to sea kayaking, have any of you ever tried to get out
of
		a fishing net, or any entangling rope, at least in a
simulated
		and controlled scenario?  Are you sure your knife is going
		to cut the ropes in a reasonable amount of time?  

		Knifes, like any other "safety gadget" (ironic quotes) are
useless
		without previous testing and training.  But knives, unlike
most 
		safety equipment, have not even been tested by the
manufacturers.

		- Julio

		Dave wrote:
		>   Recalling a discussion about knives quite a while back,
I think that
		> *most* of the Paddlewise crowd do carry knives when sea
kayaking.  My
		> Dave Seng

	
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