RE: [Paddlewise] Knives and tethers

Joe wrote:
>Fortunately the only time I really used it in such a fashion was when I cut away entangling monofilament from the legs of a trapped bird...
And
> Unfortunately he accidentally stapped the victim's femoral artery and he bled to death.  It's now recommended to cut a sprayskirt open Behind the paddler.

Bob wrote
> a story spread that a rafting company made a number of their customers sick when they used their river knives for preparing food.

Doug' wrote
> Anybody wondering if anyone has ever used a knife in extremis upside-down might want to also wonder what the difference is between using a knife in a must-complete-this-cutting-task emergency right-side-up versus underwater.
And
> I carry four knives on my PFD! Beat that Brad!! One is big KA BAR Marine knife and the others are a set of three identical Ninja throwing knives. I decided to go to throwing knives after playing with pussy-kayaker Tekna and Gerber models for decades;


G'day,

I've written one or two spoofs in my time but that doesn't stop me from being a most gullible reader! Doug' you had me believing in your throwing knives for a third of your post! Regarding entanglement upside down vs. right side up. I've seen and heard of a knife being essential for a rescuer to cut free lines tangled on a rescuee's kayak but have never heard of anyone having to use a knife when capsized, although its often given in Oz as an example. I imagine this emphasis is because with two or three minutes available in extremis a knife would be the quickest and perhaps only method possible. 

After Bob's post on knife hygiene I'm starting to wonder about cutting oysters off rocks! "It was a bold man who first ate an oyster" (J.Swift). 

Like Joe, the only time I've used my knife in a rescue was on a beach in the Whitsundays when a sea eagle became entangled in a fishing line, the fisherman were just ignoring it and I was seriously angry, took my knife out and went to cut the bird free. Fortunately by the time I got there the eagle had freed itself and flew away. So did the fishermen. I must have looked wilder than normal holding the knife:~)

The tally on tethering was four Paddlewisers who tethered and five who didn't with no accounts of tethering related accidents but a deadly incident described by Joe.

Thanks for all the feedback.

All the best, PeterO
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