Thoughts needed...Marine Police needs a knife that works

[Dr. Snubnose]

This week a friend of mine who is with one of the Counties Marine Police Bureaus and Patrol, asked me to buy him a new knife for use on the water at work. Before asking for a new knife he told me this story of an incident that happened to him on Long Island this week.
This officer was on Marine Patrol duty and they got a call of a deranged individual who had just stabbed his girlfriend and was holding her hostage on his boat. When Police arrived he threatened to kill himself and told police that he had his anchor tied to his neck and if they approach he would jump overboard. Well the perp did indeed have the anchor tied to his neck and he did jump over board, what the Police didn't know was he also tied six cinder blocks to his legs and body....Bottom line Girlfriend lives.....and the perps name wasn't BOB.......Of course this is a tragic and sad situation....the reason for my post is once divers brought the drowned perp up and made there way over to the docks...the Marine Police had to cut him free of his death contraption. The officer involved now armed with a Kershaw Blur....Combination edge..... failed at the task at hand....Not saying anything bad about kershaw cept that 3/4 of an inch of serration wasn't enough to get the job done and had it been a real emergency at this point my friend realized that his knife did not perform the way he thought it should...So my friend wants a bigger knife now....and I told him it's not bigger what he needs ( cause g-d know they carry more than enough equipment with them already, and a folder is easy.... clipped to the pocket and out of the way and less likely to catch on things while aboard ship...he could carry a fixed blade but I know this guy and he would put it in his pocket for the reasons I already mentioned and having a fixed blade in your pocket when on patrol won't be fun, convenient or practical.....I was thinking about getting one of the Salt Series Knives in full serrated version...either the Pacific Salt H1 or the model in H1 with the sheepfoot blade (rescue knife or Mariner?)or maybe a hawkbill serrated? If anyone here has another suggestion....I'm all ears....Thanks Doc :D

[Echo63]

SE Atlantic salt or its VG10 Rescue brother (around water i would pick the salt version)
Its a big knife, that weighs almost nothing and wont be in the way in a pocket or tucked in IWB
Doing security work i carried a rescue IWB at about 7oclock for a few years.

Just be aware that modern "tech" cords (spectra, dyneema, kevlar, vectran, plasma etc) will trash an edge really really quick - so it might be worth getting him a sharpmaker too.


The pacific salt/endura would be a good choice too, especially if its going to double duty as an everyday knife

[hudsonhawk]

Assist Salt or even better, the Autonomy.

[Liquid Cobra]

The marine unit here (major port city) carries an Atlantic Salt (blunt tip, serrated) and a fixed blade Jumpmaster at the same time. The Jumpmaster straps to your leg. Can't go wrong.

[JAfromMN]

Autonomy

[swigert]

Autonomy for an Auto.

Pacific Salt for non auto.

[Surfingringo]

Pacific Salt. I spend almost every day on the water and use a knife dozens of times a day. I have never once felt the need for a sheepsfoot blade. Go ahead and get him a knife with a normal blade profile that he can use in everyday situations.

FWIW (and as you are well aware) the knife is not the problem. That Kershaw would have worked fine if it were properly sharpened. A Pacific Salt will eventually get just as dull as that Kershaw so probably the nicest gift you could give him is a Sharpmaker and a lesson in using it. :)

[Doc Dan]

The Salt is a good suggestion and it has a useful point. Other options are the Native fully serrated and the Endura fully serrated. Unless he is swimming and will not wash his knife off, H1 is not needed. But the serrated H1 seems to be good. The Native has S35V and it can be had black coated while they last. Knifeworks has all of these in stock.

[The Deacon]

One of the Salt knives would be the best bet for anyone working on and around salt water. Serrated edge is the best for cutting rope and line and serrated H-1 holds an edge extremely well. Assist Salt or SE Atlantic Salt, if the only use is as a rescue tool, SE Pacific Salt if the need to stab something might arise.

[Milkman]

I know you were asking for folders, but why not a pocketable fixed blade the Enuff Salt or Caspian Salt (if you can find one)? I don't think the Pygmy Warrior is pocketable, but it's smaller than the full size Warrior, is in H1, and has dual edges which could come in handy.

If you're sticking with the folder, I don't think you can go wrong with your standard Pacific Salt.

[Liquid Cobra]

many police departments don't want to issue knives with pointy tips as they could puncture a person while cutting them out of a seatbelt or something. Marine units also don't like them as they may puncture inflatable boats as silly as that sounds. Up to the department.

[Dr. Snubnose]

Thanks Guys...your suggestions were very good...after talking with the Officer today....and finding out more about his needs we opted to go with the Pacific Yellow Salt SE and we are going to get him a sharpmaker to boot.... I let him sharpen my Ladybug SE on my (traveling) sharpmaker (which goes with me everywhere) he was very impressed.....Done deal....Thanks guys for making this easy for me...I have been out of the loop for awhile and just wanted to do the right thing by this officer..and I think we got it right...thanks to you guys...special thanks to echo...didn't realize the amount of new tech cord, but as soon as I mentioned it to the officer he was...that's spot on...he knew of right away what you were talking about...Surfin...I saw and handled the kershaw blur in question....the SE edges were so sharp, when brushed against the thumb would peel fresh skin...IDK....seems like it should have worked but according to this officer it didn't....(the whole reason for this thread to begin with) as always..thank you Deacon...your advice is always sound and taken to heart...and Liquid Cobra....I told the officer about the Jumpmaster cause I thought it a great idea....he doesn't want anything that would catch on anything and when I explained the sheath was contoured to the leg I got an eyebrow lift....LOL...I think it was the price tag that really got em....lol...that said...if it were me....I would have gone for the Jumpmaster....thanks for the suggestion....no I'm not getting one (even though I want one) I try to stay far away from bodies of water....with the amount of equipment I carry (EDC) I think it best for me to stay away from anything that I can sink rapidly in. Then again with the Jumpmaster, strapped to my leg I think I'd be able to cut off all my clothes and attachments and rise to the surface...LOL...Thanks everyone, your suggestions were great and your responses meant a lot to me, as I had to move quickly on this....I'm glad that a Spyderco was my recommendation and it certainly filled this officers specific needs.....All is good!!!...Thanks again... you were more helpful then you realize......Doc:)

[Echo63]

I saw and handled the kershaw blur in question....the SE edges were so sharp, when brushed against the thumb would peel fresh skin...IDK....seems like it should have worked but according to this officer it didn't....(the whole reason for this thread to begin with)

If the knife was that sharp, it should have gone through the cord like it wasn't there - these cords can be a pain to cut through - when splicing a technora friction cord a few weeks ago, it took the edge off my good sharp scissors in 3 cuts (literally from scary sharp to won't cut paper - good thing i have a sharp maker) and has just cutting a few strands here and there to taper it down neatly.

special thanks to echo...didn't realize the amount of new tech cord, but as soon as I mentioned it to the officer he was...that's spot on...he knew of right away what you were talking about

most of them can be cut easily with a hot knife - some however can't - its always funny watching the new guy at the climbing shop trying to cut a technora/vectran cord with the hot knife.

those cords are becoming more common around boats and 4x4 - they are lighter than steel cable, just as strong or stronger for the same diameter, and much safer (low mass and little stretch means they have lower injury potential when overloaded/snapped)
the strength on them can be amazing too - i have a 1.8mm dyneema throwline in my tree climbing kit - with a breaking strength of 300kg.
3mm is good for 1500kg and 10mm is good for over 10 tonnes (and weighs 6.1kg per 100m - it floats on water)
they are also really easy to splice, you can do it with a tape measure, sharpie, gutted ball point pen (to use as the actual tool for the splicing) and a knife.

glad we could help you find a knife for the officer !

[Johnnie1801]

Did anyone mention the new se Aqua Salt? Might be a cheaper option than the Jumpmaster.

[Evil D]

Assist Salt or even better, the Autonomy.

Autonomy hands down. Considering his job and having the chance to buy and carry an auto, and the fact that it's H1 and serrated, it adds up to the perfect knife for this scenario. Of course he may never need to cut apart a drowned victims ropes again but it should still serve him well for anything short of needing to stab something. I would assume he also carries something more effective at self defense so that can take a back seat here.

Oh...I see now I'm late to the party :p

[hudsonhawk]

Assist Salt or even better, the Autonomy.

Autonomy hands down. Considering his job and having the chance to buy and carry an auto, and the fact that it's H1 and serrated, it adds up to the perfect knife for this scenario. Of course he may never need to cut apart a drowned victims ropes again but it should still serve him well for anything short of needing to stab something. I would assume he also carries something more effective at self defense so that can take a back seat here.

Oh...I see now I'm late to the party :p

The Autonomy got several votes but knowing very well what police make it might have been out of his budget. The pacific salt is a great value option and should serve your friend well OP.

[JD Spydo]

It's threads like this one that make me want to scream for an H-1 Salt version of the C-60 Ayoob model. After all it was a former policeman and firearms specialist who designed it. I just know in my gut that the Ayoob model in either H-1 or LC200N would be a great first responder knife as well as a great folder for wet and harsh environments.

[Dr. Snubnose]

It's threads like this one that make me want to scream for an H-1 Salt version of the C-60 Ayoob model. After all it was a former policeman and firearms specialist who designed it. I just know in my gut that the Ayoob model in either H-1 or LC200N would be a great first responder knife as well as a great folder for wet and harsh environments.

Go ahead and scream!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: ...it's a great Idea.......Doc:)

[JD Spydo]

It's threads like this one that make me want to scream for an H-1 Salt version of the C-60 Ayoob model. After all it was a former policeman and firearms specialist who designed it. I just know in my gut that the Ayoob model in either H-1 or LC200N would be a great first responder knife as well as a great folder for wet and harsh environments.

Go ahead and scream!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: ...it's a great Idea.......Doc:)

Well I'm telling you DOC and I think we've discussed this at one point before about the C-60 Ayoob being such a great candidate for the H-1 Salt Series. It was designed by a big time first responder i.e. Massad Ayoob one of the most respected men amoung Police, Firemen and other first responders. You know darn good and well with all the years of experience Mr. Ayoob had as a highly decorated policeman and with everything he ever desired out of a knife went into the design of his masterpiece C-60 Ayoob model.

And as great of a blade as it was in Spyderedge as well as being a plain edge piece of perfection it would be a great all purpose folder for the H-1 Salt Series>> and I don't care if it's H-1 or LC200N.

[swigert]

That exact knife was my second spydie. It's one I cherish and won't ever leave.

It's made many a duck blind.