Posted by Alex Forbes on November 10, 2009 at 21:34:15 user Pitsligo.
In Reply to: Re: KNIVES posted by Peter Ceresole on November 10, 2009 at 17:31:05:
I can't recall a time when I was without my "Swiss" (Tinker, for preference) --except for recently, with this cussed business of now having to put them in your checked luggage on airplanes. I think I got my first when I learned to sail, age 5.
What I wonder is why we didn't see more sheath knives, in AR's stories, among those who spent more significant time aboard boats, e.g. Peter Duck, the wherrymen, etc. My Swiss lives in my pocket at all times, but as soon as I'm aboard I don my "bat belt", with sheath knife and marlingspike. For immediate needs, a sheath knife is far better, and for regular cutting of line or twine, it's much easier to have a sheath knife at your hip than to dig around in your pocket each time for a jackknife. I'm not surprised at all that the younger characters didn't have sheath knives --a folder is more practical if you're regularly transitioning between sailing and land activities-- but I'm surprised PD, or any of the wherrymen didn't.
Incidentally, if you can do without the tweezers and "toothpick" (it's far more handy as a fid for splicing small twine), boil your Victorinox. The plastic scales soften and fall away, and you're left with a truly elegant inox shell with lovely brass rivets. A little work with a fine file, to break any sharp edges, and you've got a low-profile, autoclave-safe knife! We discovered this by accident with my wife's, while trying to sterilize it (at the time she was working on a project with bacteriophage for E.Coli) and after the initial shock, were quite pleased.