Choosing the right safety knife.

The right knife is an essential piece of safety equipment for any sailor.

From slicing lines to aiding an emergency escape, you need to ensure you have the right knife.

So, how do you go about finding the right one?

Choosing the type of safety knife

When looking for a safety knife, one of the first decisions is choosing a fixed or folding blade.

A folding blade is convenient and can be easily tucked away; however, you don’t get the durability or stability of a fixed blade.

Fixed blades are usually more robust and much easier to clean; however, they are generally bulkier and require a sheath to carry and store safely.

Safety knife lengths

Choosing the right blade length depends on the jobs you want your safety knife to perform.

There are also smaller sailing knives available that offer durability and are easy to carry. These blades are usually under 7 inches long. While they might not be suitable for every sailing task, they will be more than ideal for rope cutting and helping you out in an emergency. 

But it isn’t just the blade that you should consider when buying a safety knife.

You should also consider the length of the handle to ensure you can grip your sailing knife comfortably and correctly.

Marlin spikes

If you are planning to spend a lot of time on the water or work a lot with rope, then there is a high chance of finding that one knot that won’t easily be picked apart.

This is when having a marlin spike tool to hand would be helpful.

Safety knives, like the Mac Nostromo knife, come with a separate marlin spike attachment.

Or, if you feel a separate tool may be easy to lose, you can find safety knives with built-in marlin spikes, like the Wichard Rescue Offshore knife.

Other useful knife attachments

While on the subject of built-in safety knife attachments, there is a wide range of sailing knives available that come with different but handy attachments, including:

• Spring loaded pliers
• Screwdrivers
• Wire strippers
• Built-in torches

You can even find safety knives with bottle openers attached. 

The number of accessories attached to your safety knife will depend on what you expect to achieve once on the water.

Serrated or straight-edge blades

If you have been searching for a sailing knife, you may have noticed that there are usually two different blade types; serrated and straight edge.

Serrated blades are made to cut rope quickly, not neatly, making them a good choice for emergencies.

While straight-edge blades cut rope neatly but at a much slower pace than a serrated sailing knife. If you are working with rope a lot, you should be looking at buying a straight-edge knife.

Marine grade knives

Not all sailing knives are best suited for long periods in the water. 

If you are planning on dingy sailing or taking a kayak out on the water, choosing a marine-grade knife, like the titanium-coated Gill marine tool, would be beneficial.

This ensures that the knife will perform as intended in an emergency.

It is also good practice to rinse any knives, marine or otherwise, with fresh water after they have been in contact with seawater.

Safety harness cutters

While a standard safety knife is an essential piece of equipment for any sailor, you can also find smaller personal safety cutters available to buy.

Made to be worn on a PFD or life jacket for easy access in an emergency, safety harness cutters are designed to sever safety lines and harness webbing.

Making them a great choice of equipment for when you need to cut rope quickly.

Our picks

The Mac Nostromo Marine Knife

This is an excellent tool on the deck, with a bright yellow handle, making it more visible. 

The knife has a serrated blade and a separate marlin spike with a shackle key in a nylon sheave.

Features:

• Blade length: 13.8cm
• Total Length: 28.5cm
• Weight:130g

The Spinlock Deckware Cutter

This cutter is designed to sever safety lines under load. As a result, it provides the best protection against the risk of a safety line becoming un-releasable.

With a guarded razor edge and stowed in a simple pouch, it is made to be worn on a lifejacket harness.

Features:

• A/420 stainless steel blade
• A wax cover for protection

The Wichard Offshore Knife in Fluorescent

Wichard’s offshore serrated bladed knife is a sailing knife that stays sharp in all conditions.

It is designed for sailing and for highly demanding skippers; its serrated blade enables you to easily cut all types of modern ropes.

Each Offshore knife is equipped with an adjustable wrist strap to avoid losing your knife when using it.

Features:

• Serrated blade
• Glows in the dark
• Safety locking blade
• Soft grip
• Single-handed opening
• Remarkable cutting power
• Corrosion resistance
• Wrist strap
• High resistance handle – extreme temperatures -76ºF to 148ºF
• Colour Fluorescent

The Wichard Rescue Offshore Knife with Sheath

Wichard’s Rescue Knife with Fixed Serrated Blade and Sheath has been developed explicitly for rescue operations and extreme sports, such as offshore racing, sport catamaran, white water sports etc.

Securing the sheath to the deck or about the user enables the knife to be positioned in easy-to-reach places like the cockpit, steering wheel, mast foot, trampoline, and catamaran cross beams.

Features:

• – Fully serrated stainless-steel blade
• – Shackle key
• – Red model for fire departments
• – Multiple fastening points
• – Rounded blade tip to prevent injuries

The Mac Double Blade Security Knife

Comes with a highly visible plastic non-slip handle, ergonomic for perfect grip in an emergency.

Features:

• Stainless steel blade
• Sharp cutting inside
• Round outside for safe stowing
• Length: 13.5 cm
• Weight: 56 g

As you can see, a wide range of safety knives is available for sailors.

Spending the time to find the right knife for your personal sailing needs may just save your life, so it is definitely worth spending some time searching for the right fit.

Good luck and happy sailing.