Floating with your SAK: Dry bag or pocket?

cabron50

cabron50

Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Messages
273
I went on a float trip last weekend and took along my trusty OHT which, as we all know, is a great knife for camping and outdoor activities. Due to an odd number of people on the trip, I ended up alone in a kayak and had to put all of my dry bagged gear in other people's canoes. The only thing that I kept on me was my OHT. If I somehow got separated from my party and my gear, I atleast wanted a knife with me. Of course, I turned over the kayak and the OHT and I both got soaked. It dried out fine and is no worse for wear, but it got me to thinking about how other forumites carry their knives/multitools on rivers. Do you dry bag them or keep them in your pockets?

Next time I might put it in a ziploc bag then put it in my pocket.
 
y'know, i've actually been thinking along similar lines myself...

"How rustproof *are* SAK's, really?"

i may just have to start up my salt-spray test chamber again and pick up a couple of cheap used SAK's, JOY!, an excuse to hit Kittery Trading Post again....(yeah, like i really *need* an excuse anyway.... ;) )

looks like it's time to get a couple bottles of seawater again and test the corrosion-resistance of SAK's

okay, here's my plan then, this weekend, hit my local pawnshop, pick up a couple cheapo $5 used SAK's, and place them in the torture chamber with fresh seawater, see how long they can hold out against salt spray and salt foam......
 
With all respect here is my opinion:
Forget about ziploc bags in your pocket, anyway if you fell in the water that's the first thing that is going to float, and you will loose it.

My first advice:
Always attached to your body, chest, belt, fanny pack etc.(not pockets)
If you are afraid to loose the piece, change it. Don't use it. (sentimental value etc.)
I love my father's issued m-9, I will never risk it on a outdoor trip, so I order a Glock knife for $20, great tool and If I lost it I can go and buy one fast.
My second advice:
Wallyworld carries carries a new line of WD-40, little spray cans and when I say little these are like a marker pen a marker pen is the image that comes to my mind at the moment) If your knife get's wet with salted water spray it!
The other option are the little handy cans (this is the one that I carry on my trips)

Check the sites:

http://store.ombexpress.com/gaxx.html
http://www.wd40.com/Brands/wd40_no_mess_pen.cfm

Just a example.
 
I don't worry about my SAK in fresh water. It's gotten soaked many times over the years and still no rust. Dry it out after, and you're fine! Don't know how it would stand up to salt water though...

Guy
 
Fresh Water - Assolutely no problem - ever. Salt Water - Just rinse it off good inside and out and no problem. I agree with the idea of a lanyard, waist pack or whatever so you don't lose it but don't worry about the water.
 
Thanks for the replies. I had it in a zippered pocket on my swim shorts, so loosing it to the vasty deep was never a concern. I'll just carry it the same way next time :thumbup: .
 
I carry my OHT on a lanyard around my neck with a BSA firestarter when I'm hiking. I figure that it would be hard for me to lose the knife if it's around my head.

The firestarter seems to be more affected by my sweat than the knife. I wouldn't worry about fresh water, you wash your knife don't you?;)
 
We go kayaking almost every weekend in the warm months, and I always carry my sak pioneer or hiker in my pocket. Its gotten wet countless times in the Potomac and Patuxunt rivers with no ill effects. Its very good stainless steel. Once in a while we go out to Assatueqe Island and go back to the canoe/kayak campsites. With salt water I rinse it out at the end of the weekend and its been fine. I couldn't sharpen my hot dog sticks without it!:thumbup:
 
i had to jump in a river a few months back, to rescue a pair i was with in another canoe, as they flipped too. i went in with my jeans, belt, and a SAK... even a huntsman lite SAK. once we got out, i took the batteries out of the lite part of the SAK, opened all the blades, let it sit on a tree stump over night, all is well. actually, the ball point pen inside the SAK does not work, but the light does, and not a hint of rust. good times and good stories :)
 
I canoe ALOT. I keep a SAK (tinker) on a lanyard over my neck, much like a neck knife. I leave the cord longer than a usual neck knife so it is easier to cut something quick in an emergency, so it's not resricted by the cord length. I always have my CS voyager clipped in my pocket for quick access. It's not the best knife by any means, takes a shaving edge but wont hold it for 5 minutes of sitting in your pocket. It will soon be replaced with a custom thin buck 110 with a pocket clip. On the river or in the woods a knife can mean the difference between life and death, that's why I always have at least two on my person at any time while in the woods or on the river. as far as rust goes, i've never had one rust, and have, at times left them in a pair of wet pants for 1-2 days and then they go in the washer and when I pulled them out of the washer my tinker fell out of the pocket and out onto the floor. I put it up on my table, not open or anything and never got a hint of rust, have dropped them in the creeks while creek fishing too, tough, They are hard use work knives.
M_M
 
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