Knife for fire investigation

[Dago Red]

If you reconsider fixed blades might checkout some dive knives too. They’re stainless, kydex or plastic sheathes and made to be easily maintained. They almost always have at least an accent color. Depending on where you live a 3” fixed blade knife may not get a second look at all.

Good luck

Red

 

[A.L.]

I'm going to agree with some people here and say that I'd still consider fixed blade because of the cleaning hassle.

How about Spyderco Enuff salt with wharncliffe blade? Points:

- H1 steel; will not rust
- Bright yellow handle
- Short sheepsfoot blade for scraping all kinds of nasty stuff
- Spyder edge that wont get scared of scraping stuff and yet still cuts
- Compact, can be put in big pocket
- Not scary looking (minus the serrations maybe)
- Easy to clean

 

[gadgetgeek]

If you don't need a long blade, but might need to do some light prying, the ESEE Candiru is short enough to pocket carry, and can be fitted with bright scales. To secure the sheath, you just run a short bit of cord from the tip of the sheath to your belt loop. I carried an Izula this way for a year or so. Otherwise, Native salt, that will do the job and not need disassembly, just hose it out and be done.

 

[Velitrius]

You seem far too obsessed with disassembly. As @Eli Chaps mentioned earlier, a Spyderco Delica (or Salt) will be fine if you just flush the thing out, with, say water from a hose.

Way too obsessed with disassembly.

I've never... repeat.. NEVER... had to disassemble a knife to clean it.

I've worked on the docks with creosote wood and salt water. Hose, toothbrush, maybe canned air.

Paper towel to wipe them down.

If I have to disassemble a knife to clean it, I'll just throw it away. Easier in the long run.

 

[Lapedog]

Way too obsessed with disassembly.

I've never... repeat.. NEVER... had to disassemble a knife to clean it.

I've worked on the docks with creosote wood and salt water. Hose, toothbrush, maybe canned air.

Paper towel to wipe them down.

If I have to disassemble a knife to clean it, I'll just throw it away. Easier in the long run.

I actually like to be able to disassemble my knives. True many probably do not need it but I like to be able to look at the sides of the tang to check for rust.

Also if you are an action snob you pretty much have to be able to disassemble your knife if you want the best action on any knife.

 

[Velitrius]

I actually like to be able to disassemble my knives. True many probably do not need it but I like to be able to look at the sides of the tang to check for rust.

Also if you are an action snob you pretty much have to be able to disassemble your knife if you want the best action on any knife.

LOL! No, I'm not an "action snob", but now that you mention it I can see where you are coming from.

But as far as disassembly being a requirement for a thorough cleaning, I'm firmly in the "nope" camp.

Perhaps if folks are concerned about the knife getting too dirty, they should seek out simpler mechanisms.

That's what I would do if I were concerned about too much gunk and such.

 

[Lapedog]

LOL! No, I'm not an "action snob", but now that you mention it I can see where you are coming from.

But as far as disassembly being a requirement for a thorough cleaning, I'm firmly in the "nope" camp.

Perhaps if folks are concerned about the knife getting too dirty, they should seek out simpler mechanisms.

That's what I would do if I were concerned about too much gunk and such.

Do your best to clean out a knife without disassembly and then disassemble it. You will see that it is not 100% clean. The only way to clean those surfaces is to have access to them.

I have tried many different methods of non disassembly cleaning and have always found that a take down of the knife will reveal areas where the build of the knife allowed dirt to hide. Also I do worry about water being held inside the knife and potentially causing rust.

For example my Spyderco Southard has an internal stop pin with the track being cut into the blade. I tried cleaning it without disassembly multiple times with various methods but still got the feeling something was wrong with the action.

Upon taking the knife apart I could see there was a large oil/lint dust bunny that had accumulated in the stop pin track and the lockside plus the liner were trapping it in there with no way it could be flushed or swished or blown out.

 

[Velitrius]

Do your best to clean out a knife without disassembly and then disassemble it. You will see that it is not 100% clean. The only way to clean those surfaces is to have access to them.

I'm 100% sure you are correct in this. But I am also 100% confident that 100% cleanliness of all interior surfaces isn't necessary for 100% reliability of the stuff in my possession.

I am certainly not begrudging anyone who would choose to clean to such a degree. Not at all.

But I also would like to point out that disassembly is not necessary to gain 100% reliability of most folders. I carry living proof.

I've got old Schrade lockbacks from the 70s that have been neglected/abused without so much as a sink rinse for years.

They'd probably complain to me given the chance, but none have ever stopped working reliably!

 

[S!LVER]

Be sure to use Spydero's OpFocus program to get a better discount, it's specifically for people such as yourself and you'll get 50% off of MSRP instead of only 35%.

https://www.spyderco.com/resources/op-focus/

Thank you for this suggestion. I will be going this route I think it will work the best. (time will tell and I will try and post back about any feed back). Thank you for everyone who posted. A quick comment about cleaning. A lot of my tools require extreme cleaning not just for functionality but for cross contamination between scenes. So for anyone saying I'm too obsessed with disassembly and cleaning, I am probably but its for a good reason. I also carry a cheap fixed blade in my tool box but there are lots of times were you are away from your tool kit. All in all I appreciate everyone's feed back.

 

[Mikel_24]

Ok, fire investigation but.... what tasks do you actually use your knife for? I have no idea what a fire investigator may need to do during a fire investigation! Do you actually cut stuff? Poke material to get to the inside? Pry open electrical junction boxes to check cables? Break through drywall to get to the conduits? Collect "evidence" (whatever that means) to be later analyzed in the lab to identify substances? Take pictures?

I think that the use (more than the environment) dictates the kind of knife (if any) that you might need.

I understand that if you are collecting evidence for the lab you might need to use sterile tools so as not to contaminate them. I don't think a knife is the tool of choice.

Same goes for prying open stuff, your knife tip will be gone in no time (and Spyderco is notorious for having pointy sharp thin tips in most of his models).

You already got a number of suggestions, but I don't think they could be anywhere accurate whitout knowing what you would be using it for.

Mikel

 

[David Richardson]

If you plan to disassemble and don't have much experience a back lock (any of the knifes where the lock release is on the spine of the handle) could be be frustrating to get back together. I'd consider a frame lock, liner lock, or a compression lock. Do you need a lock when the knife is closed? I can see this on an automatic knife. For a manual opening knife I don't see how it would help - it pretty much can't open accidentally.

I agree the salt series is good. I could consider the Caribbean. It comes in plain edge or serrated, but not partial serrated. If you qualify for first responder pricing it would be $130 from Spyderco. The Spyderco knives with H1 steel are going to have disappointing edge retention.