Huh, I have one of those "dive" knives branded by Stohlquist. It is sharper than any shorty I have used, but the handle is a bit... underwhelming. That said it has the best locking mechanism I've seen. I know those dive knives are probably made by one factory and branded different, but surprised your's seems so different in that regard.
The ESEE IMLAY is a rescue knife designed by water rescuers for water rescuers. Backed with a 100% replacement warranty if broken no questions asked. Would love to see a review. I've posted this comment multiple times now with a link to the site but I fear it's been removed. If not I'm sorry for spamming. Just wanted to throw in a contender for a smaller option rescue knives that flys under the radar for most whitewater enthusiasts
Every river knife I have looked at needed to be sharpened straight out of the box. The problem with that is most people don't know how to sharpen a knife and even fewer know how to sharpen a serrated blade
@@franzellers8966 I only cut an old climbing rope and it cut better than I thought it would, the opening is just over 1/2 inch but haven’t tried a rope that big yet.
@@seanfraser7738 There’s a ridge which doesn’t seem like much, I was planning on adding something to hold it in better but never got around to it. Didn’t come off this season (only out a half dozen times) it fairly low profile. Wasn’t worried too much because of the price.
The 'rescue' knives (akin to little dive knife genre) aimed at and marketed to river runners are garbage... yes... the Gerber, NRS, Stohlquist, Gear-Aid, that 'Bear-Claw POS lol etc. Just trash!!! Garbage designs, garbage materials, garbage geometry, garbage apex edges, and garbage ergos. Facts are that this kind of stuff is just feel cool, look the look marketing. When it comes down to knife uses... suitability evaluations must be: A.) personally/reasonably established... tested to exhibit performance plus reliability of the tool B.) Effectiveness and efficiency of a working edge C.) Keeping the edge at useful sharpness (stays sharp enough for how long under what uses) D.) Maintaining the cutting abilities (in the case of re-sharpening and potentially in the field). The question a river runner should have dialed: Does the knife do what you want it to do deployable, safely, efficiently/effectively/ergonomically... perform consistently with dependably... and can you maintain it? All the river runner's garbage patch knives check none of those boxes. Good thing here is that Zach has on hand a supply a various ropes to cut. What is required is a heck of a lot more cutting of that supply to obtain more relevant baseline discovery. Then... Tune up the knife, (or grab another new one) and do the tests all over again seeking something endgame that appears repeatable. The obvious take away here should be that you have to practice to be familiar, and prepared. Food for thought: The Wichard here is made of Bohler N680. A very good stainless steel for this knife's application. Good edge retention, stability, and rivals the H1steel corrosion resistance on Spyderco when done right. In my opinion... a good find on a rigging knife Zach!!!
Check out the ESEE IMLAY It's been my go to knife for this whole last season. Very effective working knife with straight forward design put together by water rescuers by water rescuers. It also has a 100% replace warranty if you manage to somehow break it, no questions asked.
@@roughtrackretreats9306 I mentioned this knife to Zack awhile back because of its lineage, simplicity, quality and warranty. That said, couple years before Imlay was introduced... I had already made nearly the same things from an Essee 4 in venom green with orange g10 handle, and also modified an original Izula in venom green. Both work out very nicely. Nowadays, and based on availability... Imlay model in 154cm is a great option not needing any modifications. I started down that path with a TOPS... however the color schemes, sizes, and sheaths for Esee won out.
Since the original Imlay concept knives --- I believe they switched to 440 C and in my opinion with this steel they should loose the combo edge serrations going for all plain edge.
My father got me into the ESEE line of products. I have a TOPS hatchet but haven't used much of their knives. Living on the redwood coast I really get to see the pros and cons of knives due to excessive rain and ocean brine air here. I have to agree. If I could comfortably carry a 4 on my pfd I would but as it stands I carry the IMLAY and Ontario folder as my utility knife. Can never go wrong with a 4 and some upgraded scales.
I can agree sorta with what you mean. But with an edge so small I'd almost be happy with either full serrated or full blade. Almost not enough of either to fully fulfill but I haven't found a cutting issue it hasn't been able to handle yet.
