iki jimi spike -> "Veterinary Trocar" - Dispatching speared fish

[Mr. X]

Iki jimi spikes are difficult to find in the UK. Rob Allen make a nice one with a good sheath (important) and a tri-cut point but its pricey:

I've made some iki jimi spikes using thick round awl blades, placing them hot in a thermo-plastic chainsaw-file handle and using sections of an old telescopic car aerial/antenna as sheaths.

However, these days I prefer to use the impressive tri-cut spike on my Rob Allen fish stringer, if I am close to my float.

Otherwise the much smaller, less sharp spike on my Omersub nylon waist stringer or my cheap flat spearo dagger).

However, I just came across a veterinary tool called a "veterinary trocar", which could perhaps be used as an iki jimi spike, to dispatch fish humanely?

e.g. the 5mm or 7mm version of this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YNR-Sheep...urgical-Equine-Livestock-Farming/261535463178

I believe they are designed for piercing animals (e.g. for bloat), stainless steel, and available in various sizes. They often come with a stainless steel canula, which could perhaps be fashioned into a protective dive sheath?

 

[Kodama]

I just use my knife for ikejime. Another piece of equipment is just.... another piece of equipment. As a minimalist I try to avoid it. However the spike you are referring too seems really well made.
I tried using my stringer to spike the brain entering from the gills and pushing it into the brain but it is hard to be accurate. And while I hold the spike between middle and ring finger the back of the spike pushes hard into the palm of my hand. I would love to improve my setup but without 'adding' another tool.


Sent from the abyss

 

[portinfer]

I've seen fish being spiked and then a wire run down the spine too. Probably easier to do on shore or on a boat than floating in the sea (the wire bit).
Oh it's either Ikejime (活け締め) or Ikijime (活き締め) by the way
I was reading about methods like this recently and tend to put a knife in the top of the head then cut the gills on the right side.
Seems like a lot of commercial caught fish (salmon in the article I read) are stunned then bled or even pressure bled.
I've seen some ikejime spikes that are such a large diameter that they would be useless - must be about 12mm in diameter!
Might try tri-sharpening a spike to try out.

 

[SubSub]

The ol’ dagger does the trick for me. What would the advantadges be of doing it another way or with another tool? Don’t you guys think the dagger is enough?

 

[Kodama]

The ol’ dagger does the trick for me. What would the advantadges be of doing it another way or with another tool? Don’t you guys think the dagger is enough?

Yep that is what I have been doing forever. But I have been experimenting with the spike on my stringer because it would eliminate one more action of taking the knife, braining the fish, putting the knife away. If I could use the spike, which you need to grab anyway to string the fish, as a braining tool to speed up the process and be back on track faster. Time is precious...
Using the classic snake by Mares by the way, slim profile and nice and long.

 

[Mr. X]

The ol’ dagger does the trick for me. What would the advantages be of doing it another way or with another tool? Don’t you guys think the dagger is enough?

Good point about not needing yet another piece of equipment to buy/carry/worry about it. Spike works better for me as my cheap dagger is quite wide, even after years of use & grinding. Also no chance of cutting yourself or equipment with an errant cutting edge.

The classic, moderately expensive Mares Snake is probably a better choice, once you have figured out how not to loose dive knives.

Or one of the small, flat Omer mini-laser or SeacsubSamurai daggers that can be worn on the belt or arm -- where they can be more easily and quickly accessed.

 

[Kodama]

I have the omer mini laser too but the rubber armstrap didn't work for me so I made another one out of velcro which lays flat . I like how thin and low-profile it is but the snake is still my preferred tool.

One of the things I didn't like about the mini laser is that there was no cutting edge on the back side of the blade.

The whole purpose of a dagger is that it can penetrate easily and therefore you have a slim profile and sharp edges on both sides. I used a file to create an edge above the serrations.

Do you think that grinding a tri-cut tip on a spike would make it penetrate easier?



Sent from the abyss

 

[Mr. X]

Good tweak

Do you think that grinding a tri-cut tip on a spike would make it penetrate easier?

I doubt it makes much difference, compared to a similar angled conical point. Also conical points are often longer, e.g. tapered over the entire length. You might find it easier to sharpen - although I've sharpened spears with tricut points and spears with conical points and haven't noticed one being easier than the other. I usually used bench stones for the tricut spear and a small, slow, electric,bench, wet wheel grinder for the conical tips.

For my tricut spear, all 3 surfaces are flat ground to the same angle, see image above. The conical points on my other spears have a much longer taper for the primary bevel but a much lower angle for the short secondary bevel at the tip, which is presumably intended to make the point last longer (same as the secondary bevel on a knife). See image below. The angle of the tricut spear is between the angle of the primary & secondary bevels on the conically tipped spears.

But for an iki jime spike, I think a longer more gradual taper might be better. I find the long, strong tricut pin on my Rob Allen stringer much easier to use than the much shorter, thinner, smaller diameter spike on my much cheaper Omer (I think?) waist stringer. Some just use the spear tip (E.g. Ted in Rio), I tried it once and it worked but it felt like hard work. For some fish anything will do but some bigger/slippery/wriggly/tougher skulled fish, it can mean the difference between an easy job and a struggle/pierced hand.

 

[Kodama]

I came across this spearfishing spike which you may find interesting. apparently it is designed by the Brazilian spearfishing champion.
Made by PK Sub

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162473390535?rmvSB=true