New Spearo knife set-up

[Mr. X]

Rather than pose another question, I thought I would share my new spearo knife solution. I am pleased with it so far & will let you know how well it works in practice next season.

It consists of:

• a flat "skeletonized" stainless steel "Stingray Professional Divers Knife" (an economy level Taiwanese knife, available from various sources including:
  
  • http://www.extremeoutdoorgear.com/
  • http://www.spearfishing.com.au/fram...rfishing.com.au/shop_detail.php?product_id=21
  • eBay
• Rob Allen Limpet sheath

Total price of knife & 2x sheaths about 12 pounds ~= US$20. In truth, the wrist sheath that came with the knife is better than average - although the straps are very short. This is a very low profile combination to reduce the chance of entanglement weed/kelp forests, float lines, fishing debris.

Pros:

- low profile (less catching, hydro-dynamic, stable, barely noticeable on -- for oneself & others)
- central point of knife is good design for ichi-spike use when spearfishing
- one straight edge, one serrated, both sharp (I find the serrated edge best for heavy cutting)
- shiney (usually corrode less).
- excellent calf fit, inside or outside
- elastic bands make loosing the sheath impossible
- sheath hold the knife very well, right up to near the end of the handle
- sheath would likely work with small "alternative" cheap knifes (e.g. tesco steak knifes, 6 for 5 pounds).
- inexpensive knife (so will never be lost).
​

Cons:

- Flat metal handles are uncomfortable.
- knife handle feels a little short.
- sheath has larger band at top -- so not really designed for arm mount & too small for thigh mount (unless v.slim).
- was hard to get knife in & even more to get it out of sheath [but see below]​

Modified as follows:

1. 1" paracord lanyard with wooden toggle to handle (similar to Rob Allen assegai knife) -- simplifies removing knife.

2. Added a springy lanyard to sheath, about 1m or so long when stretched, from sheath to knife butt. Made from 35lb fishing lines (boiled then chilled around a stick), it is small and unobtrusive.

3. Coated knife with thin layer of cooking oil (to avoid contaminating shot fish with mineral oil). This makes sheathing & unsheathing the knife much easier & the knife is still very secure.

Future: I plan to use thinner rubber-tying cord to replace the paracord of handle lanyard & find a smaller toggle.

 

[Mr. X]

Made a couple of minor tweaks last season:

- Replaced the wooden toggle with a nylon toggle off of an old Rob Allen Dyneema wishbone. Drilled the hole in the toggle a little larger & replaced the cord with the tough black woven cord RA used for tying in the wishbones. It looks a lot neater & more compact (looks more like the Assegai knife).

- The previous monofilament lanyard pulled right throught the sheath edge, so...replaced the lanyard cord with a coil of lighter line (so it can be snapped if necessary) & added thin bungee in-line at the sheath end (tied around the upper leg strap), to absorb jolts & provide more robust anchor point.

Future:
Miles has no manufacturers stickers on his Limpet sheaths, presumably so that they are plain black & so disappear against my black wetsuit. So I am thinking of removing the label - although the RA badge is grey & oval (fairly fish-shaped).

I was disappointed when I tried using the knife to dispatch a fish through the skull (in the past I have tended to stab in through the gill slits, to avoid impaling myself) - despite the dagger shape, the blade is really too broad to do the job quickly & effortlessly. I was thinking of making an Iki-spike (there is a great thread on doing this) but I don't really want to carry any more equipment, so I have gone back to using the long, sharp pin of my Rob Allen stringer to do the job; it works great (didn't like it when I first tried it last season) and it speeds up the process of stringing the fish.

I may try re-shaping the knife's blade to make it narrower, like a Spider dagger or this:

The recent reviews of the new Omer Laser mini with arm scabbard look interesting. The older little Omer Hunter is neat too (my taste for larger knives is diminishing) but flat knives are more streamline and unobtrusive. Perhaps a leg or belt mounted knife is better for safety.

BTW the hardware merchant at the local indoor market just got some polypropelene rope in which looks perfect for float line: 27m/90ft for just £1, and just slightly thicker than my RA float line. It is easy to splice loops in too.

 

[Fondueset]

I have the Laser mini. I think I paid $32 us. I wear it on my bicep. I replaced the single wide velcro strap with a single wide elastic velcro strap. It is a good knife for smaller fish, cutting line etc. But the blade is relatively thin and short so you would not want it for larger fish or if you needed to pry with it at all. At first I thought the sheath stood out a bit too far - but this is not problematic and makes it much easier to slide the knife back into the sheath without risk of stabbing your suit.

 

[tbgsub]

I have heard of local Chamorro spearfisher men who just Bite the head!
kills em quick! just like a shark! but I will stick to the knife dispatch so My wife will feel able to kiss me once in a while. LOL!!!

 

[Mr. X]

I have heard of local Chamorro spearfisher men who just Bite the head!
kills em quick! just like a shark! but I will stick to the knife dispatch so My wife will feel able to kiss me once in a while. LOL!!!

We bite the heads off when we are going to eat the fish there & then -- fresher than sushi & a great mid-hunt snack. The crabs & lobsters are a bit crunchy though, & scallop shells really catch in your teeth .
[Just kidding ]

 

[Mr. X]

Borrowed a digital camera, so thought I'd add some images.

Tweaked knife:
- Top of the handle painted matt black (about half a cm normally protrudes at the top of the sheath). Also edge of RA label.
- Orange lower down (in case dropped)
- bungee & mono lanyard
- Toggle made from drilled out old dyneema wishbone toggle & RA braid (used for securing wishbones).
- blade sharpened, roughly using a mill b*stard file and then fine sharpened with a kitchen knife sharpener.
- blade oiled with cooking oil

[The sheath looks glossier than normal in the image as I had just washed it & the wetness caught the flash.]

 

[azapa]

Made a couple of minor tweaks last season:

I was thinking of making an Iki-spike (there is a great thread on doing this)

Hi Mr X. I had a peek for "iki" "diy" etc, but no luck. Would you have a link for that thread??

My MK1 version looks a little dodgy to say the least.

I used a old mares "jolly" (20 years old!) with very similar blade shape to yours, and tried to brain fish with it. It never worked well, even freshly sharpened. I recently tried a commercial spiker/stringer, and spiking really is very humane with instant kills. the stringer is then passed through gill to mouth and the fish hang there. Very quick.

Thanks

 

[miles]

Hiya

I had a peek for "iki" "diy" etc, but no luck. Would you have a link for that thread??

http://forums.deeperblue.net/diy-homemade/49757-kill-fish.html?highlight=ikijimi

Regards
miles

 

[covert]

I have the Laser mini. I think I paid $32 us. I wear it on my bicep. I replaced the single wide velcro strap with a single wide elastic velcro strap. It is a good knife for smaller fish, cutting line etc. But the blade is relatively thin and short so you would not want it for larger fish or if you needed to pry with it at all. At first I thought the sheath stood out a bit too far - but this is not problematic and makes it much easier to slide the knife back into the sheath without risk of stabbing your suit.

I had this knife too was excelent but i managed to loose the entire setup sheath+knife, dont ask me how i got that right :friday

 

[azapa]

Hiya



http://forums.deeperblue.net/diy-homemade/49757-kill-fish.html?highlight=ikijimi

Regards
miles

thanks miles, it looks great, very "surgical" with that tube tip. I wonder if he fries up those resulting plugs of fish brain?? Sorry :martial

I have some bits of stainless rod and will try drilling it. It seems the combo with stringer is the fastest and most logical

Cheers

 

[Mr. X]

Yes, using the stringer as an iki-spike is my currently preferred dispatch method. The blade of my knife is currently too broad (I will probably change that). I carry it as a dive safety knife/alternate dispatcher/cutter/cleaning tool.

Another minimalist approach somebody mentioned is pulling the spear through and using the spear tip -- easier said than done I suspect but perhaps useful on occassion.

That iki article is excellent -- very near little tool. For serious dispatching, the RA iki tool looks the business with its steel sheath but, if I recall correctly(?), it is pretty expensive in the EU. Must make a trip out to SA sometime to do some fishing and shopping!

 

[sanso]

So it's pimp my knife, eh?

I got one of those titanium knives offered by stupidmunky48 in this thread, but taking the knife out with 5mm gloves seemed a very cumbersome task. a hot blade and some stitching solved this problem.
In short, this is how:

1. Remove the belt loop from the back of the sheath.
2. Cut the sheath so the knob between handle and blade is just covered.
3. Sew the webbing that used to be the belt loop back on so it reaches about 4 or 5 cm over the top of the sheath.I used some leftover webbing here, but the ex-belt-loop should be fine as well.
   NOTE: I made the mistake and sewed it along the side of the sheath. Make sure to keep this webbing centered, along the knife. otherwise knife and sheath will flap around when attached to arm or leg. I had to attach the piece of string along the other side to compensate for this.
4. Use the velcro from the sheath (or in my case a DIY button) to secure the top end of the webbing across the knob of the knife.

 

[azapa]

nicely pimped indeed Sanso. How/where do you fix it to yourself when diving??

 

[sanso]

nicely pimped indeed Sanso. How/where do you fix it to yourself when diving??

I'm using elastic straps, but haven't yet decided where to best carry the knife. Forearm is quick, but only reachable with one hand. I think I'll stick to putting it on the thigh.

 

[Ted Budion]

Those flat knives are difficult to handle to dispatch fish.

The recently mentioned ancient Jolly knife, from Mares, was the "inspiration" for Sporasub's Snake dagger, according to the guy who devised himself.

Why use a Iki spike to kill the fish when your own [sharp, though] spear point can be used for that on most fish, inside the gills to under the brain? That's the Tahitian technique.