Spyderco H1 Hawkbill Or Sheepfoot BlAde?

I lost my Spyderco Atlantic salt which I loved and I I was about to order a new one. The knife had a fully serrated blade and Sheepfoot tip, a safety function to prevent accidentally puncturing things like yourself or an inflatable PDF.

Now I see Spyderco also makes a fully serrated Hawkbill knife in H1 stainless which it claims is even better for cutting thick line.

I’m leaning towards just replacing my Atlantic Salt but do any knife experts care to help me decide which is a better knife to take offshore? I can’t take either to work so it would be used mostly for fishing trips and the occasional day out on a friend’s blow boat.

P.S. I’m ruling out traditional pointy blades because I’ve never needed to stab anything on the water and I’m ruling out other manufacturers because I’m very satisfied with Spyderco.

Ive lost 2 atlantic salts, great knives and i feel your pain. For the money, the new leatherman knives are what im bringing to the boat these days. Www.Swissknifeshop.com very nice people to deal with, and after buying once, they will send you 10-15% deals all the time.

Myerchin knives are the best. Check out their site www.myerchin.com. Their slogan is “tested at sea”.

If you are absolutely stuck on Spyderco, I would think the hawkbill would scream psycho to some on the beach. Seems like one of the Salts would be more practical.

Those Myerchins are a good choice too. Check out a Chris Reeve Sebenza 21 Insigno.

Chris Reeves?!?!? You must be a captain who else could afford those things!

I’m pretty happy with my Boye knife. The blade is cobalt steel, which won’t rust, and still keeps an edge. The folding knife is available serrated and non serrated, sheep foot or point. They’ve got a great warranty, and they stand behind their product. Kind of on the spendy side, but they are a handmade knife. Way cheaper than a bench made, though.

Ohhh I love Benchmade knives got one of these after the christening.

Nice! Griptilian? I got a really nice Mel Pardue modified buoy, axis folding knife as a wedding present from my wife. I keep it out of my sea bag. Benchmade is the bench mark for quality.

Nope. I’m mate with a master’s license and fifth in charge of the coffee pot and laminator. Soon I’ll get signed off on changing the toner cartridges. Then I’ll be able to save up and get one.

Well in that case mate put your phone down and get those chart corrections caught up!

I’ll get right on it, as soon as I go back to work.

I use a spyderco rescue 93 mm, 80 dollah, no pointy tip, almost fully serrated except the last inch is straight edge. Perfect for opening boxes / the shrink wrap on the grocery pallets then like magic you can saw through any line.

The serrations take a while to smooth out but when they do its like having a little rope saw in your pocket.

Spyderco native,is a good lightweight alternative,

Love the myerchin with the built in marlin spike, perfect for busting loose shackles.

Just sayin

I use Victoinox serrated paring knives, around five dollars ea. but I buy them in a box of twelve so they’re cheaper. I made a nice compact sheath out of Zytel plastic. These knives will cut dirty wet three inch line easily and last quite awhile but when one wears out or gets lost just grab another. I should point out that I’m a commercial fisherman and perhaps a sheath knife is less obtrusive around fishing boats. I also have a Myerchin folding knife with marlin spike, good blade and the spike is OK for smaller line, but I don’t see opening shackles of any size with it. The folding knife I like best is my Cold Steel XL Voyager tanto with a part serrated blade. This is a very large folding knife with a five and a half inch blade. I like Cold Steels serrations best next to Victorinox for cutting line and AUS-8 steel holds an edge well, though it will tarnish if not taken care of.

Spyderco police, full serated. All stainless, thin profile, and like a torch to a deckline. The down side is the pointy tip and serrations are a pain in the ass to sharpen.

Never used the titanium ones, but the stainless Myerchin knives suck IMO. I used to issue them to my guys and after decent use the blades and spikes would loosen to the point where they wouldnt secure in the handle and would swing open freely. They also always rusted, even if they never left the skin of the ship.

Switched to a Boye Knife a year ago and its been the most dependable knife Ive ever had on the boat. Not one bit of rust (dendretic cobalt) and stays sharp no matter what I cut with it. I also like the marlinspike design more because its wide base helps get knots out easier.

I MUST HAVE one of these knives!!

I agree. Meyerchin is a decent knife for light duty work and a good knockaround knife. Like you said, blade and spike become loose overtime and cannot be tightened up. I’ve gone through several of them as they were the standard company issue knife with a previous employer. The Spyderco knives are higher quality and last longer IMO and I cherish them more. The Boye’s are top of the line; I’ve borrowed them from time to time and I want one bad.

Edit:Looks like Boye’s factory burnt down in December! Most unfortunate to hear. Will have to wait for one of those.

I like the spyderco knives. Have a good sharpener and keeping them up you can cut through some pretty big line. Flat blade comes in real handy for opening paint cans and all kinds of random jobs.

I want to love my two Spyderco H1s, I really do, but dang they dull quickly. I have a couple of Byrds I like better at a third the cost.

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That Boye cobalt folder looks kinda awesome, actually … $169 w/marlinspike … not bad.

Try the Spyderco with VG-10 steel or Benchmade with N680 steel.