Hook knife for Vector3

[tdog 0]

I did a search and found a lot of the stuff was not rig specific or a little old...

Does anyone have cool ideas for placement of a hook knife on the Vector3. I was thinking under the mudflap (kind of like Icon ships from the factory), but the mudflaps are pretty contoured on the Vector3, in that they are narrower on the bottom than the top.

Question 1)
So, Vector3 owners, post your hookknife pics to help me out here - or just tell a good story about it... (And, if you did put it under the mudflap, do you have it in a sleeve/pocket of some sort that is sewn inside the mudflap to protect the other goodies under there?)

Question 2)
There are a few new hookknifes on the market, or at least some that don’t have many hits on the older discussions. Anyone got a favorite for one that is small but will work when needed?

[AggieDave 6]

V3's with hookknives from the factory have them on one of the leg pads, back of the pad right under your butt. Nice location, easy to find, out of the way, but I've yet to see one of those hook knives make it more then 2 weeks of jumping before they get knocked loose in the plane or something else causes them to fall out.

Personally, I'm a big fan of a simple and strong hook knife on the chest strap, and Jack the Rippers sewn onto jumpsuits.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[pilotdave 0]

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but I've yet to see one of those hook knives make it more then 2 weeks of jumping before they get knocked loose in the plane or something else causes them to fall out.

Really? I have the factory hook knife on mine and I find it extremely secure. Mine's never come unsnapped. You sure they had em snapped in, or just sitting loose in the pocket?

Dave

[skybytch 259]

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Anyone got a favorite for one that is small but will work when needed?

Yeah. Square One makes a 4" plastic hook knife that is damn near unbreakable. Comes with a lanyard and a pouch. The handle is open and big enough that you can put even big fingers through it. And it's under US$8.

They also make the same basic knife in aluminum but it's considerably more expensive.

[AggieDave 6]

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You sure they had em snapped in, or just sitting loose in the pocket?

I'm pretty sure, they never touched them, just had them there just incase (as it should be). They'd get down from a load and go "damnit, my hookknife is gone." We came up with some theories, but at the end of the day I really believe that since the back of the leg straps are a "high traffic area" in the plane moving around and such, they just get snagged and loose, then BAM gone in freefall.

YMMV

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[crazydiver 0]

Hey Travis,

I will agree with aggiedave. Imagine opening your parachute and having a line wrapped around an arm or helmet part... its gonna be extremely tedious to find a small hooknife. So you definetly want something large wtih a big handle...in the heat of the moment, you're bound to rip that knife out with so much energy you toss it out of your hand. So if you're only carrying one knife, make sure you can grip it will. The small two holed plastic hook knives are going to do you little or no good. Besides the fact that if you take that tiny little knife out and use it during the winter, it'll probably just snap in half from the cold. So....I would say either a jack the ripper or, even better, a happy hooker (the happy hooker because its got a very large exposure to the blade and a good solid metal handle. I would place it either on your chest strap, or if that isn't stylish enough, have a rigger sew you a pocket on the front of your thigh in your jumpsuit for it. Thats a perfect place for a jack the ripper, plus, your thigh doesn't bend so it wont hinder your movement at all.

Hope that helps. I think i got a little wordy, but hopefully it makes sense.

Cheers,
Travis

[tdog 0]

Thanks for the info... Not wordy at all, makes sense..

I know a lot of people that keep their knife on their jumpsuit, but I don't like that, because I don't want to be tied to a (my) jumpsuit to have the knife... I rather it be somehow, someway "with" the rig, because I know I am not leaving the plane without it.

[crazydiver 0]

Understandable. Thats why i put mine on my chest strap. I have a happy hooker in a pouch there and I actually use it to hold my chest strap instead of a stow band. When I do crw, I add another one to the legstrap and if I'm really anal, I put another on the chest strap. My theory is that I'm much more likely to use a hooknife on a crw jump and i would probably be really amped up and throw the first one away. Always good to have a backup. Unfortunately I just had to sell my CRW canopy because I lost my job and need to pay for school. Depressing.

Cheers,
Travis

[tdog 0]

If it stops snowing here, I want to jump. ;-) Next time we are at the DZ - I will have to take a peak at your rig.

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Unfortunately I just had to sell my CRW canopy because I lost my job and need to pay for school. Depressing.

The skydiver in me at first typed, "Sorry about the CRW canopy." But, then deleted that and now am typing, "Sorry about the job."

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really amped up and throw the first one away

I saw the raw video of one of the tandem guys last fall pull his hookknife instead of the golfball on the tandem rig at pull time as they were close to one another. He moved the knife in front of his face and looked at it like he had never seen one before (clearly thinking, what should I do with this now that I still am in freefall?). Then he quickly decided to put it in his mouth (blade far away from the body) so he could free the hand to pull... I guess with many thousand jumps you don't get that amped - I probably would have thrown the thing.

[Avion 0]

I got two small ones and two Jack the Rippers. I'm only using one small one at the moment on the chest strap. I'm thinking of having the big ones sewn on to my jumpsuit, front thigh, and the little ones sewn on my V3 leg strap pads.

Cheers.

[crazydiver 0]

----------The skydiver in me at first typed, "Sorry about the CRW canopy." But, then deleted that and now am typing, "Sorry about the job."---------------------

Actually, it was a double wammy. Canopy very sad...even sadder, was that my job was at Denver Skydivers and that is no more. Oh well, Things always work out. I'm moving to idaho for the summer on the 14th of may. i'm gonna try to make it out next weekend to say by to everyone for a while.

Cheers,
Travis