Biggest knife

[Krip 2]

Hi

Back in the day of bellywarts what was the largest knife you ever saw someone jump with on their reserve.

"Thats not a knife"

Anyone know someone that used their full size "knife" for lineovers etc.

One Jump Wonder

[airtwardo 6]

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[JohnRich 4]

Story time. Someone came up with a goofy contest once to keep us entertained on a cloudy day where all we could do was hop 'n pops from 3k. It was sort of like POPS hit and rock, and the idea was to land as close as possible to a balloon tethered on the ground, and pop it. The winner was the shortest time from touchdown to popping the balloon.

I decided to spice things up a bit by hiding a giant bowie knife in my jumpsuit, and after landing I puled it out and tried to stab that poor little helpless balloon lying there on the ground. But somehow the balloon slid out from underneath the knife, and I just stabbed empty ground. It took a few more seconds of frantic stabbing to finally defeat that mortal enemy.

[airtwardo 6]

So what you're sayin' is...never bring a knife to a gunfight!?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[BIGUN 1,055]

A better question might be, "How many knives did you jump with?"
I wore three.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[steve1 5]

I had a small hunting knife on my stylemaster reserve. It was up next to my altimeter and stop watch.

Don't ask me why I had a stop watch. I don't think I ever did look at it. (even once)

I remember seeing a military hook knife or two back in the 70's. But most jumpers had no knife at all.

Line over malfunctions were fairly common back then. I'm not sure when anti-inversion netting came out....

That has me wondering....Is anti inversion netting on military belly warts, now days. That is probably a great invention.

[skybill 19]

Quote

Hi

Back in the day of bellywarts what was the largest knife you ever saw someone jump with on their reserve.

"Thats not a knife"

Anyone know someone that used their full size "knife" for lineovers etc.

Hi K-rip,
Back in the day, 'bout when I first started jumping, Don Hayes (Southland Skydivers) had this big "Scuba Divers Knife" that he'd wear strapped to his leg on skydives!! He got a bunch a' ribbing for it!!

Somewhere along the line I had a orange handle hook knife (in the grey mil. pouch) that I put on my reserve. Didn't secure it to the bungee or anything so when I had a mal it fell off!! (Over the hill on the other side of the road at old Otay) Mentioned it on another thread and Airtwardo said he found one on the hill walking back from an out landing one day!! The way he described it that knife was probably the one I dropped!!

Knives are good to have on skydives. Not necessarily for events on the jump but all the "what if's" before and after!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[ripcord4 0]

"That has me wondering....Is anti inversion netting on military belly warts, now days. That is probably a great invention. "

Anti-inversion netting is indeed a great invention but it is not used on any of the current military reserves....T10 or either MIRPS rig.

[SCR216 2]

Hello Bill,
I found my orange knife not long ago. Now when I look back on it I kick myself. I mean, "what the hell was I thinking putting that thing on the top of my reserve"? That damn thing has a switch-blade button for the straight blade not for the hook. If you have gloves on you would have a hard time getting the hook side open. Maybe you are supposed to use the straight blade to cut your wrist before you go in.
Got a hook knife with a safety keeper line attached from Alan Silver last year. I think I'll stay with this one.

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

Hello Bill,
I found my orange knife not long ago. Now when I look back on it I kick myself. I mean, "what the hell was I thinking putting that thing on the top of my reserve"? That damn thing has a switch-blade button for the straight blade not for the hook. If you have gloves on you would have a hard time getting the hook side open. Maybe you are supposed to use the straight blade to cut your wrist before you go in.
Got a hook knife with a safety keeper line attached from Alan Silver last year. I think I'll stay with this one.

You're describing the old Camillus knife that was actually made backwards, it was supposed to have the hook as the switchblade...I have a couple of 'em, and I still owe Bill one next time I come across where I put them.

The knife I found on the mountain at Otay is the even older orange rubber handled straight hook blade knife, I've owned and lost several of them...have one left in my riggers kit.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[SCR216 2]

Well anyway, that old Orange Camiluss knife is now in with my camping / fishing gear. Anytime a jar of peanut butter attacks me in the woods, I'll be ready to spread that puppy all over my toast with a push of the button. As for the hook side, I'll use it to cut away the line if the fish is too large to land.

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

Well anyway, that old Orange Camiluss knife is now in with my camping / fishing gear. Anytime a jar of peanut butter attacks me in the woods, I'll be ready to spread that puppy all over my toast with a push of the button. As for the hook side, I'll use it to cut away the line if the fish is too large to land.

They are a nice tool that really holds an edge, but like all switchblades the cutter loosens up with too much use...make sure the peanut butter isn't too cold!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[skybill 19]

Quote

Hello Bill,
I found my orange knife not long ago. Now when I look back on it I kick myself. I mean, "what the hell was I thinking putting that thing on the top of my reserve"? That damn thing has a switch-blade button for the straight blade not for the hook. If you have gloves on you would have a hard time getting the hook side open. Maybe you are supposed to use the straight blade to cut your wrist before you go in.
Got a hook knife with a safety keeper line attached from Alan Silver last year. I think I'll stay with this one.

Hi Dennis,
See Jimmy's post, besides the switch blade Camilus there was the rubber orange handle with just the hook blade config. which is the one I had. Beware of lanyards for knives etc!! That's what killed Eddie Liera at Perris some years ago. Knife and lanyard tangled with reserve Pilot chute bridle or something like that and horse shoed the mess!! I have a "Jack the ripper" knife and I put a loop of 1" webbing on it so I can get my 4 fingers (with gloves if need be) thru it. Minimizes loss and eliminates the horse shoe potential. The lanyard trip is basically why rip cord lead stops went out of Vogue!! Floating ripcord caught a few pilot chutes!!! They were still using the lead stops when they filmed "Gypsy Moths" At the end of the movie when the kid jumps the wing suit and hums it, pulls and lands. Remember he's staggering around in a daze holding the ripcord in front of him. Hackman comes up, grabs the ripcord by the end pin and says,"When you pull it, ya, really pull it huh kid!!!" The kid yanked it so hard he pulled the lead stop off the Ripcord!!!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[SCR216 2]

[SCR216 2]

Thanks Bill,

I know what you mean as far as the horseshoe problem. I had a horseshoe of the main to the stiffen-plate and it didn’t help to cut it away so my reserve got up into the main during a jump at Taft in 1967. That was no fun at all. Got 10 breaks in my good leg along with 10 breaks in my good ankle.
The lanyard setup I got from Alan Silver is in a web pouch with a Velcro cover and web loop at the top. When you pull on the top webbing the knife come out only a few inches, so it doesn’t get away from you. I replaced the lanyard with low strength cut-away cord. I know the knife could float on me, so if I have the altitude I might need to pull it in from the pouch end. I had to do a back-loop once to get a floating ripcord, but that is out of the question in this situation. The way I have the lanyard designed, if the knife gets caught up, the force to break the lanyard away is only ~two pounds. If that doesn’t work I would need to pull it in from the pouch end. I know it sounds like a lot to do with only a little time to do it. Like you, I have watched friends take too much time messing around and it can end up costing maximum.

I've gone to using biking gloves because they have 50% of the fingertips ends removed. In most situations they keep my hands warm enough to let my brain receive info from my fingertips without always needing to look at them.

Thanks for the input. I'll kick it around in my head. I’m for sure not against changing my ways if it saves me some time when going over 100 mph.

[jbrasher 0]

Back in the 70's I remember a guy came out to Elsinore with a camo jumpsuit and a machete strapped to his leg jumping a PC. Don't know if he ever used it.

A few years later I remember hearing a story of a European jumper at Perris with a large knife/machete who had a malfunction and managed to sever his reserve risers during a malfunction and went in.

Be careful out there :-)

Red, White and Blue Skies,

John T. Brasher D-5166

[BIGUN 1,055]

Quote

You're describing the old Camillus knife that was actually made backwards, it was supposed to have the hook as the switchblade..

Beat me to it. I carried one for years before I found out, "The rest of the story."

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[patmoore 14]

Quote

I had a small hunting knife on my stylemaster reserve. It was up next to my altimeter and stop watch.

Don't ask me why I had a stop watch. I don't think I ever did look at it. (even once)

Thread jack alert but I can't resist. Reminds me of a story Jimmy Godwin told me. Way back in the early days he noticed that Doc Gaffney had a stop watch and asked why, Doc responded that he used it to tell him when to pull. Jimmy (who had several jumps at that time exclaimed, "You can see in free fall?" Apparently he closed his eyes upon exit and groped for his ripcord. He said he then went home and welded two heavy pieces of angle iron in front of his helmet and mounted a stop watch where he could see it. Unfortunately the watch was inclined about 45 degrees off vertical to the right. The first time he jumped with it he said he kept angling his head to view it straight and got into a flat spin.

I don't know if he was serious or just pulling my leg but that's too wild a story to make up. I've never forgotten it.

DZGone.com
B-4600, C-3615, D-1814, Gold Wings #326, Diamond Wings #152.

If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

[davidlayne 5]

Once on a demo, a whuffo kid, on seeing my reserve mounted knife asked,

"Is the knife to stab yourself to death with if your parachute don't open?"

I don't care how many skydives you've got,
until you stepped into complete darkness at
800' wearing 95 lbs of equipment and 42 lbs
of parachute, son you are still a leg!

[lucky508 0]

knife? How about a pistol, pack of cigs and a lighter?
Attached is a pic i found of some Rhodesian Light Infantry troopers preparing to jump. the old guy with the pistol and cigs a newbe in front of him. hilarious.

[skybill 19]

Quote

knife? How about a pistol, pack of cigs and a lighter?
Attached is a pic i found of some Rhodesian Light Infantry troopers preparing to jump. the old guy with the pistol and cigs a newbe in front of him. hilarious.

Hi lucky5,
"Never mind the knife, Got Guns?!!" Remindz' me of Frank"aka Major Goodie" Goodman from daze long gone by. Got a story 'bout him on steve1'z Scary stories thread think it's page 42 or 43. My post just scratches the surface!!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[skyrider 0]

Quote

Quote

Hi

Back in the day of bellywarts what was the largest knife you ever saw someone jump with on their reserve.

"Thats not a knife"

Anyone know someone that used their full size "knife" for lineovers etc.

Hi K-rip,
Back in the day, 'bout when I first started jumping, Don Hayes (Southland Skydivers) had this big "Scuba Divers Knife" that he'd wear strapped to his leg on skydives!! He got a bunch a' ribbing for it!!

Somewhere along the line I had a orange handle hook knife (in the grey mil. pouch) that I put on my reserve. Didn't secure it to the bungee or anything so when I had a mal it fell off!! (Over the hill on the other side of the road at old Otay) Mentioned it on another thread and Airtwardo said he found one on the hill walking back from an out landing one day!! The way he described it that knife was probably the one I dropped!!

Knives are good to have on skydives. Not necessarily for events on the jump but all the "what if's" before and after!

I landed out at Otay one day, no knives, but I got 3 student ripcords and a freebag/pilot chute by the time I got back to the DZ!

[mjosparky 3]

Quote

The knife I found on the mountain at Otay is the even older orange rubber handled straight hook blade knife, I've owned and lost several of them...have one left in my riggers kit

Did it look something like this? They were used by Navy pilots.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

Quote

The knife I found on the mountain at Otay is the even older orange rubber handled straight hook blade knife, I've owned and lost several of them...have one left in my riggers kit

Did it look something like this? They were used by Navy pilots.

Sparky

That's it!


Oh~

Navy 'Pilot'?? don't you mean 'Nasal Radiator'



Hey Spark, I was @ Elsinore last weekend, talking with some 'old guys' by the fire...remembering the good times.

Someone mentioned you and the I.O. jumpsuits, said he thought it had something to do with your job...

I corrected him...DOC jumpsuit, from that time you escaped!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[mjosparky 3]

It's always nice to be remembered. And they haven’t caught me yet.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals