Space Corps knife??

[SF Native]

What chores and functions might this space knife have to perform?

sal

We need to talk to the space commander in chief.

He would want it really small so it makes his hands look huge. Biggest hands you have every seen.

[5-by-5]

I think the big glove wearing Coast guard Autonomy would be a great performer.

[Naperville]

Has to be a fixed blade if they are going to use it with a space suit on. There is no dexterity for manipulating a folder with gloves on.

Full grip for holding with gloves on. Grip should be something very coarse, like burlap micarta. Hole in the handle for a tether strap.

Steel used should not rust because it might be in space for years. Should be reasonable steel...not too hard such that if used as a pry bar it would not break, not so soft that it would req sharpening every use.

Single edge knife with 5 to 7 inch blade, 0.2 or thicker steel. Could have saw teeth on the bottom 1/3rd of the blade to cut something very tough.

[Pelagic]

Perhaps access to the sun could provide new heat treat options? Let's keep an open mind.

[M4Life]

Isn't it generally a bad idea to carry around a knife and cutting holes in things when all that separates you from the infinite vacuum of space is a spacesuit the gloves of which don't really promote dexterity?

[Tims]

Isn't it generally a bad idea to carry around a knife and cutting holes in things when all that separates you from the infinite vacuum of space is a spacesuit the gloves of which don't really promote dexterity?

More care would be taken than in your average terrestrial office setting, sure, the stakes are a lot higher but damned if I’m going to space without a good freakin knife.

[Sjucaveman]

If it can't cut the fabric of space and time I don't want it.

[Mad Mac]

The fixed blade Randall Astro carried by astronauts mentioned in the Knives in Space article referenced earlier on this thread bears striking similarities to the folding Bob Terzuola Starmate. Correct me if I'm wrong (like that never happens on this forum) but give me a little poetic license and they are both saber grind, spear points with a pronounced swedge.


Randall Model 17 Astro


Bob Terzuola Spyderco Starmate

Yes, okay, the Starmate is more of a drop point or clip point and not so large of a swedge but still,
cut it some slack. It's a folding knife.

[Sumdumguy]

"Star"mate

[Bill1170]

-No cobalt in the blade steel (cobalt captures neutrons, emits beta and gamma radiation and turns into nickel)

You are confusing Cobalt 59, the natural, by far the most abundant and only stable cobalt isotope, with Cobalt 60, a synthetic radioactive isotope that has the property you mentioned. The cobalt extracted from ore used in knives is safe to use in high radiation environments.

Yes, and the levels of radiation needed to transform an element via neutron capture are lethally high, so its a non-issue anyway.

[Bill1170]

You are misinformed on this subject. The article you shared just proves my point... Even their high dpm/kgm values are LOWER than Earth background radiation.

Ok, let me explain again. Yes, no cobalt in actual measurable/impactful amounts. The article you linked says that the production of cobalt 60 is under 1 atom a minute for every GRAM of cobalt 59 in a meteorite, and slightly higher in specific types and densities.

On a macro scale, even if we maximize that production to the higher end of the autor's approximation, that's still insignificant and marginally higher than the rate you have in cobalt rich steel alloy here down on Earth. To put into perspective, you would need cubic KILOMETERS of space cobalt that reached a stable production / disintegration ratio, to make a cobalt 60 sewing needle.... Molar calculus, you can check yourself. I'll end this conversation here lol, most people don't probably care about this. Back to knives we go!

Thank you, Emmanuel, that was excellent.

[rabbitanarchy14]

Let's get serious. :) image.png

this is so my space knife as well.

[Cambertree]

Since this thread popped up again, I thought I’d link this story of actual knife use by Russian cosmonauts on the ISS.

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.bus ... eo-2018-12

Here’s the knife one of the cosmonauts used to cut away material and locate a small hole in the ISS. It appears to be a sabre ground fixed blade.



Here’s a pic of cosmonauts using a knife to cut slices of sausage - a standard looking kitchen cleaver.



Another cosmonaut in a photo I can’t find, was also slicing sausage with one of the NASA customised Emerson Specwar variants (with the package slicer mod for opening rations).



(Excuse me posting an Emerson in the Spydie forum - I’m using it as an example of a task specific customisation for ‘space’ use.)

This fascinating interview with Alexei Leonov, who conducted the first spacewalk, includes some interesting details of how he and Pavel Belyayev had to endure a freezing night in Siberia after landing, before they could be rescued. When they woke in the morning there were wolf tracks in the snow around the reentry capsule.

This type of situation might also be a design consideration for a ‘space’ cutting tool.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/ ... index.html

Personally, I could see a sheepsfoot Caribbean as being a good choice. I wonder what made NASA go with Emerson? I’d be curious to know if Spyderco have ever been approached to modify any of their models for NASA use?

[Sumdumguy]

I just want white G10 and FRN...

[Mad Mac]

Thank you Cambertree, that was a great post. That Russian knife resembles a Gerber Mark II but not quite the same crossguard.

We had C Rations when I served and they had a special tool for opening them called a P38 can opener. It even had a small hole in it to put on your dog tag chain. Why do MREs require a knife modification? Anyone?

[Bill1170]

(Snip)

We had C Rations when I served and they had a special tool for opening them called a P38 can opener. It even had a small hole in it to put on your dog tag chain. Why do MREs require a knife modification? Anyone?

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that MRE’s don’t require a knife modification to open. Any sharp knife will do the job. But most people’s knives are dull, and that scallop ground into the tango tip is protected from most abuse because it is recessed. That’s just my theory.

[Cambertree]

Thank you Cambertree, that was a great post. That Russian knife resembles a Gerber Mark II but not quite the same crossguard.

We had C Rations when I served and they had a special tool for opening them called a P38 can opener. It even had a small hole in it to put on your dog tag chain. Why do MREs require a knife modification? Anyone?

Thanks Mad Mac. That’s a good point about the Gerber Mk II. You prompted me to find a better pic of the knife.



It is actually double edged like the Gerber, and although the image resolution may not show it, it has small serrations on both sides, almost all the way to the rounded off tip.

I wonder, looking at the blocky handle, whether it may be hollow, with a screw off pommel?

You’re right about a small, light tool like the P-38 probably being better suited as a ration pack opener. You could use the part that pierces the tin to open packages too. (I still pair a P-38 with an EDC folder, sometimes.)

Bill1170, I agree, a ‘package slitter’ in the tip of the blade doesn’t seem to add any functionality, that a sharp knife doesn’t provide.

I daresay NASA employees, like most non-knife people these days, have never handled a properly sharp knife. We all know that person who says ‘oh, why do you carry a knife?’ then goes sawing away ineffectually at packages with their car keys, stabbing wildly at taped boxes with a ballpoint pen, then finally retreating to the kitchen to grab a dull steak knife to finish the job. Why should NASA staff be any different?

I’d like to be proven wrong, but it has the look of a ‘designed-by-committee’ modification.

Having the scalloped grind in the tip doesn’t really seem like the safest design, either for opening packages/cutting wires etc, or using the knife for normal utility tasks. If they were set on having a ‘package opener’, something like a Clipitool paired with a Doublestuff 2 would have worked fine - as long as the astronaut was right handed.

I always thought the original Cruwear Manix 2, had the look and materials of a science fiction cutting tool issued to space colonists, but that’s just me!

[Doc Dan]

Bump.

I was wondering if this idea has gotten any traction at Spyderco in the last couple of years since this thread came out?


Just my 2 cents worth, but any knife should have a bias to close and not rely on a detent. No one would want a knife to unlock and cut a suit! Alternately, it could have a lock to keep it closed and a lock to keep it open.

[nerdlock]

Ka-Bar already on it...

https://www.knifecenter.com/series/ka-b ... rce-series

Looks like they went with a backlock and tanto on their folder. @doc Dan, they must have heard your thoughts since they don't have a detent-based lock here. :D

[Abyss_Fish]

Waterway.