Salt vs Salt 2

[Pelagic]

Pricey, yes. Seems perfect for your kind of work, though. You probably wouldn’t need another before you retire...

Use-wise, yes. The jumpmaster 1 is perfect. But carry wise, a fixed blade is not. There's always a chance of it getting hung on something as I walk by quickly or as I'm handling something, and the knife (or even the sheath too) could fall off my person and down onto deck or overboard. Knives in general can fall overboard, so that is a deterrent against taking the pricey ones to work. Can the sheath fit inside a pocket easily? Perhaps if I could keep it in my pocket somehow, it could work, but it would be a PITA pulling it out and putting it back in the sheath.

[Surfingringo]

The Jumpmaster sheath is wider than most. I don’t think it would be the best candidate for pocket carry. The JM is a great cutter and I guess it could be worth the added inconvenience of carry if you are cutting tons of rope at work, But for me, the convenience of a folder would far outweigh any performance increase you’d get. I think the Caribbean might be a good call for you? The handle is actually pretty similar to the Jumpmaster. My only issue with the Caribbean is the detent on mine is a little softer than I like. It’s not something that worries me or makes the knife feel unsafe, I just prefer a slightly stronger detent like on my PM2’s.

[Pelagic]

The Jumpmaster sheath is wider than most. I don’t think it would be the best candidate for pocket carry. The JM is a great cutter and I guess it could be worth the added inconvenience of carry if you are cutting tons of rope at work, But for me, the convenience of a folder would far outweigh any performance increase you’d get. I think the Caribbean might be a good call for you? The handle is actually pretty similar to the Jumpmaster. My only issue with the Caribbean is the detent on mine is a little softer than I like. It’s not something that worries me or makes the knife feel unsafe, I just prefer a slightly stronger detent like on my PM2’s.

I agree Lance and thank you for responding. I am just too eager to try LC200N in plain edge, and do not plan on getting more than one Caribbean. For now I can get by with my Byrd, about which I have no significant complaints, aside from the FRN being too aggressive. I will probably get a black Pacific Salt at some point (I'd really prefer yellow but it would quickly become as dirty as the recently posted pictures of the knives of a commercial diver), as I'm eager to try H1 in SE, and I know not only will the corrosion resistance be infinitely superior to the 8cr13mov of the Byrd, but also have better ergonomics. And as much as I like the jumpmaster 1, I can't justify the extra $120 over the jumpmaster 2 (current pricing to my knowledge due to availability) simply for my preference of a sheepsfoot style blade. The amount of rope I cut varies. It's possible that I could go a week without cutting much, or I may have to make a dozen cuts in one day. Everyone else uses a hacksaw. To my cringeful surprise, few people even carry a knife on dredges (and some can't even swim). The most important thing to me is the safety aspect of being able to make a cut immediately and quickly in a jam. The ability to make several cuts in one day is secondary.