Pacific Salt saves the day at the beach

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messer454
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Pacific Salt saves the day at the beach

#1

Post by messer454 »

I purchased a Pacific Salt when they first came out about 10 years ago. I carried an Endura every day and I thought the no rust feature was neat and I wanted to test it out on trips to the beach, lake, etc. I have been carrying it every time I go on or in the water ever since. It has stayed in the pocket of my swim trunks on three trips to Myrtle Beach, a trip to the Jersey Shore, and a White Water rafting day in Gatlinburg to name a few of the more memorable places it has been. It has been used hundreds of times for menial things like cutting off tags and opening up freeze pops for the kids. I have even kept it in my pocket when we go to the pool. The only maintenance I have ever done was to rinse out the pivot with fresh water and put a little oil in there to make it smoother. I give it 10 swipes on the white Spyderco stones at the beginning of each season just to touch it up a bit. Little did I know how useful this knife would be to one young man on this year's vacation.

One week after the Blade show I was with the family lounging in the sand at Myrtle Beach when a lady started going up and down the beach yelling for a doctor or a paramedic. I am neither, but the Eagle Scout in me is hard to turn off so I asked what was wrong. She stated that a boy had stepped on a hook. When we arrived several days earlier I had seen several men in different places fishing on the beach pretty close to where we were swimming in the ocean. I remember being curious if anyone ever got hooked from the line drifting into a swimmer. The chance that they would get snagged and loose a hook did not occur to me at the time. As lifeguards were arriving driving a Gator to help the youth I went down to the water to see if I could help in any way. Now I don't know what I was expecting to see, but that hook was a LOT bigger than I was expecting. The entire curved part was inside his foot and the straight shank was about 3 inches long! The young man was about 16 years old and taking it pretty well all things considered. I saw that he had a plastic leader and a big lead weight rolled up in his hand so that they did not pull the hook in his foot. The lifeguards talked quickly about lifting him into the Gator and one of them commented that they should cut the leader first so the hook didn't move in his foot. They looked back and forth at each other and patted their pockets in the classic "why isn't my knife in my pocket?" until they realized they were in swim trunks and both said they did not have their knife.

I said "I have one" and opened up the Pacific Salt. The young man then got nervous but not for the reason you might think. He stated "Dude that better be sharp. If you start sawing away on this line I am going to puke." I could tell that his girlfriend was kneeling with him and he really did not want to puke. I replied calmly "Don't worry, it is really sharp." One light slice and I was through the heavy leader and the leader and weight were laying on the beach. For just a second you could actually see the surprise in his face as if he was saying "Wow that was the sharpest knife I have ever seen" but the look was fleeting and he was worried about his foot again.

I closed the PS with one hand and put it back in my pocket and helped load him in the back of the Gator to be taken to the hospital. The excitement over, everyone went on with what they were doing. I looked down and the cut leader and weight were still laying there so I took them with me as a souvenir from when the Pacific Salt saved the day. Thanks Spyderco!


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twinboysdad
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#2

Post by twinboysdad »

great story
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paladin
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#3

Post by paladin »

good one...more deeds like this would make the world better for everyone...especially us knifefolk...thanks!
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whkento
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#4

Post by whkento »

Nice! Great story and good job.

And great PR for knife knuts.
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ChapmanPreferred
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#5

Post by ChapmanPreferred »

Well done!
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jmh58
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#6

Post by jmh58 »

whkento wrote:Nice! Great story and good job.

And great PR for knife knuts.

YEP!! NICE!! John
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anagarika
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#7

Post by anagarika »

Good story! This and Surfingringo's makes two :spyder: s save the day!
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xceptnl
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#8

Post by xceptnl »

Great story Lance. It is comforting to know when you needed it, you had a tool that was perfectly suited to the need at hand.
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#9

Post by PMBohol »

Another great story.
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Pinetreebbs
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#10

Post by Pinetreebbs »

Great story!

Thanks for visiting South Carolina too.
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#11

Post by MacLaren »

Nothing worse than a dull knife.
Especially in a situation like you were in.
That's a lot of the reason I love Spyderco.
They are really sharp.
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sal
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#12

Post by sal »

Nice story, thanx for sharing.

sal
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Surfingringo
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#13

Post by Surfingringo »

Nice story man! :) The pacific salt is a great knife and I use my serrated version daily.
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GoldenSpydie
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#14

Post by GoldenSpydie »

Way to Be Prepared.

From one Eagle Scout to another, great story, and a great way to show the usefulness of EDC. :)
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Pockets
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#15

Post by Pockets »

I think it's all been said, but I'll say it again: that was a perfect example of a knife saving the day. Way to go.
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DougC-3
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#16

Post by DougC-3 »

Great story. I haven't been lucky enough to be near salt water lately, but I think I'll carry my SE P. Salt as backup for awhile anyway :cool:
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chuck_roxas45
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#17

Post by chuck_roxas45 »

Good to hear you're ok.
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Ned
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#18

Post by Ned »

That's awesome! Way to represent!
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timlara
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#19

Post by timlara »

Awesome story, thanks for sharing!

I have situations come up all the time where either my knife or flashlight (which are both always on me) come in handy and I've noticed that people often seem surprised that I have them available. So far, my "rescue" situations are much less exciting/important (for instance, removing peoples' security bracelets after a concert or navigating the office during a power outage), but it never ceases to amaze me how few people are actually prepared with basic, easy to afford and carry utility items on their person at all times.
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