18 h
size contrast, eh
Raise: Dive Probe
Electropolished 440C
SKU 2002
1988 production
Combination abalone iron and ruler for measuring shells for legal size.
A solid estimate of legal size is important *before* levering the abalone off its fast. Putting an undersize ab back in place has high mortality, including due to exsanguination. Abalone lack clotting factors, and a small wound to the foot from prying can result in fatal blood loss. Sal's Probe has an angled tip with smooth contours and edges to help the careful diver avoid that consequence.
Serrated lockback blade, with line cutter at the spine. Issued with a lanyard which incorporated surgical tubing. (Tip o' the hat to one-eyed Jack O'Neill, the king!)
The larger is a red abalone, from Catalina in the early 70s. It has weathered over the years from its post outdoors in the bonsai garden.
The smaller is a pink ab, which over the decades has served in house and in shop as repository for everything from keys to coins to misc project parts. Taken in the 60s at a favorite Palos Verdes surf and dive spot.
Declines in the abalone population in California were complex and multi-factorial, made precipitous by Withering Syndrome (Rickettsial infxn, for all you Rocky Mountain Spydie-folk). In 1997 the California fishery was closed to all species except Red abalone, which remains under stringent management in Northern California.
Of course abalone are found in healthier populations in other parts of the world, with rock-pickers and diving harvesters alike, but the domestic market for this knife existed as a dwindling then nearly shuttered window. Not to say that it can't be used for other dive purposes, of course.
kind regards,
a n.on
