Probe and Mini Probe... what are they for?

Karen · #1

I saw these on Ted's (?) website posted as a link here many times.
Are the Spyderco Probes and Mini Probes medical instruments?

k

Tyler! · #2

um, well karen, they are, um, for, you know....diving. if i am thinking of the same probe.

it can also be used for ...stabbing things beyond reach! like balloons

:D

tyler

Ging · #3

I have woundered the same thing Karen, do you know what you do with them when you are diving...... :confused:

PSU · #4

Tyler! wrote:um, well karen, they are, um, for, you know....diving. if i am thinking of the same probe.

it can also be used for ...stabbing things beyond reach! like balloons

:D

tyler

LOL... I like your response :D :D

Karen · #5

Ging wrote:I have woundered the same thing Karen, do you know what you do with them when you are diving...... :confused:

The only diving knives I have ever seen (I own two) are fixed blades, with a very blunt flat tip. The probes look like scalpels to me. Maybe for cutting bone?

k

wec12 · #6

Karen wrote:The only diving knives I have ever seen (I own two) are fixed blades, with a very blunt flat tip. The probes look like scalpels to me. Maybe for cutting bone?

k

Scalpel? Cutting bones? I'm not a surgeon, but I do a lot of human dissection. Although I haven't handle one, I don't think they're used for dissection purpose and I wouldn't use them to dissect the cadavers :cool: .

The Deacon · #7

I believe the probe was intended to be a multi purpose tool for divers, and specifically aimed at those who gather abalone. Serrated knife blade for cutting netting, rope, and anything else fiberous. Wire cutter in the spine of the blade. Ruler for measuring, and prybar end for harvesting, abalone.

Or else the other rumor is true, and they're the real reason other Spydercos are now marked "Earth".

:D

jaislandboy · #8

....mmmmm.....Abalone!.. :)
....how about a Kiwi or Kopa with Abalone.... :rolleyes:

severedthumbs · #9

land mine probes?

rcbalt2 · #10

[quote="The Deacon"]
Or else the other rumor is true, and they're the real reason other Spydercos are now marked "Earth". ]

That actually makes a lot of sense. But I would have thougth that kind of probe would be made by that "other" knife company.

lerman · #11

[quote="The Deacon"]
Or else the other rumor is true, and they're the real reason other Spydercos are now marked "Earth". ]

LOL!!! :D nice one deacon.

The Deacon · #12

jaislandboy wrote:....mmmmm.....Abalone!.. :)
....how about a Kiwi or Kopa with Abalone.... :rolleyes:

Brian, I think you just convinced me what to ask Santa (Fe Stoneworks) to bring me for Christmas. :D

If you've ever eaten abalone, you KNOW the shell is the best part.

Inner tube breaded and fried has got to be less chewy and more tasty. :rolleyes:

Fozzy · #13

[quote="The Deacon"]
If you've ever eaten abalone, you KNOW the shell is the best part. ]

ANYTHING breaded and deep-fried is delicious!! :)

The Probes are indeed for diving. I have one of each that I dive with as well as a Pre-Diver. Anyone remember that one??? :D

The Deacon · #14

Fozzy wrote:ANYTHING breaded and deep-fried is delicious!! :)

The Probes are indeed for diving. I have one of each that I dive with as well as a Pre-Diver. Anyone remember that one??? :D

I dunno Fozzy, think of the toughest old chowder clam you can imagine, the picture something twice as "chewy". :eek: I am told they even have special mallets for "tenderizing" abalone.

Don't have one, but wasn't the original Pre-Diver the one that sort of looks like an all stainless Snap-It EMT? Front lock, "Worker" shaped handle with a drying vent, sheepsfoot blade (I think with the same wire breaker as on the Probes), and metal Wischert snap at the pivot end. Believe most of them had the snap removed before they were sold as it did not work particularly well.

jaislandboy · #15

[quote="The Deacon"]...
If you've ever eaten abalone, you KNOW the shell is the best part. ]

Yeah Paul I have had abalone when I was a kid (my grandparents would cook it up on "special" occasions)....and yes it did remind me of "fried clam strips" real chewy like a rawhide dog treat! :p

java · #16

The Deacon wrote:I dunno Fozzy, think of the toughest old chowder clam you can imagine, the picture something twice as "chewy". :eek: I am told they even have special mallets for "tenderizing" abalone.

Don't have one, but wasn't the original Pre-Diver the one that sort of looks like an all stainless Snap-It EMT? Front lock, "Worker" shaped handle with a drying vent, sheepsfoot blade (I think with the same wire breaker as on the Probes), and metal Wischert snap at the pivot end. Believe most of them had the snap removed before they were sold as it did not work particularly well.

Jeez, Paul! It's really rough when you're eatin' "Bad-balone" instead of abalone. At least the someone told ya straight on the hammers. Apparently yours didn't "get hammered" enough. Good abalone is as sweet as corn-fed clams (if there is such a thing) and about as chewy as good calamari.

The original Probes and Mini-Probes came with lanyards of surgical tubing attached at the eyelet at the end of the ab bar (near the pivot. Perhaps that insight may explain the medical bent to your thinking. The Probe is nothing close to surgical. At 10 1/8" closed it is one Spydie ment for prying and when an ab sucks down on the rocks and reefs it lives on you'll understand why. The Probes were the culmination of Sal's search for the "perfect dive tool". It was preceded by the Pre-Diver (pictures later for Pauls edification) and its antecedent, the TTZ Probe. The TTZ was an indestructible 12 oz slab of transformation-toughened zirconia measuring 8" long and 1/2" thick. It could be thrown against a brick wall and come back ticking with nary a scratch. The prohibitive cost manufacturing precluded high demand and only a handful were made. The Probe is still a monster of a tool at 14 oz and nearly 14" fully opened. As an occasional Ab diver, I would enjoy the leverage the length gives but current Ab tools have eclipsed Sal's design. It still features a quality 440 SS blade with a line/netting cutter, extra wide drying holes for cleaning, and both 6" and 160mm rules to keep you within legal length limits. I would love to see an upgraded version of the Mini-Probe in H1 steel.

Submitted is Java's monster serial #0032 of who knows how many Probes were made:

For the Flashaholics, the light is my diving backup Underwater Kinetics Sunlight SL4 that doubles as an indestructible piercing camplight when the black bears and catamounts come a sniffin'.

The shells are a tasty Strombus listerii (Lister's Conch) in both lower positions and the world's most deadly sea shell - Conus geographus or the geographer's cone - which I collected off Onna Point in Okinawa. The toxin of C. geographus is being used expimentally as a anasthetic in surgeries and chronic pain mediation.

I'll lay a Diver picture on ya later unless Chad/Daywalker beats me to it. :D

J