Check out Knotting and Tools Supplies for where to buy the hacking knife

How to Make Your Own Rigging Knife

OK a slight exaggeration of the heading there, as you will not need to make a rigging knife from scratch! I have always wanted a fixed blade rigging kife, but I am so tight, I just did not want to pay a lot of money for a knife. In this short blog post I will explain how I found a really cheap knife and made it into my rigging knife.

Cheap Hacking Knife

I often trawl the net for interesting items and one day a search lead me to look at hacking knives. Now a hacking knife is from what I understand, a heavy duty knife that can be struck with a hammer. It is made from a single piece of high carbon steel (hefty tang also) with a tempered blade for a long lasting edge. The handle of the hacking knife is covered with two bits of leather scales (this is really useful for the project). So all in all, you get a really durable knife for your money!

So I ordered the hacking knife and eagerly awaited it’s arrival. When I arrived, I was very pleased with firstly how cheap the actual knife was and secondly, how robust and sturdy it felt. A word of caution, the hacking knife is damn sharp!!!

Hacking Knife Conversion

The first thing I did was to hold the knife and get a feel for how it would feel in my hand with some rope work wrapping it. I imagined that as it currently was, it would be a little too bulky to hold comfortably. So with a kitchen knife (well I did not want to damage one of my knotting knives) I started shaving and rounding the leather around the handle. I kept going till it felt a little too narrow in my hand.

The knife scales are held on with three rivets, so I removed the bottom one so that I could attach a lanyard. This was easily done by drilling out the rivet.

Half Hitching a Decorative Handle

My next step was to get some nice fine cordage and start half hitching the handle. (Half Hitching Tutorial). In my case I started by doing a standard spiral hitch and then a little further down decided to do some vertical or rib hitching (Rib Hitching Tutorial) Just to give it more of a personal touch.

I then reverted back to spiral hitching for the rest of the handle. However, before covering all of the knife, I inserted some tarred line to act as a loop for my lanyard. I then continued to half hitch to the very end, covering the lanyard where it went into the rivet hole.

Decorative Rigging Knife

I think for my first attempt at converting a hacking knife into a rigging knife, I now have a rather fine example of a rigging knife to be proud of. Perhaps the next one and few more tools, I may produce something even better?

Decorative Long Lanyard for My Knives

I did also make this long lanyard for my rigging knives. I did actually like it some much that I made one also for my Myerchin. The cordage used was Tarred Bank line.

Check out Knotting and Tools Supplies for where to buy the hacking knife

Knives		$	UK
	Myerchin I have to say that the Myerchin is an absolutely superb knife.	Shop $	Shop £
	Opinel This knives are so sharp and easy to keep sharp. The other thing that I like, is the it has a very fine and sharp edge at the tip. This makes it great for cutting cordage close to other cords.	Shop $	Shop £
	Spyderco I just wish I could have one.	Shop $
	Camillus Marlin Spike Carbo Nitride Titanium Bonded Folding Knife-Black, 2.5-Inch	Shop $	Shop £
	Hacking Knife A very cheap hard working knife that can easily be converted into a superb rigging knife. See PostHacking Knife Conversion	Shop $	Shop £

Recommended Books	Decription	USA	UK
	Ashley Book of Knot (ABoK) This really is the bible of all knots, consisting of over 600 pages and over 3000 diagrams Rating:	Shop USA	Shop UK
	Knot Craft and Rope Mats: 60 Ropework Projects Including 20 Mat Designs by Des Pawson Rating:	Shop USA	Shop UK
	The Marlinspike Sailor by Harvey Garret Smith If you are starting to build a collection of knotting books, then this is a great one to have in your library. Rating:	Shop USA	Shop UK
	A Practical Guide to Tying Knots by Geoffrey Budworth This book contains 75 bends, hitches, knots, bindings, loops, mats, plaits, rings and slings. Rating:	Shop USA	Shop UK