Spikes and fids

[Toddy]

A couple of recent threads have had me thinking about this.

We think of the bushcraft knife as the iconic tool for the kind of things we do, maybe with an axe and a billhook; but what about the marlin spike, and the ropework or basketworker's fid ?

These are incredibly useful tools, prying open, easing spaces, (confess I've dug up a fair few roots with one too ) lifting bark, gouging out grooves and starting spindle holes.

Anybody else use them ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Wayland]

I carry a marlin spike, a Swedish fid and an awl in my response pack.

Essential tools in my opinion.

 

[Draven]

Yknow, it's a good point and it could be useful as I try to expand my knowledge into rope and basket making! I've been thinking of carrying around a small steel for my knife, do you think that if I got a tapered one ending in a point, that the hardness required for a sharpening steel would make it too hard for other purposes?

Cheers!
Pete

 

[launditch1]

I use a tool called a bond poker which is like a fid that is hollow with a curved point.

 

[MikeE]

Where do you get fids from? I can't seem to find any locally.

 

[smoggy]

It's my understanding that while other tools are indead usefull, that the basic tools of bushcraft, ie knife/axe, would enable one to make other tools as and when needed....

ie, cut and shape wood for fire lighting.....prepare wood for the fire...or what ever one requires.......ad infanitum

However, yes, if you are intending doing any particular "craft" extensively then it is probably best to have the tools at hand even if it means building a dedicated tool selection as you progress and I suppose the likes of those you mention are frequently overlooked.

Smoggy

 

[wicca]

Yep, spike mostly for shackles, sometimes for wire splicing, lives on my belt with my deck knife. Swedish fid for rope splicing and it makes plaited mat making a lot easier too. There's a another tool called a rope needle, just a length of stainless rod with a flattened end with an elongated hole in it really. Makes hauling the core of braided rope through the outer sheath a lot easier when splicing non strand laid rope.

 

[launditch1]

Ive found mine at carboot sales.Or ive forged them myself.Just a tapered spike with a handle.
Theres a few splicing fids on e**y...

 

[Toddy]

Your rope needle sounds like the long bronze welding rod I have that's been flattened and eyed at one end; I use it for threading wool through the stitched channels in linen of padded armour, achetons and gambesons and the like
Hadn't thought of one for the braided ropes; neat idea

cheers,
Toddy

 

[wicca]

Same idea Toddy, but the yacht chandlers put it in a fancy plastic packaging, call it a Rope Needle and charge what you could buy a whole pack of welding rods for..

( I made mine with some rod from the B&Q metal rack)

 

[pwb]

I some times carry what I call a marlin spike but I'm not so sure that's the right name now, didn't know there were so many different tools .

I've learned a couple of basic splices and enjoy working with rope, and as said it's a handy tool for loads of other tasks .

Cheers, Pete.

 

[Seagull]

Puub, that's a very interesting pic.

I am intrigued; do's it have any markings on it?

It looks like either a type of slim Trawl-splice; or a modded type of stabber/pricker; even , poss, a modded wood handled marlinspike.


Draven, as a rough sharpener of the more traditional and softer bladed knife, this "sharpening" type of spike, has much to commend it....at the cost of chewing through the blade material.

Now, I've commented before, about my own experience with spikes and my reflections didn't seem to go down well.

Never the less.
But for Chrissakes, please do not use this type of spike for either wiresplicing or shackle work......I have seen many cases of the points just sheering right off and several times Ive seen the whole spike fracture across about a third length from the end.

Ive found, too, that most of these on the second hand tool market, have either obvious signs of the point being reworked, or its missing altogether.

Ceeg

and yes, I usually have with me either a small home made spike, or if "packing", an 8 inch Drew spike in knotworked case.

 

[Toddy]

Thanks for the replies folks and the good advice

I had been wondering; you know how 'bushcraft' knife sheaths carry loops for a firesteel ? Sailor's knife sheaths frequently have a channel sewn in to secure a spike.
The classic folding knife, like the Sheffield sheepsfoot or the Opinel is fine, but isn't the sailor's jack knife (army jack knife too I suppose) at least as useful, if not more so with the addition of the spike ?
Firesteels on sheaths aren't always a good idea in our damp climate, but a marlin spike is an awfully good thing.

However, how does it rate legally to be carried ? Does the sub 3 inch non locking folder still apply to the jack knife spike?

cheers,
M

 

[pwb]

I am intrigued; do's it have any markings on it?

Hi Ceeg, thanks for all the info. Unfornately there are no makers marks on the spike in fact no marks of any description.
The spike was my grandfathers, he and my father used to make their own ropes of various types, and I cherish it to much to consider abusing it , made some out of old screw drivers for that .

Cheers, Pete.

 

[Seagull]

Ach, well.

But it has a kind of a indication,....its that single ring ,inset around the top.

This ring was common among just a few makers, on their pricker-based splicing spikes.
Unfortunately, this inset was copied quite a lot.
It was in the better quality kinds of spikes, that the makers mark was to be found on the ferrule only...this sometimes was replaced after rough use.

Your spike could be from the toolmakers Wm. Smith and Son, or maybe V.Perret.

But I reckon its a Davey , perhaps from the early '20,s.

Glad to know that it,s treasured and in good hands.

Ceeg

 

[pwb]

However, how does it rate legally to be carried ? Does the sub 3 inch non locking folder still apply to the jack knife spike?

Interesting question.
I'm not really up on the knife law but I think that with the way things are currently that the law would still frown on a marlin spike on a folding knife if it were over 3". Although you could argue that it's not a blade.
Do the spikes on Jack Knives lock ?

Pete.

 

[Schwert]

A nice sharp awl is a good tool to have for a number of projects. I don't generally carry a marlin spike but the awl can make for a good addition.

I made a rawhide "dogbone" sheath for it to carry it along easily.

 

[Toddy]

Oh very tidy
My basketry working awl is a lethal tool and it's just kept stabbed into a big cork. I do like your solution much better than mine

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Intertidal]

Yep. I use fids, marlin spike and net needles a lot - being a boating/crabbing/fishing type.
I've three different sized hollow 'Swedish' fids (stainless steel with wood handles). The newer ones have wood effect plastic handles (ughh!) and thinner steel, so the ends are prone to bend on hard laid rope. Fids are essential for neat splicing in hawser laid ropes thicker than yer finger, and for 'tucking' crab pot strops to the backing rope.
My favourite and best ever marlin spike got deep-sixed years ago when it rolled out of a trawlers scuppers. Had a lovely ring to it that bit of steel. Its replacement is poor in comparison and the end is bent after splicing a nasty bit of Skagen warp ('orrid tar covered trawl warp).
Net needles - probably got 20 or so, from a weeny slender 5 incher right up to two 16 inch monsters used for net rigging or breeding large mesh (12 or 16 inch) spider crab tangle nets. My favourite needle tho' is about 80 years old, hand carved by an old uncle from Polperro. I don't use it in anger anymore - I'm afraid I'll break it, (most of my plastic needles are bent from sitting down with one still tucked in me ar$e pocket!).
Cheers
Intertidal

 

[wicca]

Is this the sort of thing you meant Toddy, where the spike fits on the knife sheath? This spike with my rigging kit has the shackle key slot cut in the 'handle' which makes it a useful tool. The knife is an old bread knife cut down, serrated.. but I'm not going down that road again..
I've got a couple of 10 inch steel bolts turned down as splicing spikes for anything bigger than about 6 mm, but this one is handy for smaller stuff. Rust is not a problem as it's usually covered in grease and gunge anyway..