Written by & Photos By: David Wilson & Chris Kimmel (Alpine Edge Photography)
Knives are an essential piece of safety equipment to have with you on the water. Entanglement and entrapment is one of the major hazards found in aquatic environments and the ability to free yourself quickly is very important.
Safety
As you can imagine, a knife on the water can also be dangerous. Thankfully NRS has put a lot of thought into Co-Pilot and Pilot knives making them simple, safe, and easy to use in an emergency, or if I’m being honest, when you just need something to spread your peanut butter for your lunch on the river!
Although no knife is 100% safe these knives have several features that help prevent accidents. They are only sharp on one side and they have blunt tips which reduces the chance of accidentally cutting or puncturing something or someone!
Ergonomics
The grip has a rubber coating making it easy to maintain a secure grip in wet environments. Additionally the grip is asymmetrical making it distinctive and ergonomic so that the correct orientation of the knife and hand position is intuitive. I also appreciate the jimping (bumps on the spine of the blade) for extra grip for the thumb.
Sheath and Storage
Almost as important as the knife itself is the sheath. You need a secure place to safely store the knife when not in use while keeping it easily accessible for when it's needed. NRS did a great job of simplifying the design of this sheath. It has a simple low profile, a secure clip to attach to your PFD, and also has a uniquely designed flexible “keep” to secure the knife to the sheath. When the knife is secure in its sheath it can easily be released with one hand by placing your hand over the knife and flicking the flexible part of the sheath up with your thumb to release it leaving the knife in your hand in the correct position for use.
Additionally, the knife can be stored in the sheath in either direction so no matter which way the sheath opening is mounted left or right handed people can have it on their side of preference while maintaining the correct orientation of the blade (away from you).
There are holes in the knife handle to allow for a lanyard to be attached if additional security is desired.
Function
No matter how many safety features a knife has, or how well it can be secured and released, a knife is only as good as it can perform. We tested the blades function out on a few things like ropes, sticks, and of course we had to spread some peanut butter with it!
It worked great. The Pilot and Co-Pilot both have a combo blade where the tip is straight and the heel is scalloped. The use of a scalloped blade instead of a more aggressive serrated edge is a perfect choice for this knife as the scalloped edge allows the knife to bite into objects a bit better when making the cut but not too much that the smoothness of a cut is impeded as the blade gets hung up, which could happen more easily with a serrated edge. I do have to say it also spreads peanut butter like a dream!
Pilot vs. Co-Pilot
So which knife is better for you? Both the Pilot and Co-Pilot knives are very similar with the main difference being size. The Co-pilot is 6” with a 2.8” blade where the Pilot is 7.25” with a 3.6” blade. Initially I thought the smaller Co-pilot would be nicer as it is less bulk. However, after using both, I really didn't notice the extra “bulk” when they were secured to one of the knife mounts on a NRS PFD. The longer blade may be preferred by some as it does provide a longer cutting edge which may help you cut through something faster, in less strokes. Ultimately, as much as I would love to tell you one is better than the other it comes down to personal preference. They are both great knives and will perform well!