6 of one, half dozen of the other. Do what ever works well for you.

Kyle

I say folding in pocket.

I used to have a knife on my PFD and it always got in the way, I have had it get caught up on stuff and more importantly I have seen other peoples knifes fall out (even in a raft !!) I have yet to see a knife be used in a situation where pocket vs pfd would make a difference. Sure I have heard stories, and I know of plenty of people that know of plenty of people that knew someone that almost died but lived another day because they could cut their skirt off while they were being held underwater.. I for one use my knife more frequently for opening cans, cutting the cheese, and the occasional dicing of onion, so I prefer that my snacks stay stowed and knife be positioned in my pocket.

I keep trauma shears on the outside of my pfd, a folding knife in my pfd pocket and most of the firearms in drybags or pelican boxes inside the boat.

kiwi is right on the mark .... i was there .... hands down knife on the jacket is better then a folding POS..... the fact that this is even a question and that people r maken jokes on this tread about cutting the cheese is truly scary and will probably lead to a tragic death eventualy ..... bottom line is folding knife is 3 steps ... 1  unzip pocket (if you can, kiwi never got that far)... 2 pull out knife and not drop it .....   3 open and lock the knife ..... thats all good spreading you r PBandJ  ..... me ill take one step ....  pull knife and cut ... g'luck maken yer lunch hope ya never need your knifes for real

I've always seen knifes fall off of PFDs, especially some of the gerber knifes. However I've had the NRS pilot knife for more than a year of rafting and kayaking and it hasn't ever fallen off (its got a good latch system). I've seen people put a little zip tie on some knifes to hold the knife on which can be fairly easily broken off with a tug on the knife. Occasionally the knife will get in the way when I'm rowing, but its not a big deal. I'd suggest the co-pilot, its a bit shorter. When paddlers in my raft ask why I have a knife attached to my chest I tell them its to prevent mutinies! I can definitely see the value of having a knife on hand rather than having to fiddle around trying to get it out of your pocket, unfolding it and maybe dropping it in an emergency.

james no hard feelings .... but this is no jokeing mater .... all boaters should have a PFD mounted knife.... as far as never seeing it make a diffrence im glad you have been so lucky ........just cuz you never personaly seen someone fly through the windsheild of a car means you dont have to wear a seat belt? ........and if you think opening a knife one handed under water is heavy curent is easy , well  you got some crazy hands ....  PFD mounted knife is a must have safety item that hopefully you will never use and never seen used .... i personaly cary both knives now , folding and PFD mount

I don't argue the purpose of having a knife mounted on the PFD and would agree that it should be a mandatory piece of equipment you carry in some form. My issue is that I have worn them in various places on various vests and the incumbrance that I have found added with the issues I have encountered from injury's and damage caused leads me to personally prefer to store the knife in a pocket. Again each person might have a different preference and accept a different amount of risk to maintain that placement. I will share the specifics since that is more or less what this thread is about. Personal opinions and the basis for them. Ignore the rest of this post if you don't like the opinion.

I remember when my knife came off my pfd and went into my pocket.  It was about 3 seasons ago, first I was on a multiday down in OR where someones well placed knife popped out whilst bouncing around in a raft and ended up cutting into the floor of the boat. It took a few hours to repair and dry but I figured hey accidents happen, much like bigwater pointed out, I would rather have accidents and be prepared for something much worse. Then just a month or two later on a different creek I watched someone swim with a knife that I personally thought was way to large (different subject) the skirt grab loop got tangled up on the knife and what should have been a quick swim turned into an epic mid river rescue resulting in a shoulder dislocation. I was pretty baffled how it happened, (Like how do you get the beans above the frank) but none the less there we were. I was still sporting my little blade on my pfd, just thinking more about the dangers of it, as I had never really considered it until that time. Then one month later I watched someone in canada slip on a portage yank the knife out of the pfd and take a nice 3-4 inch long laceration in the thigh that resulted in stitches later on. That night I took my knife off my PFD.

For me it was the question of what circumstances call for that knife to be ready to go on the pfd. My thoughts were, entrapment on a river due to ropes, perhaps a skirt although cutting through a skirt is not as easy as it might appear with a knife especially around the tunnel area. I recalled back to military days when we secured our gear based on use and possible scenarios and I remembered practicing cutting a line under load upside down with a straight blade vs line hook which is why we had a special knife for it. http://parachuteshop.com/MC1_pa1.jpg

After actually testing these scenarios I have come to believe the best possible way to be prepared is to have an auto opening MC1 with a line hook stowed in your pocket. The actual benefit of a line hook is second to none on the river. <-- period - Line hooks come in various shapes sizes and purposes. Do not get them confused. Here are examples that I can tell you do not work and do work.

True Line Hook pictured below.


Small Line / Mono Hook




These smaller hooks are actually useless. I will elaborate.
Cutting through rope (most throw bag sizes) Unless underload will require significant force and motion, The line hooks on the above knives will not even completely surround a throw rope of any size. That means you will have to work on it from multiple angles and strokes, whearas the full size line hook will in one sweep slice through anything up to .64 (16mm) or a bit over 5/8 which is way bigger than any throwrope.

Second and honestly foremost. Try to visualize what I am explaining here. This is key. Close your eyes and ... no wait you will need to read this then close your eyes. Imagine you need to cut the tunnel of your skirt off starting near your chest between your teets working down toward the cockpit. With the second knifes (and almost all river knives on the market) you would be required to either have the blade facing your torso or work the blade inside between you and the skirt downward which offer little force and no room to work. Now enter a full sized line hook. You can simply hook that puppy onto anything and unzip downward with max force and little danger since the cutting edge is concealed behind a blunt tip.

I prefer my MC1 because of the blade option and functionality. If you want a PFD mounted option I would highly recommend one of the following options. These will not replace the complete function of a knife but the rescue features of these tools render a normal river knife obsolete in the cases mentioned here.

http://www.outdoorpros.com/Prod/Benchmade-5BLKW-5-Rescue-Hook-Black-Oxide-Soft-Sheath/8211/Cat/84

http://www.outdoorpros.com/Prod/Columbia-River-Knife-Tool-2051K-Extrik-8-R-Seatbelt-Cutter-Multi-tool-Kydex-Sheath-Black/13436/Cat/84

http://www.outdoorpros.com/Prod/Buck-Knives-0695SSGTP-B-TOPS-BUCK-F-D-X-Cutter-Stainless-Steel/72543/Cat/84

http://www.outdoorpros.com/Prod/Kershaw-520OR-Zipit-Orange-Rubber-Insert-Finger-Hole-Plain/60473/Cat/84

And as if this were not the longest over written post. Let me leave you with this. Did you know that the Military will replaces your MC1 if you have been forced to use it in an emergency. The Interior of that hook is scalpel sharp and even a few uses will make it more dull. The blade on the hook is something that should be directly correlated to it's true safety functionality.

that took no time at all... thanks Brian!  hopefully it won't be you or anyone else for that matter. 

James - it was a good post.  The question of "why you need a knife" was a good one - if its primarily rope cutting and skirt cutting, those oval knives you linked look pretty good for the task and are small enough to be out of the way. 

james great post ... i ordered a hook knife to add to my PFD ... ill be like a river ninja with so many blades on me .... all i need now is some throwing stars

I'm still mourning the death of an old friend that drowned a couple of months ago. He died when his skirt snagged on a piece of wood at river level. Like Kiwi's story.

Unfortunately he was solo and apparently couldn't free himself. He was found snagged on a stick by his skirt, head under water, feet in the air. Don Smith. North Fork Blackwater, WV. I wish a knife had freed him.