Yachting Monthly – March 2018

CURREY LOCKSPIKE CAPTAIN

GERBER BEAR GRYLLS

WICHARD OFFSHORE

A good, solid – and weighty –

traditional knife. There are four

knives in the range, each offering

different features based around

the original 1940 Lockspike Bosun

design. We tested the Lockspike

Captain, which has a straight

unserrated blade, a shackle key/

bottle opener and an excellent

marlinspike that locks open – great

for when you’re trying to prise open

a really tight knot. Its all-stainless-

steel construction fared the best

in the saltwater test.

The curved marlinspike makes

the top of the handle when using

the knife. It comes with a neat

knotted lanyard. The fastening loop

on the knife locks the marlinspike.

http://www.captaincurrey.com

With the feel more like a novelty toy

than a multitool, we were surprised

how useful this little multitool could

be. It’s not the most robust of tools

so don’t expect too much from

it; our heavy-handed test team

managed to bend the pliers while

testing. The screwdrivers were

easy to use but the chassis of

the tool twisted as we used them.

It is, however, very compact and

although small, the blades worked

well. None of the blades locked,

so you’re free to carry the knife

in your pocket with impunity, as

long as you don’t try flying with it.

This is a handy tool to have with

you to sort out small problems, but

don’t give it too much to take on.

http://www.gerbergear.co.uk

Wichard sent us their range of

knives (available in many variants

and colours), but we lost the

Offshore with blade, shackle key

and spike version in the River

Medina (and it doesn’t float). The

version shown is the single-blade

Offshore. Both blade and spike/

shackle key/bottle opener can be

opened singlehanded and lock

into place; a button on the top

of the handle unlocks each blade

• a two-handed operation.
  This version had a semi-
  serrated blade to aid cutting
  modern UHMWPE ropes. The grip
  was comfortable and the best on
  test. Not feature laden, but a good
  simple knife.
  http://www.marine.wichard.com

SPECIFICATIONS

MAKE Currey

MODEL Lockspike

Captain

WEIGHT 140g

BLADE LENGTH 62mm

CLOSED LENGTH 93mm

LOCKING BLADE No

FEATURES 4

SINGLEHANDED USE No

SPECIFICATIONS

MAKE Gerber

MODEL

Bear Grylls Compact

WEIGHT 85g

BLADE LENGTH 45mm

CLOSED LENGTH 64mm

LOCKING BLADE No

FEATURES 10

SINGLEHANDED USE Yes

SPECIFICATIONS

MAKE Wichard

MODEL Offshore

–single blade

WEIGHT 85g

BLADE LENGTH 80mm

CLOSED LENGTH 115mm

LOCKING BLADE Yes

FEATURES 4

SINGLEHANDED USE Yes

GROUP TEST

Only the Marlin spike locks

into position by via the lanyard

None of the blades lock so you

can legally carry it in public

Many variants of this knife are

available from Wichard

£42.95

£26.99

£38.50

The Lockspike Captain is one

of many traditional knives

from UK company Currey

This micro multitool

performed better than

its looks might suggest

The small blade handled the

thinner rope well but had

a harder job with thicker line

The button on the back of
the handle to release the
THE lock is a good safety feature
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