![\"7-Gerber-Shorty\"](\"http:\/\/www.itinerantangler.com\/blog\/podcasts\/files\/2014\/02\/7-Gerber-Shorty.jpg\")
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Your boat is sinking, and it’s your fault. How did this happen?<\/p>\n
Most likely, you dropped anchor in too strong a flow. A lot of watermen are not aware of how risky this can be. The problem is hydrodynamic. An anchor line with a floating boat at the end of it creates a pendulum, and the force of water keeps pouring more energy into the stroke. Swish, swish, back and forth the boat goes, until–worst case scenario–it tips. Many a drift boat guide has learned this the hard way, and if he was lucky it was in shallow enough water to bail the boat instead of calling for swiftwater rescue.<\/p>\n
Obviously the solution to this problem is to pull the anchor, right? But what if the anchor is jammed up? I’ve seen this occur enough times that I switched to anchor chains; a safety measure since a ball of chains, each clipped to a caribiner, will simply slide over most submerged objects. But any anchor is potentially a stuck anchor, and that’s where a good knife comes in.<\/p>\n
![\"river_shorty_green_31-002645-v3-2.jpg_fulljpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.itinerantangler.com\/blog\/podcasts\/files\/2014\/02\/river_shorty_green_31-002645-v3-2.jpg_fulljpg.jpg\")
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Gerber’s River Shorty is really smart. It’s blunt on the end, making it safe for use in inflatables like one-man pontoons. It also has a serrated edge, which is critical when you’re sawing against a taut, strong, wet anchor line. Water is itself a lubricant, and you need bite and bite in a hurry.<\/p>\n
I also like the sleeve-over design. I have a similar, older knife that I keep on a line in my boats for just this reason. That knife (also a Gerber) folds, meaning you have to have two hands to unleash it. As anyone who has ever been in a near-disaster on a boat knows, two hands aren’t always available. Sometimes you need a hand to brace yourself or hold on to a boat mate. With the River Shorty, all you have to do is pop the cap like an ink pen and cut that anchor line to right your boat.<\/p>\n
No anchor is worth your life, and any river floater should always be prepared it cut it free.<\/p>\n