Knives Save Lives: Kayakers rescued by tour guide with John Wayne knife

Image from Blade Mag

It’s always important to be prepared in life because you never know when disaster will strike. For example, you might be attacked by a bear out of the blue or you might get trapped in a burning vehicle. You might even find yourself in the middle of a life or death situation doing something as seemingly innocuous as kayaking.

That’s what happened to three kayakers who ventured out onto Lake Michigan in Wisconsin about two weeks ago. Everything was fine until an offshore breeze pushed them out farther and knocked over the kayak. This isn’t such a big deal if all of them hadn’t become entangled in the ropes.

At this point, many knife owners would reach for their strategically placed knife, whether attached to the belt or strapped around the leg. However, none of the three had a knife nearby. When you compound that with the fact they weren’t wearing life vests, they were in deep trouble.

Fortunately, kayak tour guide Brody Kidd happened to be in the area as he was preparing to give a tour later in the day. When he saw the overturned kayak, he immediately hopped in his and headed over to help.

Like anyone who is always prepared, he was carrying his favorite John Wayne commemorative folding rescue knife. Kidd easily cut free the three people—two of whom had severe hypothermia and were near death.

Here’s more about the rescue from Joe Kertzman at Blade Mag:

He helped a woman into his kayak and two men into the boat, got them to shore and began performing first aid when emergency crews arrived. Apparently the kayakers went out into Lake Michigan without life vests and got overturned. “I paddled over there as fast as I could,” Kidd said. “It was one of those lucky things that I was there.”

As a result of his heroism, his boss bought him a new knife better suited for kayak rescues—the CRKT Neckolas neck knife. Not that the great John Wayne commemorative knife is anything short of awesome though.

Also, keep in mind that every time someone uses their knife to save another person’s life, they not only get the satisfaction of knowing you were someone’s savior, but they usually get a free knife. That should be another reason to always have your knife handy.