I've only once heard of the knife being used for its intended purpose, cutting rigging lines and the like. On that occassion the gent in question who was, I'm sure still a bit disorientated after going from his cosy F3 to the North Sea in about a minute, managed to also hack his dinghy canopy to bits.
I always thought that a cutter like in Coffs image was better. It holds what you're cutting which would help loads with cold wet slippery hands.
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