A knife on board can save your life, so finding one that’s small and easy to fit into a pocket is good. Finding one that is possible to open single-handed is better.

Weighing just over 80g and 17.8cm (7in) long when open, the all-metal Paraframe from Gerber is a single-blade knife that can be opened with one hand, albeit with a bit of jiggling by wedging my thumb between the frame and pushing up on the peg sticking out of the top of the blade.

I wasn’t wholly convinced by the metal frame design as it’s easy, to catch the tip of your finger or thumb on the blade as the holes in the frame do little to protect you. Likewise, when closing the blade you have to make sure no fingertips have slipped through the frame holes, otherwise you’ll soon remember.

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New value range of deck glands

From a selection of the latest kit in Yachting Monthly’s New Gear pages

Simple and clean one-use flexible glue

From a selection of the latest kit in Yachting Monthly’s New Gear pages

The 7.6cm (3in) blade can be locked open, which stops it closing when it shouldn’t, but you have to put your finger across the slot where the blade goes to push the lock out of the way; easy to avoid when closing the blade with two hands, less instinctive when using just one hand.

Available from www.gerbergear.com from £27.99

From Yachting Monthly’s New Gear pages February 2018