If you sharpen the fid, you can use it to immobilize "helpers" on the boat
who won't stay in their seats when you're trying to dock in a high wind.
Remember Lucca in "The Godfather", who got his hand nailed to the bar?

"Rich" wrote in message
nk.net...
Friend has been given his grandfather's rigging knife. Is the pointed
tapered tool for untieing knots and opening the lay of a line called a
fid?
What else is it for? On the side of the knife is a tapered slot routed
into the wooden handle and then overlain with steel with the matching slot
milled into it. The slot is not undercut . It is about 3/16" deep, about
1/4" wide at the large end and about 3/16 to 1/8" at the other. Whole slot
is about 1 1/2" long.

Is the slot another tool? What is it for?

Thanks,
Richard