Ideal knife?

[james croft]

Seahawk, Aquadag or the old Mark 3 Mod 0 navy dive knife with a mk 13 day/night flare taped to the sheath. Scares the heck out of carp.

 

[Gil57usa]

I carry a blunt tip knife with a 4 inch blade, serrated on one side and sharp on the other. I also carry EMT shears.

 

[KrisB]

I love my Spyderco Atlantic Salt knife. Guaranteed for life not to rust.

That's cool... I've always like spyderco knives, but I hadn't heard of this one!

I really like the sheep's foot blade design, too...

As for Titanium knives being expensive... the Wenoka/Deep See that's been mentioned retails ~$60. Which really isn't bad for a quality dive knife that you won't have to replace until you lose it (I had already had two knives rust beyond use).

 

[sasscuba]

That's cool... I've always like spyderco knives, but I hadn't heard of this one!

I really like the sheep's foot blade design, too...

As for Titanium knives being expensive... the Wenoka/Deep See that's been mentioned retails ~$60. Which really isn't bad for a quality dive knife that you won't have to replace until you lose it (I had already had two knives rust beyond use).

And it was only $50. Very nice knife.

 

[KrisB]

And it was only $50. Very nice knife.

Yeah, I'm seeing them on there -- I like the hawkbill blades, too... so it's likely going to be a multi-knife shopping cart!

 

[Mako Mark]

folding titanium made in taiwan and cost 25 bucks.

It has a line cutter and a serrated base. The tip doesnt hold a great edge for long but the serrated section will cut through anything.

I usually have a Z-knife or two somewhere around for cave lines or fishing nets.

 

[vfox]

Hey sasscuba - I'm glad you posted about loving your Spyderco Atlantic Salt knife cuz ever since I saw a write up on them last year I've been curious and interested in getting one myself. How many dives has yours survived so far without rusting?

 

[Air On]

I gave one of the old Scuba pro (70s, looks like a bowie knife) to an old freind years ago.
He did salvage diving often so he used it a lot. Serated blades were not realy available outside of the cheap kitchen knives at that point either.

He said he loved to because of the WHITE fake bone handle.

He'd have it out and drop it often (cold water gloves). The shape of the blade and what not made it spin like a propeler in the water. The spinning slowing its decent and the white handle stood out like a sore thumb at any depth so he could always find it.

I'd talked to him years later and he related some of his adventures underwater and the knife was one of his most trusted tools. The tip had broken so he made it a small chisle point with a dremel tool. The sheath gave out due to wear so he had a new one made.

He'd try to retire it or keep it as a back up in his dive bag, but some how the newer ones would always get lost or break. Then he'd end up with the old knife back on him.

I've actually been looking around for one similar, but I haven't been able to find one thats not all Black rubber or a color that fades at depth.

Perhaps I should make a new knife that has the white handle again?
Bet I could cast in blinking LEDs to help locate it and safety for knight dives too.
I wonder if I could make it self adjust how buoyant, to not SINK but hover if dropped?

 

[ClayJar]

Perhaps I should make a new knife that has the white handle again?
Bet I could cast in blinking LEDs to help locate it and safety for knight dives too.

White sounds like it might be a rather useful color. Frankly, even if it fades, stains, or yellows, that would just give it character.

The LEDs... um...

I wonder if I could make it self adjust how buoyant, to not SINK but hover if dropped?

You can't make it adjust its buoyancy, but if it's incompressible, it can have fixed buoyancy right near whatever density you choose. (If you have it neutral in fresh water, it'll float to the surface in sea water, for example.) Ideal fixed buoyancy would likely be a few grams negative in water as salty as would be expected in the water in which it could be used.


I think my ideal dive knife would be something like adapted kitchen shears. When closed, there would be no exposed sharp edges. When open, one of the opposing blades is serrated, and one is not. The serrated blade could be used to saw through a thick line in knife-mode, while the shears could be used in shears-mode to cut fishing line or even small-diameter cable (and the serrated blade effectively keeps slippery objects from merely sliding out of the shears). The tip of one blade could also be wide enough to use as a chisel tip. Also, like kitchen shears, the blades would easily come apart for thorough cleaning (and sharpening, if necessary). Oh, and the blades on my kitchen shears are about as thick as the steel of my backplate -- none of those pressed thin sheet metal things allowed.

 

[MSilvia]

When I was diving in a small lake today, I watched new divers donning their gears for their first OW dive. A young man has a long, 6 inch bladed, slender knife, with double edge and sharp point.

Sounds like a good knife to have if you're hunting flatfish like flounder, but probably not right for most situations... including lakes.

What do you think an ideal knife should be?

Put simply, the right tool for the job. If I want to cut line with it, I'll look for a good line cutting knife, or maybe shears. If I want to pry open bivalve mollusks, I'd go for something with a blunt tip and non-serrated edge. If I want to look like I have more cents than sense, and no real reason to have a knife of any sort, I'd get one of the custom engraved limited edition jobs with a blade the size of my forearm, and strap it to my leg so I look like the world's homliest Bond girl.

I am thinking of small, 2 to 3 inch blade, serrated on one side, compact, relatively flat, blunt tip. I am not sure if you need more than this? Perhaps an EMT shear? I think I'd rather use a shear or scissor over a knife to get myself out of a tangled web.

I would too. You can get a knife just like you described for a very low replacement cost by getting a decent stainless steak knife and snapping half of the blade off.