What is a good dive knife?

[DMDavid]

I have noticed over the years that some divers believe that the bigger the knife the better.
Personally I like a knife that does the job and is not cumbersome to carry and will hold up well to the elements.
My knife is more of a tool than a "Shark Killer", it has a serrated edge on one side and a line cutter on the other.
The best feature on my knife is that you can take it completely apart in order to clean all the metal parts so it won't corrode.

 

[flots am]

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.

Bakers & Chefs Steak Knives - 12 pk. - Sam's Club

Here you go. 12 for $7. Pretty much indestructible, and if you lose one or three, nobody cares.

flots.

 

[oldschoolto]

I always liked the aqua-lung vintage sea hawk... It does most thing very well and was /is very strong.... And still wear a scuba-pro stiletto in case I get in a knife fight and it's way cool....

Jim...

 

[Zen Diving Inc.]

So first you say the knives should be very cheap or free and suggest tethering it with a phone cord.. why? so you have an extra entanglement hazard that is justified so that you don't lose the "free" knife.... Then you say you spend hundreds of dollars for a steak knife and that it is really good and can take abuse...then you again say we should buy a steak knife at a thrift store.

You are all over the place... If you want to use a knife to brain a fish when spearfishing, you need a strong, sharp pointy knife.

For most diving applications a steak knife will work ok, but for spearfishing, it is not the best.

In my short time here, I have noticed you seem to like to argue about anything. I never said "that knives should be cheap or free." I insinuated that they could be, cheap is matter of opinion. I do believe in recycling and sometimes recycling means giving a used item another purpose rather then donating it to the ever growing garbage dump. Given your user name i'm sure you can appreciate that "dumpsterdiver"... Tethering it with a curly phone cord, merely shows to what length I enjoy recycling items and would prefer not to leave them on the ocean floor either. I don't see how you come to the conclusion that it would be an entanglement hazard. I suppose you let all of your gear dangle about you with out being attached except to the tank valve... Lanyards are not a an entanglement hazard unless you are adept at hanging your self with half a shoelace lmao... I don't suggest anyone buy anything they don't find fair value in. I never said buy at a thrift store, actually I suggested against that and recommended instead of buying a 700.00 knife set to go to a yard sale. Which is where you could possibly find a good quality steak knife for a fraction of the cost.

 

[tyrerubber]

+1 on DMDavid's choice. I have had the same UK knife on my BC for nearly 9 years and never had an issue.

It has always worked really well on fishing line.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have noticed over the years that some divers believe that the bigger the knife the better.
Personally I like a knife that does the job and is not cumbersome to carry and will hold up well to the elements.
My knife is more of a tool than a "Shark Killer", it has a serrated edge on one side and a line cutter on the other.
The best feature on my knife is that you can take it completely apart in order to clean all the metal parts so it won't corrode.

The OP was asking about a knife to stab large pelagic fish in the head... Is this what you use for that application?

 

[idive2]

I do a fair amount of solo diving so I will not dive without my leg mount dive knife.
It's an Underwater Kinetics Blue Tang titanium blade knife. It's a five inch pointed blade
with line cutter. It has a serrated edge on one side and standard sharp edge on the other.
I like the sizeable handle that allows a good grip as well. Give this one a look before
you decide. Just did a search, they may call this a 4.25 inch blade. The blade measures
5 inches to the very point added to the 5 inch handle matches the total length of 10 inches
shown for the knife. Not sure how they measure blade length but pretty sure this is same knife.

 

[farsidefan1]

I carry a couple of cutting devices. A simple trilobite for entanglements (I like titanium for ease of maintenance wherever possible) and a knife (mine is a tang point but obviously you would need the sharp point. I have never lost either of my devices after 6 years and you had yours for 8 years so obviously the stories of losing knives on a regular basis don't always apply. If I am divingin and among wrecks I usually also strap on a pair of shears. I think the DIR proponents make some good points (The steak knives with broken tip) for some diving activities but not all.

 

[Ana]

I agree that for spearfishing you need a real knife with a good handle. I believe that most of the knives that get lost didn't have a handle that fit the hand of the user properly, instead of reinventing the wheel looking for the "best" lanyard to keep your knife how about getting the proper knife.

i got this one for my Bday this year... and I love it. The width of my fist is around 3 inches and this handle about 4 inches, giving me ample hold, and for me the double hilt is also important, it stops the hand from sliding forward to the blade area while you are dispatching the fish.

 

[DMDavid]

The OP was asking about a knife to stab large pelagic fish in the head... Is this what you use for that application?

Well there's always the knife that an Australian friend of mine gave me after I showed him my practical, sensible knife.