Too much of a good thing?

[El Orans]

After reading the posts in this forum, seeing that almost everybody like to carry 2 or 3 knives/cutting tools I'm left with one question.

What's wrong with carrying one knive yourself, your buddy carries another knife and between the 2 of you, you can work things out?

[Charlie99]

El Orans once bubbled...
After reading the posts in this forum, seeing that almost everybody like to carry 2 or 3 knives/cutting tools I'm left with one question.

What's wrong with carrying one knive yourself, your buddy carries another knife and between the 2 of you, you can work things out? That sure beats what really is the most common situation among rec divers --- no cutting tool at all. IF you don't like the size and weight of a big knife, then even just a tiny 2" folding knife in a BC pocket is a huge improvement in safety over having nothing.

I carry both a folding knife and shears because they excel at different things. Shears work nicely to cut monofilament line one handed. The serrated knife is good for sawing through much larger ropes. They are both in BC pockets so they are streamlined and out of the way.

[MacRS4]

I'm pretty new to diving but I always try and follow the idea that I like to be as independent as possible - I.e. dependancy on my buddy should be the last resort?

Anyway, this for me is motivation enough to carry two.

[miketsp]

What's wrong with carrying one knive yourself, your buddy carries another knife and between the 2 of you, you can work things out?

My wife, in common with many other females, does not like to carry a knife so I carry one on my leg and a small reserve one in my BC.

[The Kraken]

I carry a stainless steel Leatherman Tool.
If the water is cold to the point I wouldn't be able to operate the Leatherman, then I resort to a folding knife.

[Seabear70]

Personally, I carry one knife on my right calf, one big knife lashed to my BC, and one strapped between my tanks. I like the thought that I should always be able to reach at least one of them.

[AtomicWalrus]

There's a few reasons for carrying multiple cutting tools. First, different tools are good at different jobs: shears are great at hacking through monofilament, whereas knives are better at sawing & prying. Second, depending on the situation you may not be able to reach certain tools. For example, your arm might be entangled in such a way that you can't reach the knife on your leg, but a secondary tool on your wrist or shoulder is still accessible. Finally, I've found enough stuff on dives to believe that it's pretty easy to lose a tool and then be stuck without anything.

As long as the tools are stowed in such a way that they're easily accessible but are unobtrusive, I think the benefits of multiple tools outweighs the disadvantage of having more gear.

[ShakaZulu]

I carry one of those 20inch machetes just incase that great white shows up, I will show him..............

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[MechDiver]

What's wrong with carrying one knive yourself, your buddy carries another knife and between the 2 of you, you can work things out?

I've seen 3 divers all tangled in the same gill net. At such times, you can't have too many cutting edges. If you want to carry one knife, then do so. I'll take my 2 (3 if in mono country) and we'll both be happy.

[murphdivers286]

It is personal preference. I carry a knife on my leg and a pair of shears attached in a shealth (streamline) on my BC.

[Green_Manelishi]

My wife, in common with many other females, does not like to carry a knife so I carry one on my leg and a small reserve one in my BC.

My wife insisted that she have a knife. However, her reason for the knife was to harvest flounder; I provided a cutting tool that would not harm the flounder.

[Donald Conner]

After reading the posts in this forum, seeing that almost everybody like to carry 2 or 3 knives/cutting tools I'm left with one question.

What's wrong with carrying one knive yourself, your buddy carries another knife and between the 2 of you, you can work things out?

I read SeaBear and Atomic Walrus and a couple others and I think that between them they gave you just about every good reason you might ever need. Diving without two knives and shears is like jumping from an airplane at 20,000 meters without a parachtue. They offered a great deal of most excellent wisdom from lifetimes of experience, and worth much, much more than what you paid for it. Now, keep your wits about you, and go have fun!

an old River Rat