Do I need a Knife?

[below_sea_level]

Could someone tell me why I really need to purchase a knife.:wacko:

[mars2u]

You can do a search since this topic has been covered before, but I'll try to surmise. You need a knife in case of entanglements while diving. There are fishing lines that you don't see that you can become entangled in. A knife assists you in cutting the line since trying to unravel yourself can make the situation worse and lead to an OOA emergency. There is also seaweed that you can become entangled in that can cause the same effect.
Just keep in mind that you don't necessarily need a bowie knife. I carry a small one as well as a pair of medical shears which I believe cuts even better.

[bwerb]

Kelp, mono-filament fishing line,and rope are three off the top of my head.

A knife is a tool you hope never to need, but if you need it...you'll be glad you had it.

Many of us carry a knife and "EMT" shears.

In most cases bigger is not better...sharper is key.

[Uncle Pug]

But it doesn't need to be large, expensive or made of special material... unless you have need for an large expensive knife made of special material... and most don't.

Ideally you should carry both knife and shears. EMT shears work well on things like stainless steel fishing leader and downrigger cable. A very sharp blunt tip knife works well on monofilament line and even 2" weightbelt harness.

The large expensive knives (some of which are made of special material) usually don't do well on any of the above... though ones with sharp points can be used to kill sharks and enemy divers.

Here is my cheap plastic handled dive knife. I scored the blade with a file and snapped the tip off. I also ground off the pommels on the plastic handle so it fits into a webbing sheath snugly. It is razor sharp and has been since I sharpened it two years ago. It will slice through weight belting like it was butter but the end is dressed so it is not sharp.

[SueMermaid]

I have a little, sharp inexpensive knife attached to my BC. I think it was like 15 bucks at Diver's Direct, and I had occasion to use it on my last dive in NJ. Three times! :eek:
I was glad I had it.
And to dive in NJ on a boat, only a silly captain would not require that each diver have one.

[Uncle Pug]

... on the waist strap. Knives that are on legs, arms, chest straps, inflator hose, ect. are problematic IMO. The knife on the waist belt is just the ticket.

[below_sea_level]

Those are good reasons that I have not thought about but will be getting one soon. thanks for the reply's!:out:

[DivemasterSteve]

another reason to have a knife is if you see a shark coming your way and fixing to attack you, you can cut your dive buddy and then the shark will go for him and you should have time to get away. LOL :) just kidding, all the reasons already posted are the best reasons to have one and hopefully you will never need it but its good insurance to have just in case...

steve

[mer]

Entanglement sucks and is a potential risk on any dive.

(Also, the knife comes in really handy for Halloween pumpkin carving - underwater of course)

[Gator Diver]

Uncle Pug,
Why do you suggest that a knife is better on monofilament
line than EMT shears? Intuition would tell me an instrument
that can cut stainles steel leader could cut monofilament
line as well.

[AquaBob]

Don't think he said the knife was better... just that it works well.

With gloves on, a knife is easier to deploy and use.

[El Buzo Loco]

I make of habit of cutting away fishing line as I find it and stuff it in my pocket. Fishing line is dangerous for a number of marine animals.

[Charlie99]

Some additional comments:

If I NEED a knife, I dont want to drop it, so both my knife and my shears are on lanyards that go over my wrist before I unclip them from the bungee loop inside my BC pocket.

Make sure that you can both deploy and restow your knife & shears with either hand, preferably without looking. For ease of stowing I've chosen to carry a folding jacknife / lockback knife. It is easily deployed one handed.

Entanglements are not an immediate crisis if you still have a reg in your mouth and air in your tank. Often a buddy can spot the problem and simply remove it from the snag point (such as your tank valve). Don't thrash around in panic if you snag on something. Take your time and sort the problem out.

[Gator Diver]

okay, so you need a knife to stab a shark?......

is that it? lol

actually i have a good pair of EMS shears
and just want to know what the knife can do
that my shears can't

from the above posts.....i dont see a difference really

[mars2u]

newbie-in-fl once bubbled...
okay, so you need a knife to stab a shark?......

is that it? lol

actually i have a good pair of EMS shears
and just want to know what the knife can do
that my shears can't

from the above posts.....i dont see a difference really

Probably not much...I have both and find that medical shears cut/snip easier. Could be shucking oysters...just guessing.;)

[Uncle Pug]

newbie-in-fl once bubbled...
just want to know what the knife can do
that my shears can't
this is not paper/scissors/rock... this is about have redundant cutting tools... and one of each is the best IMO.

Shears work just fine for almost everything but they are line trappers themselves unless properly stowed in a pocket. That makes getting them out slightly more difficult than getting a knife from a waist belt scabbard.

The sharp blunt tip knife doesn't fair so well on things like SS wire leader but will slice through thicker line and rope than will shears and it is easy to get out and put back.

One thing that a sharp knife will do that shears will not is sharpen your pencil.

[buttermanr]

I always carry a knife. One time diving in the Mediterranean at 80 feet depth when I felt something tugging my fins. Thinking it was a plant I kicked a little harder, but that did not help. When I turned around I saw that my legs were completely "bondaged" in fishing line. What I had never realized until then was that fishing line is close to neutrally buoyant and I soon found that I was enveloped in a cloud of probably 10 feet diameter of fishing line (there must have been hundreds of feet of the darn stuff..). For the next 5 minutes my buddy and I were busy cutting the stuff with our knives and getting me out of this tangle.

I probably would have been able to get out of this without my knife, but it would have taken considerably longer and if it had happened deeper or when air was getting lower or close to a non-deco time, this could have turned into an emergency.

So I strongly advise anyone to always carry a knife or scissors when diving. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive: it just needs to be able to cut.

RB

[mars2u]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...

One thing that a sharp knife will do that shears will not is sharpen your pencil.

ROFLMAO...You never cease to amaze me UP...lol:D

Yes, here I was trying to sharpen my pencil with a rock so I could write a message on my board for my buddy to read instead of having a knife handy....kidding.

UP is right though. Placing it is very important also. I keep both on my chest so they are accessable with both arms. Some put a knife on their calf...to each his/her own...it was suggested to me that it would be easier to catch it on something that way and harder to retrieve if entangled (now don't flame me...just MY opinion). Makes sense to me so I have a small knife and shears that I carry just in case. Also, I've used the knife to stop my drifting in a current although shears might have worked but been a little more difficult in this instance.

You can read about it here:Palau (http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28885)

Ahhhh the memories.

[Uncle Pug]

mars2u once bubbled...
ROFLMAO...You never cease to amaze me UP...lol:D
I've tried both UW... and the knife really does work much better at sharpening my pencil.

Of course now that I have a mechanical pencil that may not be the case.
:D

[Gator Diver]

Okay, I see the advantages of the knife
in certain situations. Guess I will
go to my LDS and start looking for
one. Thanks for the input ya'll.

[BIGSAGE136]

Incredible moment in time that you thought would never happen, and you really need it. Believe me its better to have it safely placed, and available than to experience that moment and say ****! if only...

Cast nets get lost. Dumb people dump mono. Fisherman untangle
200' of line and lose it off the spool. You cant see it in water and
you can possibly become entangled. With the proper tools, note
plural, you can bail out of these situations. Without any tools you
can find yourself in a "situation".

I keep a Spyderco Harpee in my BCD. An Oceanic 5" sheathed on my inner calf, and shears in a BCD pocket. They all have a purpose.

Safe diving.;)

[mwilding]

When I first started and was buying my snorkel gear, I added a big blunt tipped dive knife to the order that straps to my leg. I just ordered a small pointed knife to attach to my BC and can already see that I would go for it 9 times out of 10...

I will have to look into the shears...

[Gator Diver]

My friend works in a hospital and got
me some shears at cost so I just
didnt want to buy a knife if I really didnt
need it. But looks like a do (or might at
some point)......knife....point....get it?

hehe:D

[Fireguy274]

What if your attacked by a giant sea clam would the knife or the shears be better ..lol. jk
I have cut myself or my buds out of fishing lines on a bunch of occasions. It is everywhere here in New England. There are also Lobster lines everywhere and many abandoned. I would not feel safe without a knife or shears. I never thought of shears and I am an EMT i might start carrying them....

[String]

Entanglement hazard to cut yourself or buddy free from the invisible monofilament or even kelp.

Other than that most have a metal tab on the handle to use as a tank banger which i also use to investigate suspect items that could be normal rock or could be wreck/metal/something else. I also use the blade to scrape growth away to investigate things at times.

Other than that its a useful tool on our boat if you need to cut a rope, do a quick repair job, untangle the prop and so on.

Im looking for a blunt tip knife though as one day im going to puncture my drysuit putting it back in the holder :eek:

[zeN||]

'Cause Mike Nelson always carried one, never know when you are gonna hafta knifefight a bad guy, and cut his hose ~Z

[salty]

DeepTechScuba once bubbled...
You cannot cut a rope with shears.

If you get caught up in your downline, you may try to cut yourself free with your shears, but it will not work. You cannot exert the cutting strength with two fingers and your shears that you can exert with your whole forearm and a knife. You would be trapped until someone came along with a knife who could cut you free.

.



I have cut through 3/4 inch anchor line with shears. They worked better than a knife especialy a stright edge knife. I still carry one of each though.

[dazle]

There's been plenty of reasons for supporting this.

I've used my knife to:
Cut line I've been entangled on
Bang on my tank to get the attention of divers and to scare big fish and sharks out of swimthough's.

I had a catch 22 the other day though. I got bitten on the leg by a trigger. Where I was bitten was where my knife was, so the injury wasn't as bad, however the situation I was in (had to get alternate as bit teeth grips off reg, couldn't use left leg to fin stroke as had had fin pulled off exposing me pinkies, was holding right leg with left hand at injury as right hand recovering ocky) meant that I couldn't use my knife in defence.

Using this in hindsight, I recommend carrying 2 cutting tools. I know there''s an ethical debate here about injuring marine life, but when it comes to the crunch and you've exhausted all other options, you may need to resort to violence to defend yourself.

I'm glad I didn't get to my knife though. If I'd of took the trigger out I would be in the deepest of ****. The trigger in question is called Trevor (Koh Tao) and is apparently an international superstar to the diving community and also my injury wasn't bad at all.

In short, by wearing a knife on the unpopular location of the leg I saved myself from losing a chunk out of my leg without even taking it out of it's sheath!

Good on ya knifes