knife or scissors?

[scubafanatic]

Some people listen more than they talk . . .

...well, as long as the OP is listening to ME, it's lurking well spent...

 

[Peter_C]

XS FogCutter

Both scissors and knife.

To big as a knife and too crappy as shears. Plus they will not cut stainless leader material nearly as well as shears. Yes I have seen and played with a pair.

What happens if you drop your one and only tool?

FWIW At Lake Tahoe one day we came across a rope in the water. Being bored, I took my knife out which is a small bladed knife with some serrations, and start to cut the rope. Took a lot of effort to cut through. My friend whips out his $1.99 steak knife that is cut off at the tip and whack through it incredibly quickly. From then on I saw the simplicity and usability of that type of knife.
It is one of these Dalton Safety Knife w/sheath I really need to get one myself and get rid of my fancy little titanium knife, that is half useless.

They sell shears too CLICKY.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

XS FogCutter

Both scissors and knife.

I'm with Peter on this one. This particular design has been around for over a decade and has been sold and dropped by a few companies. I tried one sold by Parkway when it was a new design, and it performed exactly as Peter describes.

 

[H2O 70]

To big as a knife and too crappy as shears. Plus they will not cut stainless leader material nearly as well as shears. Yes I have seen and played with a pair.

What happens if you drop your one and only tool?

FWIW At Lake Tahoe one day we came across a rope in the water. Being bored, I took my knife out which is a small bladed knife with some serrations, and start to cut the rope. Took a lot of effort to cut through. My friend whips out his $1.99 steak knife that is cut off at the tip and whack through it incredibly quickly. From then on I saw the simplicity and usability of that type of knife.
It is one of these Dalton Safety Knife w/sheath I really need to get one myself and get rid of my fancy little titanium knife, that is half useless.

They sell shears too CLICKY.

I'm with Peter on this one. This particular design has been around for over a decade and has been sold and dropped by a few companies. I tried one sold by Parkway when it was a new design, and it performed exactly as Peter describes.

Good to know!

 

[Akimbo]

What do you want the knife for? I have yet to encounter anything that a good Z-knife could not easily handle in a sport diving self-rescue situation — monofilament, fishing net, line up to ¼". I would pick my Z-knife for stripping an incapacitated diver out of a suit over EMT shears. I have taken small Ling Cod with a 6" stiletto. Mike Nelson knives work for rock scallops. Hard to beat hack saws for clearing props fowled by hawsers.

 

[Mopar]

One more for both shears and knife. I carry both I had rather have it and not need it as to need it and not have it.

 

[Splitlip]

What do you want the knife for? I have yet to encounter anything that a good Z-knife could not easily handle in a sport diving self-rescue situation — monofilament, fishing net, line up to ¼". I would pick my Z-knife for stripping an incapacitated diver out of a suit over EMT shears. I have taken small Ling Cod with a 6" stiletto. Mike Nelson knives work for rock scallops. Hard to beat hack saws for clearing props fowled by hawsers.

Rule # 9.

I carry one topside as well as below. (below, I also carry shears and a Z-knife) Knife centered on waist, z-knife on a shoulder strap and shears in a thigh pocket.

There are times where a z-knife or shears won't work, Prying, sliding under a knot or sawing rope wrapped around something.

 

[zap2467]

If I was you then I would definitley go with the knife but the question should not be "which to get a knife or some scissors. But yet the question should be "what knife to get and that would be the hard choice. You should definitely choose the knife though.

 

[Damselfish]

another thing about the combined knife/shears besides doing neither thing well - you don't get the redundancy benefit of separate tools. So if you drop it it's all gone, and if you can't reach it for some reason you can't grab your other one. If you're going to have both, may as well really have both.

 

[CCTX50]

I am a big advocate of carrying multiple cutting tools. I have been diving for years using the "Triangle Method" which is keeping all tools in the triangle between your shoulders to your waist. I keep a small knife with serrations on my left shoulder strap, a larger on on my right should strap and then a pair a EMT Shears on my waist strap. I have used all three over the years but find that I usually go to the shears first. A Z Knife works really well too. I have a small on in a BCD pocket.

When you are diving black water and cannot see what you are cutting the shears and z-knife come in very handy. If you are cutting another diver out to an entanglement and cannot see, a knife is not the greatest thing. You don't want to be cutting air hoses or other vital equipment.

The divers on our PSD team all use this approach. We have had divers that have lost tools in a dive and then when they needed one that always had a backup. As a side note, we do not put anything on our legs. This gives us less of a chance to get entangled.

Hope this helps...