Etiquette on carrying a knife during dives

[CuzzA]

There's plenty of accounts on the web. It would be extremely naive to believe it doesn't happen. Especially when a diver just simply disappears.

 

[Russoft]

my brother in law begged me for my dive knife on our last family vacation. I let him borrow it for his dive and got much amusement as I thought about the reactions he'd get from the rest of the boat crew when he went diving with a big knife strapped to his leg. He carries weapons of all sorts to defend himself from all sorts of "threats".

I personally find the knife to be just another dangling accessory that could get lost or get in the way, so I don't carry it. I try to dive streamlined with only the important stuff. But I'm also not afraid of sharks. Every time I've seen a shark diving, it's minding its own business. I've only ever seen one potentially dangerous shark and it was also minding it's own business. If carrying a knife makes you feel better, then go for it.

I do, however, make room in my BCD for an SMB and finger spool in case the current carries me away from the boat or I get separated from the dive group. I fear that happening far more than I fear a shark attack.

 

[oldschoolto]

As long as you don't dive with girls on their period, You'll be safe... Before my wife went through menopause I would refuse to dive with her unless I had a big knife and a bang stick....

Jim....

 

[boulderjohn]

As long as you don't dive with girls on their period, You'll be safe... Before my wife went through menopause I would refuse to dive with her unless I had a big knife and a bang stick....

Jim....

Do a search on that and you will find that this is pretty much a myth. The multi-million year evolution of sharks did not include becoming attuned to human menstrual flow.

 

[oldschoolto]

Do a search on that and you will find that this is pretty much a myth. The multi-million year evolution of sharks did not include becoming attuned to human menstrual flow.

It was a joke... I guess I should have added the guy rolling on the floor... I'll fix it....

Jim....

 

[Carl_F]

Bought a BFK when I had about 20 dives under my belt. By about 30 dives, I stopped taking it with me. Wrong tool. Trilobite for line &a web cutting is carried now.

Wife got certified a few years back. Was scared of sharks. Now she goes looking for them. Gotta have that picture!! They avoid divers.

 

[TMHeimer]

I've been away 2 months and haven't read all. Will say I would never dive anywhere that prohibits knives OR gloves. Their rules (and rightly so of course) and my choice not to go there. I too fear sharks and anything that may hurt me. I am in a vast minority and don't care about statistics and the majority's opinion on such.

 

[Griffo]

I've been away 2 months and haven't read all. Will say I would never dive anywhere that prohibits knives OR gloves. Their rules (and rightly so of course) and my choice not to go there. I too fear sharks and anything that may hurt me. I am in a vast minority and don't care about statistics and the majority's opinion on such.

They normally ban gloves etc because idiots touch the coral or sea life. How exactly would gloves help you if you saw a shark?

It's a shame your fear of sharks prevents you from diving in some of the worlds best dive sites. I'm pretty sure Uepi would not be on your list

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I've done a fair bit of dive travel and the only problem I have ever had about my dive knife was at the airport in Brisbane. The woman on the security detail delayed everyone in our rather large group of divers checking for knives attached to the reg sets. We all had our regs in our carry on. She proudly told us that she "knew" divers always attached knives to their regs and knives weren't allowed in the cabin. Of course every one of us had been smart enough to remove our knives from the sheaths and put them in the checked bags. All she found were a bunch of empty sheaths! My dive knife is as much part of my gear as my dive boots. I never think of it as something to protect me from sharks. I've used it a few times on tangled fishing lines.

I suspect that most new divers wonder about sharks. My first dive to a well known shark aggregation site I told my buddy (now hubby) to stay really close cause I wasn't sure how I would react if we saw sharks. When we saw them... I was too enthralled to be afraid.

To me the best protection is knowledge about the species in the area. Sharks come in two broad categories. Sharks with sharp spikey slightly inward curving teeth. They are designed to eat their prey basically whole. The inward curve of the teeth keep the critter from escape. My reassurance is that they won't be looking at me with a tank on my back and bubbles coming from me and think...."fish..I can get my mouth around that!".

The other broad category are sharks with triangular shaped teeth with serrated edges. Those teeth are designed to grab prey and shake it to bite pieces off. Great Whites fit this group. I mostly avoid diving near dawn and dusk where this group hang out.

I've been told so many times by dive ops and on dive briefs... "If you see a shark don't hold your breathe but be careful you don't breathe too quickly or your bubbles will scare it away." I figure if a shark was uncomfortably close I would have better luck purging my occy in it's face than managing to get my knife out to fight it off!

In well over 800 bottom hours I have only ever seen one shark that gave me pause for concern. That was Florida during a dive with people spearing fish. The shark clearly thought the fish belonged to him. I personally don't disagree. In that case the shark received a few pokes from the spear which discouraged it well enough.

I've had to provide a Medical Certificate from my doctor explaining that I needed to wear gloves and why. Never had a problem with that especially once they saw me in the water and realized I wasn't going to touch anything.

 

[TMHeimer]

They normally ban gloves etc because idiots touch the coral or sea life. How exactly would gloves help you if you saw a shark?

It's a shame your fear of sharks prevents you from diving in some of the worlds best dive sites. I'm pretty sure Uepi would not be on your list

I know why they ban gloves. Was just adding that to knife banning as places I would not patronize. Gloves or knives have nothing to do with sharks--unless you are expert enough to jab she shark in exactly the right spot.