Dive knife, Sea Snips, or both?

[Jayfarmlaw]

Are you allowed to hunt them in Roatan as a tourist?

Well...I don't know about "allowed" (it's Roatan...are there rules or merely suggestions) but our DM's always had pole spears with them. Once they saw that you had decent dive skills, if you saw a lionfish and got their attention, they would come over and hand you the spear. You would stick the fish and they would stab it with another spear and they would swim over to the next hunter.

I left Moby friggin lionfish there for you. Biggest LF I have ever seen, and I missed. Fast little boogers when they need to be. He's big for a reason....good luck. You can't miss him, he lives on Rockstar, is at least 5 feet long, glowing green eyes, and tentacles instead of spike fins. I'm pretty sure I heard 80's gangster rap playing once I got close and smelled a blunt. He's sneaky too, he will swim above you and breathe off your Octo sucking your air down to 400 psi. If your quiet, you can hear him still laughing at my miss from 6 inches away..... the horror..... watch your 6.

Next time Moby....next time.

Our dive op did an Island day and cooked the LF on the grill after most of the others tourists had left. I'm sure the location had something to do with it...but it was amazing.

Good luck, safe travels.
Jay

 

[gcarter]

Hi, Scubaboarders:

I used to carry both a dive knife and Sea Snips, but I'm trying to pare down the amount of stuff I take with me.

I'm curious--do you think that Sea Snips are an adequate alternative to a dive knife? What can you do with a dive knife that you cannot do with Sea Snips (and I don't anticipate stabbing any predatory sea creatures, before someone says that! LOL)?

Do you carry both? If so, why?

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Cheers, Brianna

Always did carry both snips - holster attached to a pocket - and knife - attached to waist. Then neglected to move my knife back from my AL to my SS plate earlier this summer and said whatever. Fast forward to two weeks ago, a VERY high current dive, trying to pull in to the exit (shore dive). My buddy was able to dig his knife into a largely bare river bottom to help pull himself in. I had to work a LOT harder without my knife.

My opinion is that the shears are a better cutting tool for many situations, but they cannot match the versatility of a knife.

Carry both.

 

[scrane]

Are you allowed to hunt them in Roatan as a tourist?

The marine park HQ in West End gives a course and will sell you a Hawaiian sling. Then you're good to go.

 

[briannapstevens]

If you had ever eaten them, you would be hunting them too. Hands down the best fish I have ever had. Ceviche, coconut crusted and fried, flat top grilled with garlic, or fire grilled....it's amazing.

As far as hunting them goes, I have never seen the numbers like I did in Roatan. They were everywhere on every reef we dove. Very few other fish, and almost no other juvenile fish.

Sorry for the detour....Now back to the regular topic....

Jay

I didn't even know they were edible! That was a cool tangent. New goal...lionfish hunting trip!

 

[briannapstevens]

When you see a shark, you use the knife to stab your buddy in the leg while you swim like hell.

(I can't believe no one had dug up that old joke yet.)

Love it!

Yeah, you don't have to swim fast to get away from a shark. You just have to swim faster than your buddy!

 

[briannapstevens]

Well...I don't know about "allowed" (it's Roatan...are there rules or merely suggestions) but our DM's always had pole spears with them. Once they saw that you had decent dive skills, if you saw a lionfish and got their attention, they would come over and hand you the spear. You would stick the fish and they would stab it with another spear and they would swim over to the next hunter.

I left Moby friggin lionfish there for you. Biggest LF I have ever seen, and I missed. Fast little boogers when they need to be. He's big for a reason....good luck. You can't miss him, he lives on Rockstar, is at least 5 feet long, glowing green eyes, and tentacles instead of spike fins. I'm pretty sure I heard 80's gangster rap playing once I got close and smelled a blunt. He's sneaky too, he will swim above you and breathe off your Octo sucking your air down to 400 psi. If your quiet, you can hear him still laughing at my miss from 6 inches away..... the horror..... watch your 6.

Next time Moby....next time.

Our dive op did an Island day and cooked the LF on the grill after most of the others tourists had left. I'm sure the location had something to do with it...but it was amazing.

Good luck, safe travels.
Jay

LOL

Always did carry both snips - holster attached to a pocket - and knife - attached to waist. Then neglected to move my knife back from my AL to my SS plate earlier this summer and said whatever. Fast forward to two weeks ago, a VERY high current dive, trying to pull in to the exit (shore dive). My buddy was able to dig his knife into a largely bare river bottom to help pull himself in. I had to work a LOT harder without my knife.

My opinion is that the shears are a better cutting tool for many situations, but they cannot match the versatility of a knife.

Carry both.

Wow....there's a use for a knife that I never thought of! Maybe I'll bring my knife after all. Quick followup, what kind of knife was that?

 

[kelemvor]

Hi, Scubaboarders:

I used to carry both a dive knife and Sea Snips, but I'm trying to pare down the amount of stuff I take with me.

I'm curious--do you think that Sea Snips are an adequate alternative to a dive knife? What can you do with a dive knife that you cannot do with Sea Snips (and I don't anticipate stabbing any predatory sea creatures, before someone says that! LOL)?

Do you carry both? If so, why?

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

I've never heard of "sea snips" before this post. Google shows me it's apparently a brand name someone stuck on regular trauma shears (and upped the price $5). Anyway, I carry trauma shears and a z-knife. I've never used the shears but they aren't really in the way anyway. I keep them in their holster near the place where my shoulder strap meets my backplate. Fairly easy to access.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Can you post a pic of how you mounted your TB to your SW?

Note. The Cutter Case can be found here: The Cutter Case™
https://www.scubaboard.com/community/media/cuttercaseshearwater.203764/
I like it because it dries out nicely, keeps the blades from rusting, and makes it super easy to attach to the bungies for my Shearwater

Cuttercaseshearwater

.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I stab and kill Lionfish with it after I have speared them. It would be difficult to do this with my Trilobyte cutter I suppose I might use the knife if the diameter of the entanglement was too big for the Trilobyte? My knife has both a smooth and a serrated blade.

Sounds like a skills problem.

KIDDING!!!!

 

[Snoweman]

I didn't even know they were edible! That was a cool tangent. New goal...lionfish hunting trip!

Lots of threads on the little buggers. They are delicious. I've read that Whole Foods in FL is selling the meat now.