Any way to safely tether a BC knife?

[Berdman]

I just bought a BC knife and I have a bad habit of dropping things. Is there a bungee that fits around the wrist that would work so I don’t drop the knife? I was thinking a retractor would be nice, but if I dropped it would be like a sharp torpedo flying at me.

 

[jeckyll]

Well, if you need your knife to get out of an entanglement you many not have the ability to get your hand around some sort of retractor mechanism. Instead, I'd advise practicing so you don't drop it

Just an FYI, In 80 + dives in the last year, I've never had to use my knife ... well except for pumpkin carving underwater

 

[Doc]

A lanyard, something as simple as a loop of thin line is a good idea. The dive knife is the single "most often lost" piece of dive gear. I have found more than 20 of them.

You do not need and uncontrolled yet tethered object flailing about you.

Mount the sheath where you can see it. Failing that, tether the sheath to the inside of a pocket where it may be removed as a unit and unsheathed while using your vision to assist.

All this is for pure warm-water pretty-fish type diving. Entanglement, DIR and other issues change the equation. No one solution works "best" for any situation. mI've got 3,000+ pretty fish dives and I have yet to see anyone entangled in anything other than in a resort/vacation romance. it never got as bad as to escalate to knives.

Bottom line? Unless you're Jame Bond, Mike Nelson or a SEAL, have the sheath withing your vision for re-sheathing.

A line cutter is a more viable tool, anyway.

 

[Berdman]

"well except for pumpkin carving underwater"

Thats what I plan on using it for!!! and I bet I will some how lose my knife!!!


"Failing that, tether the sheath to the inside of a pocket where it may be removed as a unit and unsheathed while using your vision to assist. "

I was thinking about doing that but I couldnt find a real good place to tether it from a pocket. Or is there?

 

[Doc]

"well except for pumpkin carving underwater"

additional note: pumpkins float. Even the gutted ones. Bring and extra 6# of weight for your orange dive buddy.


"Failing that, tether the sheath to the inside of a pocket where it may be removed as a unit and unsheathed while using your vision to assist. "

Is it required for the contest to use a "dive knife"? If not, use anything else lest you put yourself at a real surgical disadvantage.

I was thinking about doing that but I couldnt find a real good place to tether it from a pocket. Or is there?

Most pockets have gusseted drain holes at the bottom. Push the line thru there and tie a figure eight knot on the outside to keep it from coming loose.

Still- put a loop lanyard on the knife as well.

BC's are (outside of the small portion that contains the air bladder) modifiable and customizable. Sew it, poke holes in it with a soldering gun tip. Enjoy yourself. Military (surplus store) "laundry pins" (heavy duty safety pin dealies) are usable as are any better diaper pin (Stainless with a locking system).

I just go the soldering gun route, when in the field, a nail held by forceps, heated by a candle. It works. Make a hole, tie it off. Don't get too sentimental or hysterical over your first $600 BC... there will be others.

 

[CompuDude]

All this is for pure warm-water pretty-fish type diving. Entanglement, DIR and other issues change the equation. No one solution works "best" for any situation. mI've got 3,000+ pretty fish dives and I have yet to see anyone entangled in anything other than in a resort/vacation romance. it never got as bad as to escalate to knives.

Bottom line? Unless you're Jame Bond, Mike Nelson or a SEAL, have the sheath withing your vision for re-sheathing.

A line cutter is a more viable tool, anyway.

You should perhaps be a little more cautious to qualify your advice as applying to YOUR conditions. Obviously you are diving in more protected locations than many of us do. Here is SoCal, the fishing industry is such that monofilment line entanglements, usually from discarded line, and occasionally from a live line if you get too close to a pier or boat, are frequent issues. And I'm talking about pretty fish dives, not technical dives. And kelp can present an entirely different sort of entanglement hazard.

We're talking real world here, not imagined, and not idyllic, conditions.

 

[maildiver]

Just did a UW pumpkin carving, my first time. Boy it wasn't easy! Dropping my dive knife was the least of my problems, my carving wasn't pretty, but I won a compass! I use a big ole knife in a leg sheath. Never had problems with it. Just watch what your doing.