Anyone find most modern knife handles too small?

[CPDiver]

I love the way every dive knife conversation goes:

Diver A: Get a BIG FDK, as in the biggest you can somehow attach to self/gear.

Diver B: Get a small BC Knife since it is a tool not a weapon. And if you see a diver with a big knife steer clear of the poseur.

I decided I was in the Diver B category until my Underwater Kinetics Fusilier dive knife arrived. The knife is 8 inches long with a 3.75 inch blade. The knife looked plenty big until I tried to hold it. The 4.25 inch handle feels tiny in my hand without dive gloves. With 3 mm gloves the handle could be a #2 pencil. I realize I wear an XL glove, but I never expected I would need to buy a "Big Pig Sticking Knife" just to be able to get a knife I could get a good grip on. While the blade was plenty sharp I seriously questioned the knives utility to me if I had trouble getting a decent grip on the knife.

I evenually bought a UK Blue Tang which is 10 inches long (2 inches longer than the fusilier). The handle fit my hand perfectly, as I would want any hand tool to fit. The downside is the knife LOOKS HUGE, like the perverbial pig sticking knife or BFK.

Has anyone else found this same dilemma, that small knives just don't fit the hand? I guess I am going to have to reclassify myself as a proud BFK carrying diver unless someone can reccomend a smaller knife that has a generous/meaty handle.

Thanks for the input.

 

[texdiveguy]

Buy a pair of HD shears!!!

 

[Green_Manelishi]

http://green-manelishi.info/main/diving/images/cuttingtools.jpg

I recently purchased a pair of shears but will continue to rely on
the knife as a primary cutter; especially when recovering lobster traps.

 

[CPDiver]

I should have mentioned I do dive with a pair of shears. I just feel it is probably wiser to have a knife as well, if for nothing else backup.

 

[archman]

Size XL glove? Your hands are too big.

 

[evilbacon]

You should buy a kershaw amphibian dive knife, those knives are wicked. Kershaw makes good quality knives and the amphibian is a really good sized knife, it is a 3.5 inch blade i think but the handle fits perfectly in your hand. it is just an all around perfect knife.


Evil :bgmad:

 

[NJ Wreckster]

Those little knives seem to be recommended for warm water cave divers. I really don't know what the benefit of a small knife is.

To me, if you dive with gloves, you need a big knife handle. That usually means a big blade. So what?

If you get tankled up in thick net, and your hands are already partially numbed and cramped from the cold, you're slashing away and half panicked. A bigger knife will cut quicker and be less apt to be dropped.

Besides, if you have a wrecking bar and a 2 lr 3 lb. sledge hammer and chisel, so what if the knife is large?

Also, it is a well known fact that sharks are less likely to attack a diver with a big knife. Whereas, if you are waving a small knife at a shark, it is likely to laugh at you, which could be very embarrasing.

 

[daniel f aleman]

In caves I carry two small knives and a pair of shears. In open water I carry two knives, one small and the other big. That big knife is a tool and a weapon.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I feel your pain, man. I have monster paws, too. Glove size is XL. I have to hold my BC knife by my fingertips, and if I ever really needed it to get out of a jam, I'd probably drop it. I finally went with a pair of EMT shears in addition to my knife.

http://www.diveriteexpress.com/tools/img/ac2044lg.jpg

 

[Doc]

Has anyone else found this same dilemma, that small knives just don't fit the hand? I guess I am going to have to reclassify myself as a proud BFK carrying diver unless someone can reccomend a smaller knife that has a generous/meaty handle.

More to the point of your quandry: knives and handles + "big paws"...

We write design specification on a lot of objects for law enforcement/militray application. We speak fluent knife.

There are very few "sheath knives" (non folding) that have handles that are good for actually holding onto, much less in slippery conditions. Here's how we look at general underwater combination blades.

Guards are a must, few have any sort of pommel that could be used as a hammer.

We prefer grip serrations on the top of the tang just behind the backstrap of the blade.

As far as blade or cutting edge serrations, it largely depends upon the operator. If the object is more likely a weapon, then non-serrated. If a tool, then partial serrations or backstrap sawtooth.

We like finger grooves in the handle at a minimum for the pointer finger, then a reduced midsection, then larger again to the rear. Something to hold onto.

The pix here are some interesting variants, highly mission/operator specific, from Trident Knives. http://www.tridentknives.com/