Blunt or Pointed Scuba Knife?

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Hello All, and here is my very first post on Scubaboard, so go easy if I say something wrong.

Though only a snorkeller (so far I haven't had the time to get into scuba), I'm coming at this with a reasonable amount of experience with tools and edged tools and right now working on a few dive knife related things. Hence my first post in this section and thread.

Diving presents a pretty unique scenario for knife uses and needs (many of which I won't go into in this thread), but the whole blunt vs pointed tip is very interesting.

Part of the diver's requirement for a knife is a 'rescue/release' knife, and I think this should be considered a separate requirement altogether. For a rescue knife you want a tool you don't use for anything else so it is always ready and razor sharp. If you use your knife for other cutting tasks and then suddenly find yourself entangled, you might find it is blunt. Especially with the increased use of Dyneema fishing line and rope.

Until you are properly entangled, and if free diving or diving during snorkelling (so have no air), you won't know if you will suffer any panic. In this scenario you want your rescue knife sharp and safe. Blunt has to be the way to go every time. Adding an injury to yourself is not going to help the situation.

I've never seen anyone fight off a killer shark or a giant squid with a blunt tip knife.

…just sayin'

:rolleyes: That would be a sight. Maybe even with a pointy tip knife the shark and squid laugh and then eat their lunch.

On a more serious note, is you put a good amount of force behind a strike into flesh with a blunt tip knife, you will still do a lot of damage. People are stabbed with large (so blunt) screwdrivers and the results are bad.

Being slightly serious on this subject, I would not choose a knife for a self defence weapon, but if I did, I would have my separate pointed knife. and a blunt as a backup.

I only use my pointy tip knife if lionfish hunting, to kill the little bugger by stabbing through his head. Otherwise, a small blunt tip is the way to go, if you want a knife. I find z-cutters and shears more generally useful, for example if clearing mono-filament fishing line off a reef.

So far this is the only reason I have come across which fully justifies a pointed knife - hunting.

Is got nothing to do about coordination at depth...a bit more about task loading and stressful situations!

100% agree. I'm a very careful tool user and in normal situations will not stab myself. Given a high pressure under-water situation I'd much rather grab a blunt tipped knife.

I prefer a point on my knife to make it easier to get in between things that need to be pried apart. This is more of a tool issue then a knife issue but it leaves your options open should you need it for something else. If you cannot handle a knife without stabbing yourself maybe you should look into a safer sport then diving.

I get your point about the 'tool' and prying tasks being easier with a point. As this type of knife is likely to become blunt from the 'abuse' it is getting, I wouldn't then use it for 'release'; that is when the dedicated knife would come out.

I disagree with the comment about handling a knife and choosing a safer sport. It is not about 'normal' situations, but those unplanned emergencies where things go wrong for even the most experienced people.

stabbed myself in the leg - ONCE - never again. blunt tip it is. sharp tip is for stabbing/defense - blunt tip signifies a tool with a specific use.

I hope others can learn from your comment. In fact I'm considering grinding the very tip off several knives to make them into a 'small-blunt' meaning the blade shape is still relatively pointed, but the actual cutting edge and sharp point has been taken off.

As 'one is none, and two is one' applies here in particular, my answer to this thread would be 'Both'. A dedicated blunt for release/rescue and a pointed knife for other tasks.
 
When I was growing up there was a weekly documentary about diving called " Sea Hunt". The instructor/host was Mike Nelson.

Big pointed knife for me.
 
Most of my dives are in murky tidal waters.
The biggest risk is getting entangled in fishing line or hoop nets.

A pointed knife does not have any benefit over a blunted tip for me.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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