Etiquette on carrying a knife during dives

[Belzelbub]

I try to have two knives with me on every dive. I usually carry a stiletto type with serrations on my leg, and a mini fog-cutter on my BC. Occasionally, I've left without the knife strapped to my leg, but it's pretty rare. Those are generally for entanglements, not for dispatching sharks. I dove for years without seeing my first shark.

Since most of my salt water dives are for spearfishing, sharks do come around more often now, and I carry a spare shaft and powerhead in the event I need to defend myself against an aggressive shark.

A knife for shark defense is useless unless you are planning to stab your buddy so the shark will go for him and allow you to escape.

 

[kelemvor]

I try to have two knives with me on every dive. I usually carry a stiletto type with serrations on my leg, and a mini fog-cutter on my BC. Occasionally, I've left without the knife strapped to my leg, but it's pretty rare. Those are generally for entanglements, not for dispatching sharks. I dove for years without seeing my first shark.

Since most of my salt water dives are for spearfishing, sharks do come around more often now, and I carry a spare shaft and powerhead in the event I need to defend myself against an aggressive shark.

A knife for shark defense is useless unless you are planning to stab your buddy so the shark will go for him and allow you to escape.

Ever tried the powerhead? Another customer who hangs out at my favorite LDS is an avid spearfisherman who did. It blew out both his eardrums and he was out of diving for quite a long time as a result. For your sake, make sure it really is a last resort

 

[J322Y]

I'm a new diver who's never seen a shark while diving, so not too much to contribute other than the fact that I'm asking myself the same question about sharks in general. My girlfriend has been diving for many years and enjoys seeing most sharks. Seeing a hammerhead is still on her bucket list.

In that spirit I'll share a youtube video I just found which made me think of this thread, and I hope it's helpful in some way...

 

[dmaziuk]

Having said that, something that he and I are equally afraid of are sharks. I'm not going to isolate our fear to one or two types, we are simply afraid of sharks. This might be the point in my thread where someone tells me if that's the case, I need to find something else to do but I will press on.

I want to know what the etiquette is of carrying a knife underwater simply to have as a resource to defend myself should the need ever arise.

I think if it makes you feel safer, it's great, certainly cheaper than therapy, but I can't help remembering how to fight off a tiger:

Spoiler

throw crap in its mouth and it'll run away in disgust
- but where do I find crap?
- if you're attacked by a tiger, that won't be a problem.

 

[Antmany2k]

a knife wouldn't stop a shark and wouldn't be a wise move anyway. so i suggest if you see a shark, stab your buddy in the leg and swim to safety haha

 

[motorref]

I'm with the "2 knives" group; one is a trilobite / line cutter mounted on my waist strap and the other is a small, serrated knife on the outside of my left hand pocket; I like to think that either will be available to one hand or the other if I get entangled.
Sharks are not the "menacing, I'm going to eat/bite you" creatures portrayed by Hollywood (and Nat Geo!); they generally are timid in approaching divers. I have 30 or 40 dives with sharks, including cage diving with great whites; the ONLY time I have seen them agitated is when they are baited - even when on drift dives in PDC, trying to feed lionfish to bull sharks, they were reluctant to come near us.
I took both of my daughters to Freeport to get certified (Grand Bahamas Scuba - great job!) and there were Caribbean reef sharks in the water with us, and we had absolutely no issues. If you want to experience sharks in a low pressure, non-threatening environment, I'd suggest calling them; they don't feed or bait the sharks, but do use the same sites.

KevinL

 

[halocline]

Think of seeing a shark like seeing a bear in Yellowstone, you are getting to see an apex predator in its natural setting. Swallow your fear and enjoy the show. If it gets too close, punch it in the nose.

Or, just bring the bear with you, and train it to defend you against shark attacks. I'm sure it would work great, and the video of such an encounter would be spectacular. The only problem would be, after the dive you'd be sharing a boat with a grizzly bear that has just worked up an appetite fighting off sharks.......

To the OP....I realize that sharks present a very primordial threat to lots of people, hence the success of the Jaws movies. But he reality is that millions of recreational dives take place every year around the world, and excluding spear fisherman, an aggressive encounter between a shark and diver is almost unheard of.

You'd be in much greater danger simply flying and/or driving to the dive site.

 

[JamesBon92007]

But he reality is that millions of recreational dives take place every year around the world, and excluding spear fisherman, an aggressive encounter between a shark and diver is almost unheard of.

You'd be in much greater danger simply flying and/or driving to the dive site.

Yes, but being splattered over several miles or crushed and dismembered in a collision is acceptable. Being eaten is horrifying.

 

[TMHeimer]

Yes, but being splattered over several miles or crushed and dismembered in a collision is acceptable. Being eaten is horrifying.

YES.

 

[george_austin]

The main purpose for carrying a BFK is the possibility of a hostile encounter with an enemy diver, not a fish. If it's not wartime or you haven't been assigned to counter intelligence operations against SPECTRE, you don't need any k . . . . wait a minute -
Always carry a knife