Hooked at 100 feet - Lulu wreck, Alabama

[Bob DBF]

If it were me, my first instinct is to pull my BFK, cut the line and slowly ascend to locate the crappy fisherman.

I'd use a line cutter and save the BFK for the fisherman. The first time I used a line cutter I became a fan. I had to cut myself out of fishing line with my BFK and I immediately started looking for a better solution, and my knife was/is sharp.

 

[Bierstadt]

@Bob DBF I got a line cutter to try out because I thought it looked cool. Then I practiced line cutting with it vs a knife and ordered some more. For one-handed cutting a line you may not even be able to see... yeah, totally agree with you.

 

[Texasguy]

Problem with a line cutter, you need to catch the line and feed it to the blade. If it is a "**** hitting a fan" situation, the adrenaline, trembling hands, and line positioning might not make a line cutter to be the best tool in this particular situation. The line cutter is better for a line in front of you, not behind you. BFK, if sharp enough, should be a better tool, as it has a longer blade and doesn't require precise cutting movements.

Though, a somewhat dull BFK will do nada, would be akin playing a fiddle. Maybe EMS scissors would be better? It would cut through any fishing line. And when blades are expanded, they provide more area to catch the line than the line cutter.

 

[tursiops]

Problem with a line cutter, you need to catch the line and feed it to the blade. If it is a "**** hitting a fan" situation, the adrenaline, trembling hands, and line positioning might not make a line cutter to be the best tool in this particular situation. The line cutter is better for a line in front of you, not behind you. BFK, if sharp enough, should be a better tool, as it has a longer blade and doesn't require precise cutting movements.

Though, a somewhat dull BFK will do nada, would be akin playing a fiddle. Maybe EMS scissors would be better? It would cut through any fishing line. And when blades are expanded, they provide more area to catch the line than the line cutter.

Maybe shears or a BFK in addition to a line cutter, but never instead of.

 

[Bob DBF]

Problem with a line cutter, you need to catch the line and feed it to the blade.

Use your arm, like a sweep to recover a reg, when the line hits the arm slide it down the arm and into the line cutter. I found it out the hard way, because I couldn't see the line that had me.

I agree that in the middle of the accident one will be busy, the less one trains and has no experience with the situation, the chances of doing everything right goes down.

I carry a line cutter, shears, BFK, and on most occasions, a small very sharp knife. As well as any other tools needed for the dive plan, I like options.

 

[Bierstadt]

@Texasguy Everything is better when the line is in front. But in my testing, I found that hitting a line out of sight invariably resulted in a diagonal contact between the knife and the line, and typically ended with a bounce off the knife and the line uncut. My (large) double-sided line cutter reliably caught the line as it slid off my arm, then the line got trapped between the blade and the guard, creating sufficient tension to result in a clean cut. My testing was with a small dir-style knife (very sharp and serrated) and a large line cutter. I expect similar results with a bfk vs a small line cutter like a trilobite, but did not test them. Creating tension is key to cutting line.

 

[stuartv]

I have one of these (as well as trauma shears and an Eezycut. Never had an occasion to use it, though.

DGX Titanium Tek Line Cutter w/Waistbelt Sheath | Dive Gear Express®

It SEEMS like about the best option I've seen to try and catch/cut a line that is out of sight behind my head.

 

[InTheDrink]

I use a medical scissors. IMO way more effective than a knife. I place it where I can reach with either hand. Got hooked 5 times on one dive (at the same time). It was my fault as I was disoriented and ended up at the wrong pier wall.

Saw the first line then hook across my face. Hook was in my wetsuit. Got buddies attention and they signalled STOP and cut another 4 or 5 hooks from my wetsuit mainly round my back. I wouldn’t have fancied trying that myself.

Anyhow vastly prefer a shears or scissors over a knife. You can also do your nails etc during your SS

 

[Shasta_man]

<<creating tension>> getting pulled to the surface on a fishing line will probably make you tense so that's covered.

And @Bob DBF apparently has a lot of fun and gets into lots of stuff because if a situation is possible, he has a blade for it

 

[Texasguy]

I like these: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00JX06FX4/

They don't rust much, you can apply many times more force than with EMS shears. These are way, way better built and the screw holding blades does not fail like with EMS shears.

If you still like EMS style, consider: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B076QM3D6P