Knife needed?

[CompuDude]

I dive with a pig sticker on my inside my calf (sorry, I learned old school and still like it), a Z knife on my BC (soon to be replaced by the OMS titanium line cutter) and a pair of shears in my pocket.

The Z-knifes are great, and I wouldn't bother replacing it but they rust like crazy and the blades are not replaceable. Two Z knives and I can pay for the OMS titanium and never worry about it again.

At some point I will be replacing the pig sticker with the Halcyon titanium little knife on my bp/w waist strap.

I love titanium. I hate cleaning gear, and the fewer pieces I have the disassemble and rinse and specially dry to avoid rust, the better.

Other people seem to lose expensive gear all the time, but I am either very careful, very lucky, or some combination, because I don't lose my gear, and I am very careful to securely return anything that I deploy.

 

[hardin]

Dive knife is as important as a regulator. You may not use it every dive but when you need it nothing else will replace it. Prevention is the best cure, the proper tool is the best treatment! I carry a large knife on inside of right calf, small VERY sharp knife on BC inflation hose, REALLY sharp small "neck" type knife clipped in left BC poket. Only lost 1 knife in over 30 years - at Columbia reef Cozumel. Also.... REQUIRED piece pf equipment for Divemasters & Instructors at all times!!
My 2 cents & the way I live & the way I teach!
grady

 

[Sepandee]

Dive knife is as important as a regulator. You may not use it every dive but when you need it nothing else will replace it. Prevention is the best cure, the proper tool is the best treatment! I carry a large knife on inside of right calf, small VERY sharp knife on BC inflation hose, REALLY sharp small "neck" type knife clipped in left BC poket. Only lost 1 knife in over 30 years - at Columbia reef Cozumel. Also.... REQUIRED piece pf equipment for Divemasters & Instructors at all times!!
My 2 cents & the way I live & the way I teach!
grady

3 knives? Geez, that seems like too many. How many times have you used them?

 

[hardin]

I would venture to say that in 90 - 95% of my dives in the past untold number of dives & dive trips I have used one of these knifes at least once for many & varied reasons. A diver carries many tools - a knife is just one. As I tell the Scouters I train there is no such thing as one knife that meets every job. I compare the knives to my extensive collection of screwdrivers. No one screwdriver fits every screw, no one knife does every job. I forgot to mention... there is also a cuttting tool in my first aid kit as well as a Leatherman in my save-a-dive box & yes they go on every dive I make. They are in my dry bag along with other things. So I guess you could say I carry 5 different cutting tools when I go diving. By the way, if I wear dry pants onto the boat over my suit, there is a Case XX Stockman pocket knife in the right front pocket & a Leatherman Wave on the belt. SO I guess the count is up to 7 now. Also.. If I am diving a river from the shore back in South Carolina there is a minimum of 3 knives & 2 Leathermans in the truck. Now I am up to 12. I hope this gets across the preparedness I preach & try to live by. A Scout is PREPARED!
YIS
Grady

 

[Sepandee]

I neither have much diving experience nor am I familiar with your dive sites. However, I do think that you're overdoing yourself. I may be wrong though.
I'm a heavy camper, and I do a lot of rafting, canoeing, and kayaking. I've never had to take more than 2 knives, 1 specialized knife and 1 leatherman (which actually has a couple of knives on it). Both of them are usually used for cooking purposes, fixing things, and building tools. 2 is all i've needed.
And from what I've gathered before on this forum, 1 or max 2 knives for diving are enough, usually to be used to cut fishing nets if necessary.

 

[hardin]

OK.. Here I go into instructor mode....
Knives are used for many things. Quit the thinking of normal folks. They hear the word "knife" & immediatelly the thought of weapon comes up. Dive knives are tools - PERIOD!!! You do not stab fish to kill them when impaled on a spear. Try to do that with a 75 pound Ling or Amberjack on a spear & you will find yourself in deep stuff. Ignorant, unthinking acts underwater is what hurts divers. YOU are the most dangerous thing in the water. Not the critters. Most injuries are caused by inattention by a diver... sitting on an Urchin, lacerations by a Moray while the diver was feeding it, touching (harassing) critters that wasn't bothering a thing: Bristle Worms, Urchins, Morays, Fire Coral, White & Black Hydrilla, Fire Sponge, Stone Fish, Crabs, Lobster, Snappers, Goliath Grouper, Barnacles, metal on wrecks, Hot Jelly (all types), currant, rocks,..... The list is long & varied.
I propose we start something here. How about all interested list the events when a knife was used during a dive & what it was used to do. I will wager that no has ever cut a scuba reg hose sending the diver into convulsions - as done many times by Mike Nelson on Sea Hunt.
I'll start...
Cutting various objects usually line or rope from monofilament left on the bottom to rope of an inch or larger.
Cutting strapping.
Stabbing into bottom in currant.
Prying many things loose - unable to do with small knives & scissors.
Popping out bad orings.
Banging on my tank - attention devices are a relatively new invention.
Hammering - scissors, I don't think so.
Trimming tie wraps or zip ties.
Trimming ragged wet suit.
Opening lunch meat packages.
Peeling fruit.
Freeing an anchor fouled in another anchor line.
Cutting old electrical tape used to personalize a fin from around a fin strap .
Cutting line from a fouled wheel.
Loosening shackle bolts - Leatherman
Scrapping Man O War tentacles from a diver - I use tongue blades, saw this on a commercial dive boat.
Removing fouled line of various sizes out of a reef.

No one size knife would have been appropriate in all these instances. Now maybe you realize why I try to have various size & type knives around. The proper tool for the proper job is a very useful rule to follow. As many a person has said: You don't use a hammer to break up ice clumps... that is what a screwdriver is for.
Now what has other divers used "edged diving tools" to accomplish.
Grady
PADI MSDT 9158

 

[Sepandee]

I propose we start something here. How about all interested list the events when a knife was used during a dive & what it was used to do.

Neat idea.
I never said anything that implies using knives for hunting fish and breaking loose of the mean shark's jaws. People who carry knives for fear of being attacked by sea creatures frankly need a good 101 lesson in sea-creature and animal behavior.
All I said was that sounds liek too many knives. In my humble and inexperienced opinion, 1-3 knives is fine.

In other news, today I was STUPID enough to see if I can finish a 49-min dive at 20meters with more than 2/3 of a tank (2000psi). Bad case of CO2 retention... i felt like my head was going to explode for a good 20 minutes.

I hate CO2 retention ...

 

[vladimir]

I propose we start something here. How about all interested list the events when a knife was used during a dive & what it was used to do.

In close to 700 dives I have yet to use a knife underwater. But I only bring one; maybe if I had 7 with me I'd find a use for one or two of them.

 

[CompuDude]

Up to three knives is absolutely kosher, IMO... you'll often want more than one kind, and you'll want them strapped in various locations on your body so you can still reach on in case of bad entanglement.

More than that is overkill. The three cutting devices I dive with seems like the perfect balance, to me.

To any who think one knife may be overkill, let alone two, well, clearly you're not diving in the kinds of kelp forests and fishing-heavy locations (think nets and monofilament lines) that some of the rest of us do, and respect the fact that different conditions can dictate different equipment configurations.

 

[Sepandee]

To any who think one knife may be overkill

I don't think anyone thinks that.