Knife point styles - relative benefits

[JMG]

I'm looking to get a small knife to mount on my BC. The one I was looking at - the Akona CoQui - comes in three point styles: blunt, medium point, and point. I was wondering why you might want the point underwater, and what the relative benefits of the half-point vs the point are (I gather that the main benefit of the blunt is that you can't stab yourself).

Thanks!

 

[d33ps1x]

And James has found 100 reasons to use the pointy variety in his scuba adventures. None of which will be taught in a PADI specialty any time soon.

 

[jplacson]

Ya, but what if a great white decides to turn you into a meal? How will you battle the shark with a blunt tip? Or what if you come across some terrorist divers on their way to destroy some country? How are you supposed to fight them with a small BC knife?!?!? :lol: Just kidding... JMG, the advantage of a blunt tip knife is that it can be used as a prying tool, or screwdriver.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Buy a couple of $1 store steak knives (twoferabuck) and score the blade of one with a file about two~three inches from the handle and then snap the tip off (using pliers or a hammer.) File the edges smooth but leave the stubby blade sharp. This should friction fit into one of those old mini-mag flashlight holsters you have in the junk drawer. If you don't have any in your junk drawer get one from your neighbor's junk drawer. Place the holster with self-customized line cutter knife proudly on your waist belt... or if you are a cumberbun diver zip tie it to a shoulder strap.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

I'm looking to get a small knife to mount on my BC. The one I was looking at - the Akona CoQui - comes in three point styles: blunt, medium point, and point. I was wondering why you might want the point underwater, and what the relative benefits of the half-point vs the point are (I gather that the main benefit of the blunt is that you can't stab yourself).

Thanks!

You don't need a point. What you need is a reliable cutting edge.

 

[d33ps1x]

The new stubby end of the blade can be used on most of the screws on your harness and more importantly for tightening up the valve knobs on your tanks if the need should arise.

Not to mention a real deadly diver can still take on a great white with a 2 inch blade. I watched James kill a diver with his bare hands.

 

[JMG]

As appealing as Uncle Pug's suggestion is, I think I'd rather stick with something store bought; I'm not very handy in the DIY. Besides, I live in a dorm, so neither I nor my neighbors have junk drawers filled with makeshift sheaths.

The real point of my question was to see if there was any use for pointed tips underwater that I was overlooking. Since I'm not interested in killing anyone or anything underwater, I'll stick with blunt tips.

Thanks!

 

[WaveMan1978]

This is something I've been thinking about lately.
It seems to me that the benefits of a pointed tip may outweigh the possible disadvantages....
1) I have heard and read about some divers having stuck BC inflate valves, resulting in uncontrolled ascent on a ballistic scale (with potentially lethal consequences). In such an emergency, it seems to me that the fastest dump valve is about a 12" gash in my air bladder. I'm not aware of any agency teaching this, just pure speculation on my part. I'm not too keen on destroying an expensive piece of equipment...but it sure beats rocketing to the surface (and beyond) from 80 ft. like a Trident missile from a sub. My Gerber River Shorty w/ dull tip wouldn't be able to pierce the cordura material.
2) "But you can pry with a dull tip..." Yes, and I can pry with a sharply pointed blade, too. If the tip should break...oh, well, now I have a blunt tip.
3) "you can use a dull tip as a screwdriver" Perhaps...but I prefer to use a screwdriver, especially when adjusting screws on expensive gear. No, I don't carry a screwdriver on dives...but is there really a need turn screws underwater?
4) "you might stab yourself/pierce your suit while resheathing, especially when already task-loaded and adrenalized" Perhaps...but honestly it seems unlikely. If you're resheathing your knife, you've probably already dealt with the entanglement problem. You can afford to take a second and do it carefully...and if you can't handle a sharp knife, perhaps you shouldn't be diving in the first place...
NOTICE: this is all predicated on the fact that I am carrying 2 or more cutting tools...one of which is a pair of EMT shears. If the entanglement hazard is such that piercing the suit is a likely problem, chances are the shears would be a better option than a blunt-tipped knife anyway.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

My primary cutting tool is EMT shears ... and for a backup I carry a folding knife in my pocket (although a good BCD knife works well also).

I switched from knife to shears last summer, while doing maintenance work on the boundary cable around one of our favorite dive sites. About halfway around ... at a depth of a bit more than 100 fsw ... I came across a large tangle of steel leader attached to a downrigger ball ... easily 50 feet of leader entangled for several feet along the cable. Should a diver become entangled in this mess, no knife will cut you free ... but shears will.

Blunt-tip or point-tip ... don't see any real advantages either way. More important, make sure one edge is serrated or has a line-cutting crescent cut into the blade. Most important, make sure you mount the knife somewhere you will be able to reach it should you become entangled.

How many, I wonder, have a knife strapped to their body and have never tried to see if they can actually get it out and put it away while diving?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ElectricZombie]

I use a DIY knife that I made. The tip is blunt so I can use it as a screwdriver in a pinch. A sharp knife doesn't need a point to be an effective cutter.