Nuribromanski
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'cept this is just heat treat stock removal blade, not forged or anything lol
but at least sharpening it won't kill u, like copper beryllium knives
so hard to find the perfect knife
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'cept this is just heat treat stock removal blade, not forged or anything lol
but at least sharpening it won't kill u, like copper beryllium knives
Bob DBF
Contributor
The way I look at cutting tools is that they should perform their function and not cost so much that I would do something stupid to try tho save it. As long as it cuts with a bit of rust on it, I don't lose any sleep over it, it is more important that they do their job when I need them.
Bob
Bob
No Spyderco SALT or H1 knives do not rust during salt water usage. I own hundreds of knives and that is the knife I chose for diving.
Knife nuts like me.
A knife has its uses and a line cutter has its uses. They are different. If you fear line entanglements then you should have a couple line cutters. When I was skydiving I had 4 line cutters. One on each shoulder and one on each knee. I had a strong fear of line entanglement and knew if it happens you don't know how much movement you will have.
Titanium is great for a lot of things, it is not ideal for knives. It makes a great pry bar and back in the day when divers pried things out of the coral it was very useful and worth the trade off for a wicked sharp edge. Now that sort of behavior is looked down upon. So I go for the sharp edge.
Rich Keller
Contributor
Look at that rust! Just look at it. As functional as it may be, it makes me sad! 
Read a bit about H1 and the N680 (data, holds edge like 420C) steel that Benchmade is using. Neither are supposed to be able to rust, ever, and they hold a good edge. It sounds good, assuming it really can't rust.
I have a Spyderco sharpener and had one of their balisongs once. A lot of their designs aren't very practical, eg I'm not a fan of the Caspian Salt's typical Spyderco weird big hole:
It's bigger than necessary and just... weird. The line cutter is really far from the tip, which means the blade has to slide far to get to it. The Spyderco Aqua Salt is a bit better, but more of a river knife (also comes in black):
My best balisongs are Benchmade and I have a couple, so I like the brand. Their 112 H2O (mentioned by tbone1004 above) is pretty dang good:
That's a nice and deep line cutter / rescue hook and pretty close to the tip. The sheath has a small release. It is only on one side and it isn't clear if it could ever be released on accident. This video shows it better, it secures tightly with no rattle:
The problem is I can't tell if the Benchmade sheath can attach to 2" webbing. Given the pics and that the blade is 3.5", the slots in the sheath look smaller than 2". Other sheaths have a small pillar that can be cut to fit 2" webbing, but the pillar on this sheath looks very thick. I'll call Benchmade tomorrow and hopefully they can tell me how to mount it to 2" webbing.
Read a bit about H1 and the N680 (data, holds edge like 420C) steel that Benchmade is using. Neither are supposed to be able to rust, ever, and they hold a good edge. It sounds good, assuming it really can't rust.
I have a Spyderco sharpener and had one of their balisongs once. A lot of their designs aren't very practical, eg I'm not a fan of the Caspian Salt's typical Spyderco weird big hole:
It's bigger than necessary and just... weird. The line cutter is really far from the tip, which means the blade has to slide far to get to it. The Spyderco Aqua Salt is a bit better, but more of a river knife (also comes in black):
My best balisongs are Benchmade and I have a couple, so I like the brand. Their 112 H2O (mentioned by tbone1004 above) is pretty dang good:
That's a nice and deep line cutter / rescue hook and pretty close to the tip. The sheath has a small release. It is only on one side and it isn't clear if it could ever be released on accident. This video shows it better, it secures tightly with no rattle:
The problem is I can't tell if the Benchmade sheath can attach to 2" webbing. Given the pics and that the blade is 3.5", the slots in the sheath look smaller than 2". Other sheaths have a small pillar that can be cut to fit 2" webbing, but the pillar on this sheath looks very thick. I'll call Benchmade tomorrow and hopefully they can tell me how to mount it to 2" webbing.
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I've been trying to get them to adjust the sheath to work with 2" webbing but no dice so far.... Works with 1" no problem though
Ahh, that's a deal killer.
---------- Post added September 13th, 2015 at 09:03 PM ----------
FOX TECNOREEF - Fixed blade - FKMD
FOX TECNOREEF 2 - Fixed blade - FKMD
Too bad they are both a bit big at 9.25" and no blunt tip.
---------- Post added September 13th, 2015 at 09:43 PM ----------
I'm bummed about the Benchmade, I really liked it. I wonder how else I could mount it? Need to wait to get the xDeep Ghost in hand to see.
I started looking for shears (in addition to a knife, if I can ever find one I'm happy with). 7" seems massive, 5.5" too. I found 3.5" shears:
Amazon.com: Shears; EMT 3.5" (Mini) by Rescue Essentials: Health & Personal Care
These seem decent. How would I mount them? I don't have pockets.
---------- Post added September 13th, 2015 at 09:03 PM ----------
FOX TECNOREEF - Fixed blade - FKMD
FOX TECNOREEF 2 - Fixed blade - FKMD
Too bad they are both a bit big at 9.25" and no blunt tip.
---------- Post added September 13th, 2015 at 09:43 PM ----------
I'm bummed about the Benchmade, I really liked it.
I wonder how else I could mount it? Need to wait to get the xDeep Ghost in hand to see.I started looking for shears (in addition to a knife, if I can ever find one I'm happy with). 7" seems massive, 5.5" too. I found 3.5" shears:
Amazon.com: Shears; EMT 3.5" (Mini) by Rescue Essentials: Health & Personal Care
These seem decent. How would I mount them? I don't have pockets.
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Here's some good ones - the set with the pouch is $15.95 and they are even titanium!
https://www.divegearexpress.com/dgx-dir-knife-and-titanium-shears-w-waistbelt-sheath
You can get extra shears for $6.95
https://www.divegearexpress.com/titanium-emt-shears
Lots of other cutting options in that section of the DGX website, too.
I buy shears on Amazon 8-10 pairs at a time. They cost $5-6 each. We use them at work, we use them diving... when the box gets empty, I order more.
I would like high quality tools when it comes to saving my life. Rust on a blade is one thing, but most cheap shears use a rivet which tends to rust first and is the most likely point of failure. If we're talking about the difference between $3 for cheap shears and $20 for something better (performance, durability, even convenience), I don't really mind.
The DGX titanium coated shears are interesting. They have only 1 review, so I wonder how rust resistant they are in practice. Does anyone have them? There's a number of titanium coated shears on Amazon, many with poor reviews. Apparently opening/closing the shears wears the blades and they rust. Similar thing happens with the black coated shears. Still it's probably better than no coating, assuming the metal under the shears is stainless. The DGX shears do look different (gold color) from the other titanium coatings.
The DGX sheath is friction fit, is that really DIR? Seems like if it snagged on anything, the shears could be lost. Probably a loop of webbing through the shears handle with some velcro could make it more secure, but I'm not exactly a whiz with a sewing machine.
I like the 3.5" shears I linked above for their size. Those seem to be the only 3.5" trauma shears available, all the others are 5.5" or 7.5", with 7.5" being the standard size (which is huge). The 3.5" still cut a penny, so it seems like they'd work fine. I'd preemptively replace the rivet with one that won't rust (as fast). The only issue is how to mount them. I'd probably have to make my own sheath, which may be possible. I'd have to solicit my mom's assistance!
---------- Post added September 14th, 2015 at 09:48 AM ----------
DGX looks like 7.5", but they don't actually specify.
The Prestige Medical Fluoride Scissor come black coated in 5.5" and has 800+ reviews. A number of people say they resist rust well. One guy complained they rusted and posted this pic, saying both shears had the same sea water exposure:
I don't know why the black rusted so quickly for him when others say it lasts longer, but what is interesting is the rivet on the black shears did not rust while the rivet on the typical cheap stainless shears did.
The Highland by XS Scuba Titanium EMT Shears are $20 for some reason and 7.5", but I mention them because they explicitly say they have a 304 stainless bolt instead of a rivet.
So far I like the 3.5", then the 5.5" Prestige, then the 7.5" DGX.
The DGX titanium coated shears are interesting. They have only 1 review, so I wonder how rust resistant they are in practice. Does anyone have them? There's a number of titanium coated shears on Amazon, many with poor reviews. Apparently opening/closing the shears wears the blades and they rust. Similar thing happens with the black coated shears. Still it's probably better than no coating, assuming the metal under the shears is stainless. The DGX shears do look different (gold color) from the other titanium coatings.
The DGX sheath is friction fit, is that really DIR? Seems like if it snagged on anything, the shears could be lost. Probably a loop of webbing through the shears handle with some velcro could make it more secure, but I'm not exactly a whiz with a sewing machine.
I like the 3.5" shears I linked above for their size. Those seem to be the only 3.5" trauma shears available, all the others are 5.5" or 7.5", with 7.5" being the standard size (which is huge). The 3.5" still cut a penny, so it seems like they'd work fine. I'd preemptively replace the rivet with one that won't rust (as fast). The only issue is how to mount them. I'd probably have to make my own sheath, which may be possible. I'd have to solicit my mom's assistance!
---------- Post added September 14th, 2015 at 09:48 AM ----------
DGX looks like 7.5", but they don't actually specify.
The Prestige Medical Fluoride Scissor come black coated in 5.5" and has 800+ reviews. A number of people say they resist rust well. One guy complained they rusted and posted this pic, saying both shears had the same sea water exposure:
I don't know why the black rusted so quickly for him when others say it lasts longer, but what is interesting is the rivet on the black shears did not rust while the rivet on the typical cheap stainless shears did.
The Highland by XS Scuba Titanium EMT Shears are $20 for some reason and 7.5", but I mention them because they explicitly say they have a 304 stainless bolt instead of a rivet.
So far I like the 3.5", then the 5.5" Prestige, then the 7.5" DGX.
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