Long knife better than short?

[hvulin]

You'll need a long knife if the shark you are killing is fat!!!! Penetration is very important with sharks...

For everything else just get a small and sharp knife... (after all it's not all about length)

 

[Gil57usa]

I think I'd be a little apprehensive slashing around behind my back with a long knife. It wouldn't take much to puncture a BCD.

 

[Nemrod]

Long knife, when you need a knife you need a real knife, not some sort of scissors.

OK, just in the event you "puncture" your BC. So what? I would rather get free and have to repair my BC than die entangled in steel leader. Besides, get rid of the BC and you will not have to worry over "puncturing" it. I realize that is a novel concept.

Frankly, I am for outlawing monofiliment and any sort of leader and hook that does not convert rapidly to iron oxide. The stuff is a severe hazard to marine life, not to mention divers. Monofiliment equals pollution, like throwing cans in the water, it is littering our sea.

N

 

[BarryNL]

Besides, get rid of the BC and you will not have to worry over "puncturing" it. I realize that is a novel concept.

Novel is certainly one word for it.

 

[Nemrod]

Novel is certainly one word for it.

People have always told me I was on the "cutting" edge, har, har, eh.

N
NAVED Master Diver

 

[diver 85]

It's not the size of the tool, it's how you use it!

That being said, a long knife is better than a short one if you are being attacked during the surface interval by unusually large watermelon!

And I had always heard they were only better for beheading different things.......I'll need to remember the watermelon thingy......

 

[captndale]

A knife and a pair of shears or wire cutters are basic safety devices that every diver needs to carry in case of severe entanglement. However, most of the time you can get out of an entanglement without resorting to the use of a cutting tool. Most of the times I use my knife have had nothing to do with entanglements. I have used my knife to cut away old abandoned mooring lines. I have used it to pry open hatches in shipwrecks to gain access to a new area. I have used my knife to clear entangled propeller shafts. I once had to cut away a 3/4" polypropylene line that was wrapped around a 2" prop shaft and half melted solid by the friction. You need a substantial knife for that - not a broken Betty Crocker knife.

Clearing entanglements is the primary safety concern but a good knife is also a basic tool used for many other things.

 

[Rhone Man]

Big believer in shears or scissors if you have an entanglement risk. An extra 4" or so on a knife is unlikely to make a difference in an entanglement situations, but if you have to deal with slack line entanglements (particularly one handed) you are in trouble with a knife, but in much better shape with shears or scissors.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I got out of a fairly serious entanglement just the other day without resorting to any kind of cutting device ... that's what buddies are for ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[on_two_wheels]

I too have gotten out of many entanglements without a knife or shears. Of course, most people call those "relationships."

On a more serious note, being a new diver help me out here....what would force me to only use one hand to free myself? Learning/knowing that will help me avoid it.