What do you look for in a dive knife?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Unless you need a "big f***ing knife" for very specific things, there's no need for anything other than a line cutter like a Trilobite. Especially when Johnny Scuba Advert is wearing it on his calf.....but hey, you might fight off a shark sometime.
 
The only dive knife I've ever used or needed. I love it.

url.jpg
 
It would either by a Spyderco with H1 steel, or one of the titanium (not just titanium-coated; tried a cheapy like that & it rusted readily) knives.

A knife I use will not be diligently rinsed with fresh water & dried after diving. My current Spyderco folding knife is in a very small pocket on the outside of the BCD pocket on my Sherwood Avid BCD. I've had about 3 dive knives (2 stainless steel, 1 'titanium-coated' at an unbelievably low sale price) rust. So cost-wise, the Spyderco H1 steel is doing well over time. (Not all Spyderco knives use H1 steel; those that do come in a variety of sizes & forms).

I also have a Trilobyte on the top cross-strap of my BCD. It's so small & low profile, the blade rusts but pretty slowly, and replacement blades are pretty cheap. I still wish it was H1 steel.

My cutting tools are there in case one of us gets entangled; I don't normally use them much.

Richard.
 
I carry 3 cutting tools. A trilobite on my harness, trauma shears on a lanyard in my emergency release pocket, and a BAK strapped to my leg. I have never used a cutting tool underwater.
 
I find a Busse NMFBM is ideal, just in case I need to cut my way through a bulkhead or something. And at roughly the same overall length as my lower leg, it really helps secure the long hose if I'm diving without a can light.
BusseNMFBM_zps3fb5cb5f.jpg
 
Unless you need a "big f***ing knife" for very specific things, there's no need for anything other than a line cutter like a Trilobite.

I love Trilobites and carry two of them while diving, but why don't you try cutting through the wire leader on a deep sea fishing hook with one (especially if you're hooked while doing so) before declaring all anyone needs is a line cutter. Shears are pretty indispensable for worst-case scenarios.
 
I love Trilobites and carry two of them while diving, but why don't you try cutting through the wire leader on a deep sea fishing hook with one (especially if you're hooked while doing so) before declaring all anyone needs is a line cutter. Shears are pretty indispensable for worst-case scenarios.

A big ass knife would work just as poorly as a trilobite in that situation. If I were diving somewhere that it was a possibility, I would carry tools to reflect that situation. That is a specific thing that requires a specific solution, and should be tailored to suit. In that case I wouldn't be carrying shears either, I would be carrying a small set of wire cutters, they work much better, and can be had cheap at any local hardware store.

Just like you use your giant knife for working on a bulkhead, if I were in a situation where entanglement by wire is a possibility, I would be using a better tool. But again, that is a very specific situation not likely encountered by most of the divers that dive knives are marketed towards. Most divers aren't John Chatterton and Richie Kohler.
 
A big ass knife would work just as poorly as a trilobite in that situation. If I were diving somewhere that it was a possibility, I would carry tools to reflect that situation. That is a specific thing that requires a specific solution, and should be tailored to suit. In that case I wouldn't be carrying shears either, I would be carrying a small set of wire cutters, they work much better, and can be had cheap at any local hardware store.

Just like you use your giant knife for working on a bulkhead, if I were in a situation where entanglement by wire is a possibility, I would be using a better tool. But again, that is a very specific situation not likely encountered by most of the divers that dive knives are marketed towards. Most divers aren't John Chatterton and Richie Kohler.


I think that he was joking------.

I have a Tekna dagger (three of them, two stainless and one titanium) and carry one always on my left waist strap. I have a line cutter on my left shoulder strap. If I am in an area where fishing line is a real problem (which is about everywhere) then I have some mini trauma shears I fasten to my left shoulder strap.

I would really like a shear with titanium or high grade stainless but with a solid pin and a full tang or simply all metal, no plastic handles. I have had shears fail, handles snapping off and the rivet failing as well. They are just not trustworthy.

N
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

Back
Top Bottom