Dive knives when out with a DM

[doctormike]

Oh, Please, John’s contribution was interesting and informative about need for cutting in entanglement, who cares what type? If someone tosses a lacy thong overboard and it snags on coral and your fin, aren’t you going to want to be ready with EXACTLY the correct cutting tool for the situation, regardless of whether you had prepared for that specific eventuality? Please let’s keep an open mind.

I dont think you read anything I wrote. Freeing a fouled prop is not "entanglement" in the sense of a dive accident.

But yes, I agree that a knife can be a useful tool for some tasks. As can many other things that divers bring with them - sledge hammers, pry bars, dredges, spears, etc..

Bring what you like.

 

[rongoodman]

j I still do, yet diving with John Chatterton changed my views. John carries a big, big knife. A really huge one. When I saw how versatile it was in his hand, I decided to get one for myself. He wrote an article about it in his blog:

"The Politically Incorrect Blade"

A good read to learn more about knives.

He has "different" views on a number of things. There have been a number of threads over the years here discussing them.

 

[rx7diver]

... So IMHO, shears work MUCH better for freeing yourself from entanglement than a knife, because (1) they will cut through a VERY wide range of stuff, including steel leader, (2) they don't require a lot of directed force to cut, resulting in the sudden quick and forceful movement of a very sharp object through the water near the diver, (3) they are cheap, light and easily deployed. ...

Shears don't work well with three-finger mitts or very thick, cold water gloves.

Shears for left-handers aren't common.

rx7diver

 

[Painter]

I'm curious. Wasn't this covered in your OW course? I seem to recall this being discussed in my OW courses, and there was a strong recommendation to always carry some sort of diver tool.

I don't recall anything more than a mention of knives as a piece of equipment that a diver might want to carry. I did the online course and then did everything else in the water off of St. John V.I.

 

[Painter]

I'll echo several comments, just because.

1. The fact there's a DM present is irrelevant. Don't depend on them, be ready to take care of your own self. What happens if the DM is incapacitated, drifts away, or whatever?

2. The fact that you've done 100 dives and not needed a knife is irrelevant. I've driven thousands of times and never needed a seatbelt. Or more dive-oriented, I've used a dive knife on about 1% of all the dives I've done. Well, at least as a knife underwater and not counting opening bottles and such on the surface....

In terms of how I've used a knife, keeping in mind that most of my diving is in the Pacific Northwest:

A. A common use has been jamming into sediment to hold position in high current. Or to pull along in same. This does required a BFDK.

B. Another common use: I've used a knife to clean up derelict fishing gear I've come across. Where I dive that's not necessarily monofilament. It maybe cutting apart a lost crab trap or trap line. Or a weird little shrimp pot thing (totally illegal) that I came across once, freeing the critters. A lot of this won't be helped by a line cutter, though when it is monofilament that'd work.

C. I think I've only cut something I've been tangled in once or twice at most.


I generally carry a foldable titanium blade knife. Just because I'm cheap and didn't want to get rid of it, I have a BFDK strapped to my travel BCD.

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I have found many DM's to be somewhat irrelevant, and I have been working on being as self-sufficient as I can. And you are correct about number of dives being irrelevant, too. Knives aren't allowed in Cozumel and Roatan (I'll be returning to Roatan in a month), but I do plan on getting trauma scissors or the like.

 

[Painter]

I dove out of Cape Cod a lot and it is beautiful there. The south shore is very different from the north shore there, almost like diving two different countries. South shore is warmer and much better visibility. Both have wrecks with lots of marine life. I did wreck mapping in addition to hunting and spearfishing there for years when I lived in Worcester.

I'd love to live on Cape Cod, I wouldn't leave the water during the dive season, May'ish to October'ish.

I highly recommend that you try it, at least the south shore.

I'm in P-town, but will take a look south of here. I know where there is a wreck off of Long Point, but a friend of mine says it isn't really worth the trouble. I would like to start catching my own lobster, though, considering how expensive they have gotten.

 

[doctormike]

Shears don't work well with very three-finger mitts or thick, cold water gloves.

Will take your word for it if you had issues. They worked fine for me in Newfoundland last month in 34 degree water in very heavy gloves.

Shears for left-handers aren't common.

rx7diver

Here's one. $6.99

 

[BoltSnap]

I'm in P-town, but will take a look south of here. I know where there is a wreck off of Long Point, but a friend of mine says it isn't really worth the trouble. I would like to start catching my own lobster, though, considering how expensive they have gotten.

I remember diving out of Chatham a lot. You need a boat however.

 

[formernuke]

I dove out of Cape Cod a lot and it is beautiful there. The south shore is very different from the north shore there, almost like diving two different countries. South shore is warmer and much better visibility. Both have wrecks with lots of marine life. I did wreck mapping in addition to hunting and spearfishing there for years when I lived in Worcester.

I'd love to live on Cape Cod, I wouldn't leave the water during the dive season, May'ish to October'ish.

I highly recommend that you try it, at least the south shore.

Can you be more exact? I haven't found much on the cape for dive sites. I'm usually in cape ann or RI.

 

[rx7diver]

Will take your word for it if you had issues. They worked fine for me in Newfoundland last month in 34 degree water in very heavy gloves.

Yes, shears didn't work well for me with the Mares cold water gloves I (used to) wear with my drysuit. I have medium-large hands.

Here's one. $6.99

Thanks. I have some left-handed EMT shears already. I ordered them (from somewhere) when I was unable to find them at any of the stores (including medical/health supply stores) around here (central MO) after looking for a while.

rx7diver