Dive knife sharpness question

[Lizard Leg]

I'm a knife freak - my hunting knives are honed down to almost scalpel sharpness and polished to the point that I can go half a season without the need to resharpen - most people don't keep knives as sharp as what I consider dull

Question, is it foolish to want to take the POS edge that came on my knife off and put a real edge on it?

 

[windapp]

I would be interested to hear the answers.

 

[danpass]

I've been considering sharpening the edge of my brand new Wenoka.

Why? The sooner I can slice thru, the better. In addition a proper edge is safer since it requires less overall effort.

 

[Hank49]

Diving entanglements could likely be fishing line, which dulls a knife damn near as fast as putting it edge down on a grind stone. I keep my knife razor sharp for every dive day. But it comes home dull most days from cleaning fish or cutting some line on the boat.

 

[danpass]

Diving entanglements could likely be fishing line, which dulls a knife damn near as fast as putting it edge down on a grind stone. I keep my knife razor sharp for every dive day. But it comes home dull most days from cleaning fish or cutting some line on the boat.

I've actually put a small pair of wire cutters on the BC waist belt for this stuff. I've never cut stuff but during cert we came across coral with some thick fishing line, like coat hangar thick, and the instructor had to use the shears portion of his dive knife (an XS Scuba fog cutter I think) to cut it.

 

[Peter_C]

Why? The sooner I can slice thru, the better. In addition a proper edge is safer since it requires less overall effort.

And THAT is why a cut off steak knife is superior to most any straight blade dive knife. It will cut faster with less effort.

Give it a whirl, go into the kitchen and grab a steak knife, then grab your scuba knife, find a piece of rope, and report back which one cuts faster. My dive knife lost, and was quickly replaced by a couple dollar steak knife I don't care if I lose.

FWIW shears are my goto tool for most cutting needs. I wouldn't want an all in one tool like the Fog Cutter, as what happens if you drop one without a backup?

 

[Pedro Burrito]

Way, way back in 1978, I was a newly certified diver who had a really great knife. I was obsessed with putting a sharp edge to the knife and spent hours honing the knife. It was so sharp that I could dry shave with it. That all ended with a dive off of Ft. Lauderdale. The boat captain, a former UDT diver, was angry at my dive buddy and me because we didn't stay with the group who was going through their PADI OW dives. The seas were rough, about 3-5 feet, and the visibility was bad. We were diving with J-valves, without SPG's and with horse collar BCs. We popped up and he had a difficult time finding us. After getting a spittle-laced tongue lashing, he decided that we had to dive with a fairly large marker buoy on the second dive. He asked me to give him my knife to cut some line. He cut the line and starting cursing more than I have ever heard in one sitting before. The whole time he is whacking the edge of the knife against any hard surface he could find. The gist of his tirade - never take a sharp knife under water. I still have the knife but it is so nicked up that I cannot put an edge to it. I tried grinding it but I let it get too hot and it's lost its temper.

I dive with trauma shears and a z-knife now.

 

[danpass]

Was he trying to 'serrate' the knife? lol

 

[HowardE]

I'm a knife freak - my hunting knives are honed down to almost scalpel sharpness and polished to the point that I can go half a season without the need to resharpen - most people don't keep knives as sharp as what I consider dull

Question, is it foolish to want to take the POS edge that came on my knife off and put a real edge on it?

No. Its smart.

My dive buddy, John Chatterton says, "if a knife isn't sharp, then its a spoon. Who wants to dive with a spoon?"

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Hatul]

I'm a knife freak - my hunting knives are honed down to almost scalpel sharpness and polished to the point that I can go half a season without the need to resharpen - most people don't keep knives as sharp as what I consider dull

Question, is it foolish to want to take the POS edge that came on my knife off and put a real edge on it?

Yes I sharpen my knife every few dives with a sharpening tool. It will make cutting anything to get free much easier and faster, and the stock knives come dull, though they do provide a serrated edge.

I like small knives with a blunt end and a solid locking mechanism.