Dive knives when out with a DM

[Catito]

I only have a "knife" (really a cutting tool) now because my recently purchased Aqua Lung Lotus BCD has a built-in sheath, so I bought the Aqua Lung tool. It's a blunt point. Shortly after that purchase, my dive buddy got hooked by an a***hole fisherman at Blue Heron Bridge, so I had to cut her loose from the fishing line. It's also come in handy to cut away marine debris or abandoned fishing line wrapped around the reef. I also have a small net bag in my BCD pocket for the marine trash.

I was hooked by a similar person at the bridge. Luckily my Buddy had a knife and cut the line holding the hook. Yup. They do it on purpose.

 

[doctormike]

I wouldn't really know unless I tried, but when this happens, the line gets wedged tightly into the space between the back of the prop and the shaft housing. I'm not sure shears would be as useful in this situation.

Are you talking about freeing yourself, as a diver, from an entanglement, or about unfouling a prop shaft?

 

[M-Cameron]

Exactly, in these days of border incursions and sanctions you never know where opposition will be encountered.

But why limit to just open water when we still don't really know where all of the aquifer caves go?
Do you want to be caught off guard over 100ft deep and a quarter mile into Eagles Nest?

well you see, in open water i can just go to the surface should i start to get bested by the enemy diver....


....in confined water, i skip the knife all together and just go with a spear gun.

 

[SlugLife]

I have done most of my dives with dive ops in Florida and the Caribbean, and all of those with at least one DM or guide.
I have never carried a knife, and I have never had the need for one in over a hundred dives.
Recently I was on a boat out of Jupiter, FL and I counted at least four divers with knives, one of which was a big honker strapped to the diver's leg that made him look like he was going into combat.
I have no objection to anybody carrying anything that makes them feel more comfortable on a dive (though a teddy bear would get a little soggy). How many of you carry a knife on guided dive trips and why?

Entanglements don't care if someone is guiding you or not.

I have two cutting devices on my shoulders at all times, and attached in a way they'd be annoying to remove. Since I have a fairly streamlined setup, I carry the same items with me on just about every dive normal recreational dive. This includes a DSMB, a small tool, redundant-air, 2+ cutting devices, finger-spool, zip-ties, a short loop of cord, a couple double-enders, and backup flashlight. Stuff like the DSMB, spook, ties, light, etc just stays in my pouch for the most part.

Personally, I'm not a fan of knives (much less large ones) while diving for pragmatic reasons. Compared to line-cutters, knives are more difficult to control and sheathe, and there's a risk of stabbing yourself or something else unintentional. Line cutters, you place the line within the opening and pull. The one potential downside of line-cutters is the ability to cut items which can't fit within the opening, although some line-cutters allow you to open them up wider, which is good things like ropes.

 

[SlugLife]

It's also come in handy to cut away marine debris or abandoned fishing line wrapped around the reef. I also have a small net bag in my BCD pocket for the marine trash.

I 95% of the time I have a "lobster-net-bag" which I often use for loot I find. However, if I forget that, I have a smaller one rolled up in my pouch as a spare.

P.S. Steel fishing leader requires something more--like EMS sheers.

Can EMS shears cut steel-fishing-leader?

I guess I should give it a try. Specifically that my shears can do the job.

Always have trauma shears on me when diving at the mim. Even if they say you can not…

Same.

we would ask why they wanted such a big knife. The answer was always "In case I see a shark!"

I mean, how else would the shark know you're so cool!

?? I have no idea what this means.

Don't worry, it doesn't either

ASD is a troll.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

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.

 

[sourdough]

It's clear as a fresh spring, 2:09 the gear configuration states "knyfe" not "cutting device" ... "k-n-y-f-e".

Gear up combat divers, this isn't your pappy's rec dive.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Are you talking about freeing yourself, as a diver, from an entanglement, or about unfouling a prop shaft?

Both! Very early in my diving career, in about 1963, our Salem (Oregon) Junior Aqua Club traveled with the Salem Aqua Club to Vancouver, BC. We dove multiple dives there. Then, when we were topside, a boat owner came to us, saying he had a net fouled on one of his props. He asked if we could cut it loose? We said, of course we can give it a try (being high schoolers at the time). So myself and Pierre (my dive buddy) descended in the harbor and looked at the prop. It had not only a net, but also a length of about 3 inch in diameter line on it. We had full steel 72s, so we set to work.

The net was easy, as I had a sharp knife. But the 3 inch diameter line that the net was attached to was another story. I tried using the sharp blade, and it didn’t work well. The line was braided, and tough. So I turned the knife over, and started using the serrated edge which was near the tip and about 3 inches long to cut through the line. To my delight, this worked well, but it still took us a long time (maybe 20 minutes) to make the multiple cuts to free the prop from that entangled mess of net and line. I made the last cut, and as it slipped toward the bottom, I grabbed it. But the line and net were really heavy; I descended with that mess all the way to the bottom. I had to stand up on the bottom, put that big hunk of “stuff” on my shoulder, and then fin really hard to make it to the surface and the dock, where others were waiting to get that net. Luckily I was wearing my original Duck Feet fins, which were really powerful fins, and was able to swim it to the surface (no BCD at that time existed). I have some photos somewhere that show the line, and if I can find them, I’ll post them here.

I found the video I shot on lampreys spawning, and at 23 minutes and 30 seconds it shows me being tangled in fishing line, and cutting myself free with my knife.


Note that I pulled my dive knife out of my sheath, cut the line, and put it back in while managing other lines, all one-handed.

SeaRat

 

[sourdough]

you're going to be frog kicking along and BAM combat encounter, it's this guy and he's not wielding a trilobite.

 

[Diver With Altitude]

Are you talking about freeing yourself, as a diver, from an entanglement, or about unfouling a prop shaft?

Unfouling