Dive knives when out with a DM

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Painter

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Location
Provincetown, MA
# of dives
100 - 199
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?
 
I always have a cutting device with me either a blunt tip knife or shears. The only time I don't is when it is not allowed, this will happen in Marine Perseveres and usually won't allow gloves either.
 
I carry a Trilobite line cutter on my belt. Used it exactly once in 10 years when I got snagged with a fishing hook on the Spiegel Grove. I’m glad that I had it.

You will soon hear the neccesity of carrying a chainsaw on the board.
 
I've got one of those ceramic line cutters from Dive Right and an old (like 1990's) Tusa knife. I have a hard time envisioning strapping that knife onto my leg for any reasons beside "I bought this thing 20-some years ago and I'm damn well gonna use it".

And that's probably enough reason for me.
 
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.
 
A dive buddy of mine has told a story about freeing another diver from a ghost net in Cozumel when both the DM and the diver's buddy had failed to notice and had been swept out of sight downcurrent. I don't know for sure that the story is true and unembellished, but I can't say it's impossible.

I always carry an Eezycut on my harness. Never had to use it to free myself from entanglement, but I have used it a few times to cut fishing line to clean up garbage and remove hazards underwater. It costs almost nothing, takes up almost no space, and requires almost no maintenance, so I fail to see a downside.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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