Do you carry a knife?

[Ardy]

I have noticed that over the last 5 or so years many divers are not carrying a knife.

When I learnt to dive this was a basic, never to be left behind, piece of equipment. I am interested in why newer divers are not using one.

If you are not carrying a knife what are your thoughts?

regards

Ardy

 

[DiverDurf]

I am brand new and PADI trained. The coverage on whether or not to carry a knife is very brief and appears to be taught as a "if you want to" type of thing now. They mostly just stress that they aren't meant to be carried as a weapon and instead as a tool or emergency device (cutting away from fish nets, etc). If I'm diving springs I don't see much need for one, but if I plan to dive in the ocean I will always have one on hand. But, since I'm new, maybe I don't know any better. What are some reasons for always having a knife on hand??

 

[maged_mmh]

well, not required until you begin your rescue training. even then i borrowed one, only recently after stumbling through a subsurface fishing net (we re shore diving & swimming to reach the dive spot); luckily my buddy had a knife & tore it in half.
since then i carry a line cutter AND a knife.

EDIT: some places like red sea (Egypt); has regulations against knives and gloves.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I carry my penny cutters. Scissors that cut anything and yet you won't accidentally stab anything with it.
Knives are supposed to be used to cut away anything that you become entangled in-like kelp or lines. Or you may need to cut line that has become tangled up on the corals. My scissors are much better at that. Of course, I have heard other psycho divers who think knives are some Rambo attack tools, but they are idiots. A cutting tool is a good idea.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The thing about a dive knife is that you never need one until you need one real bad.

If you become entangled in fishing line (often very hard to see if it has not been in the water long), a gill net or even your own dive line, a knife is an essential tool. The first death of a diver I personally knew involved a diver who drowned about a foot under the surface on a drift dive in low viz after getting entangled in his dive line and a submerged tree. To make it worse, he had a knife mounted on his calf where he could not reach it when he needed it.

Some lines, scuh as spider wire and steel leaders are very hard to cut with a knife so a pair of EMT shears is good to have along.

In springs, caves and quarries, I usually have a z-knife for lines and a small dive knife, both mounted where I can reach them with either hand. (In many quarries a dive knife is not allowed due to ignorant and thoughtless divers carving names in stuff, drying open mussels, etc, but they will often allow a Z-knife or EMT shears.) Off shore or in larger heavily fished lakes where tougher to cut leaders may be encountered, I add the EMT shears carrying them in a pocket.

 

[Sas]

I carry a line-cutter and a small blunt-tip knife on every dive. Entanglement is a very low risk for me, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I know a few people who've had fishermen aim for them with their lines, that seems to be the main hazard. A knife/shears/line cutter would come in handy in a case like this.

 

[gypsyjim]

Better to have a knife and never need it than to need it and not have it.

 

[seaducer]

I carry two knives and a plastice "line cutter" on most every dive. I leave the big Sea Hunt leg mounted job at home when I travel to the Caribbean, but the other two come with, even there.

 

[b1draper]

I carry a smaller knife mounted on my inflator hose and a pair of EMT shears mounted near my waist on my cumberbun. When I travel to the Carribean I have two pairs of shears located in different areas on my chest.

I've run into lots of divers with the knives on their ankle and even more with no cutting device at all.

 

[Guba]

I carry two knives nearly all the time (the exception is when in the marine parks of Cozumel...they frown on carrying knives). One is leg mounted...not because it looks cool or is "macho"...it's just where I choose to keep it. That one is chisel tipped and reasonably sized (not a "SeaHunt sword"). The other is a folder located on a harness pouch, and that one gets carried even in Cozumel since it's out of sight...but there if I need it.
Many of the sites I dive near home are lakes and pose significant threat of encountering fishing line, etc... I can't imagine diving in these lakes without a cutting instrument.