Knife

[diversteve]

I can get to this with either hand if necessary - a trick I learned from Kelp diving.



I sometimes dive with shears clipped down tight in their pouch to left side shoulder strap also. The way my hoses route past it, I've never had a problem with entanglement. I buy cheap ones and the pivot rusts out after a year or so.

 

[Hawkwood]

I have Wenkona knife on the waist belt of my BCD, to the left of the buckle. I can get it with either hand. I also have a Trilobite Eezycut attached to the corrugated hose of my inflator, just below shoulder height, where I can get at it with either hand.

 

[AdivingBel]

I carry a 3" blunt knife w/cerrated edge & linecutter on the hose mount it came with and EMT shears to the left of my waist buckle (in a sheath). I generally leave the knife at home for airline based "tidy bowl" dive travel. I don't use it enough to warrant possible TSA hassle or accidently breaking reef/resort/banana republic knife carry rules.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I carry a small knife (3" blade, blunt tip) in a holder that is attached to the flap of a pocket on bcd. If you mount knife in a sheath strapped to your leg it should go on the inside of your left calf if you are right handed, and the inside of your right calf if you are left handed. The inside of the calf is so that you won't knock it against stuff and potentially lose it, and the left or right side is dependent on your dominant hand, for ease of getting hold of it if needed.
DivemasterDennis

 

[SKMoss]

I have three knives:

First is a rescue cutter. The scabbard (if you could call the thing that holds it, that) is attached to one of my BC shoulder straps. I haven't determined yet, which one its going to stay on. I want it visible in the event i have to have my gear cut away, or am doing it myself in a rescue of another diver. It will cut through straps like hot blade through butter.
Second is a small (3" or so blade) to be used if I get all tangled up. It attaches to the left pocket of my BC. this is my emergency knife. It's sharp as heck, and will cut most anything.
Third, is a larger, but still not major sized knife/dive tool. When I wear it, it is strapped to the inside of my left calf. This dive tool used to get used most dives while digging out shells, clams, cutting fish for chum while spearfishing. Since I've been back to diving it tends to get left in the box most of the time. Typically it only sees the water at new dive sites, when I don't know if having it would be prudent.

 

[nolatom]

I carry a mini-knife on my left chest, same D-ring as my safety sausage. so it's easy to find, just feel for the sausage, there's the knife.

And EMT shears in left BC pocket. Knife for cutting stuff that's "solid" and nonmoving, so you can apply pressure as you cut. Scissors for fish lines and such, which are "floppy" and you need two opposing sharp surfaces to cut.

 

[Subcooled]

...and some of us carry a wire cutter in a pocket at certain sites...

Do try various placements and choose one that works for you. You need to be able to get the cutting tool out and to put it back easily. There is a lot of good advice in the posts above.

Popular places include: on the arms, on the belt (in front), on shoulder straps/harness, in a pocket, and so on... just make sure you carry one and that it is reachable when you hit that fishing net...

Difficulty in choosing the best location? Don't worry. Carry two cutters.

 

[tbone1004]

subcooled, good point, quite a few wrecks over here really do require carrying dykes with you just in case.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

On the belt of my harness, left of the buckle. (And it's a Trilobyte). Back up folding Spyderco in my right leg pocket, or rear pouch if diving sidemount.

same here, except mine are shears on my belt.

 

[Damselfish]

Hose mount is certainly not any kind of new thing - my knife is like 15-20 years old, and one of the mounting options it came with was a hose mount. I tried it and found it very awkward, making that hose stiffer, tending to get caught on things, and just in the way. Might work better for a taller person with a little more real estate in that area.

I keep a pair of EMS shears on a waist pouch - seems like a more useful item for me than a knife, plus I just can't find a good place to put a knife. If I really wanted to carry my knife on a dive I'd strap it to my calf, but for various reasons I'm just not fond of wearing a knife on my leg anyplace. Outside is the theoretical entanglement hazard, though I rarely dive places I really need to worry about this. Inside calf is easy for me to reach but feels annoying. And it's just one more separate item to keep track of and lose.

It's not about old or new methods, just understand why you might do one or another and then do what works for you. If it doesn't work then do something else, it's not such a huge deal to change.