I've had 3 Taiwanese Stainless steel dive knives -- I also own US, UK, German, Chinese and Swiss knives for other purposes. My mother also still uses a very cheap but excellent Japanese bread knife that she bought 30+ years ago from a market stall
(before Japanese goods became known for quality).
I think fancy knives are rather overrated -- but a moderate priced one can be a pleasure to own. For example, my mid-priced US lock knife & combat knife are fairly rough in finish but are good solid workhorses. Cheap brittle knives were common maybe 20 years ago -- I had a couple but I have not seen any recently. You can now buy cheap knives that are very good (the sheaths are often rubbish though!).
I have a couple of cheap ($1.50) chinese saw-blade pen knives (3" & 2") that have incredibly sharp blades but the most brittle, rubbish plastic handles -- I carry them in my ruck sack as cheap, light, disposable emergency knives that will easily slice through thick climbing tape/rope if an emergency decent is needed.
I lost my first dive knife first day out. It was an excellent weight, design and quality and was cheap at 7 pounds ($12). Not sure how it was lost (my first time diving in decades), I am normally very careful with gear. It could be the knife only locked properly in the sheath one way round (I have another knife like that).
Having lost a knife I bought two others. & marked them up with reflective tape. The second dive knife is a big shiney, blunt tip model with a hole in the middle -- quite common & cheap on ebay. I sharpened the rather dull blade & the flat tip up with a mill bast*rd file -- nice and sharp. I works well, I have cut myself free of fishing line, dispatched a spear fish and beheaded and gutted a large fish with it (the long-ish blade & saw on back made this a quick and easy job) -- ignore divers who say get a small knife or heavy scissors, for spearfishing off a snorkel, get a decent size knife. I always rinse all my gear, & occasionaly I touch up the blade & oil it -- however, this shiney knife does not rust. I attached a heavy elastic lanyard as a back up to the sheath -- but it caused the plastic sheath to break, however it was easily fixed with electricians tape & superglue. It is my main dive knife.
My third dive knife is my guest knife, it has a dull-coloured stainless steel blade that rusts after exposure to salt water, so it needs to be cleaned and oiled. However, its blade came very sharp and has stayed that way. I used it for a while when the sheath above failed but the knife is a bit too short to dispatch and/or behead/gut a large fish. It too has a flat tip, which I have sharped (to a flat chisel blade). This model, also popular on ebay, had several things that I did not like:
1. Handle was loose (easy fix: superglued it)
2. It fits sheath either way but locks only on one side (which has a button on the knife handle) -- so careful when re-sheathing.
3. The legs straps were too short for my muscley legs (fix: used the long strap on the bottom and salvaged a nice heavy duty strap from my first dive knife for the top).
4. Straps are stretchy (good) but have no strap loops, so I feed the loose end back under -- a bit trashy though, IMHO and the buckles move & distort in the stretchy strap.
Conclusion:
It is easy to loose dive knives. Buy cheap but good ones by all means.
- Mark them for easy retrieval (reflective tape, paint, float?) and
- back up the often poor sheaths/locks, or replace the sheaths
- add a lanyard & use it to secure the knife (make sure it is easy to release though).
- Sharpen the knives (a dull knife is a poor tool) -- sharpening stones and kitchen sharpeners are ok, but a mill b*stard file will get an edge on anything quickly (it may not look as pretty).
- many swear by a good, cheap kitchen or steak knife and sheath made of old hose-pipe or climbing tape (e.g. tube tape).
What Next?
I am considering buying a low-medium price spearo knife -- one of the Omer Stiletto designs (Hunter, etc.). They are reasonably priced. The sheath on the cheaper one (12 GBP/$20) appears to be rubber & looks robust. Oddly, the otherwise fine looking larger, more expensive knife (17 GBP /$30) has a glossy, bulky, plastic sheath that looks a lot like the cheap Taiwanese knives have. The Stilleto with rear saw blade design makes sense for spearfishing -- although the cheaper one seems too short to me for dispatching big fish. Apparently it is very popular with spearos, can be arm mounted; the stringer is perhaps the obvious alternative choice of dispatch tool (a big Rob Allen one, for example) or RA's dedicated dispatch tool (like a spear end with a handle and metal sheath -- similar to the old weapon they used to dispatch badly injured, armoured knights with). I like the look of the Rob Allen's webbing limpet sheath & may get one -- but the Rob Allen knife, although no doubt wonderful, is just way too pricey for me and for any knife with no proper handle (just bare stainless steel -- admittedly that might be perfect for a gloved spearo not wanting to get snagged -- but it must reduce manufacturing costs significantly); I have seen similar (not identical) stainless steel Taiwanese models which should be a reasonable alternative though. I believe Riffe do some interesting knives too -- probably overpriced for dentists & doctors though
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Ideal spearo knife? I reckon an old WWII British commando stilello shape & size, with a saw edge on one side (& perhaps a line notch -- although maybe that is a gimmick), a slightly flattened handle (Omer's knives are closest to this but a bit small) and a Rob Allen Limpet type sheath. Stiletto seems more humane (quicker, cleaner, simpler) than the currently trendy blunt tip blade (even when sharpened to a chisel edge).
:getsome: :mgun:
, Sporasubs):
Some countries invest more in quality because they have to sell based on quality because their costs are high (think EU). Other countries compete on price and therefore need to keep costs down -- which could mean less on materials (chrome,ore,scrap,fuel, limestone,...?), tools & instruments, less on quality (checking the mix, monitoring temperature, calibrating machines, cleaning the crucibles, employing people who give a darn & know what they are doing, and whatever else they may or may not do). So while I agree, somebody might be able to go to the PROC and make a knife of wonderful quality -- in general, the knives made there are likely to be cheap and of variable quality. Japan used to be like that too but they have concerned on quality & their costs have risen.
