New Vintage Scuba YouTube Channel

[AhoyFed]

Today’s video is up. I think this will make for an interesting conversation/debate. To use dive knives or to not use them?

My vote: NOT USE THEM

Heavy, impractical, and expensive pieces of stainless steel!

All the good dive shops I’ve been to keep those knives locked up in display cabinets. They are cool to collect, especially the vintage knives like the US Divers Vulcan, but ultimately are useless. Line cutters do it better, and shears have their purpose too.

Additionally, diver’s like Chatterton and Kohler never used expensive knives when plunging into the abyss aboard the Doria and U-869.

Please, let me know what you think about line cutters and dive knives.

AhoyFed

 

[Luis H]

How can you have an underwater knife fight with a line cutter... or shears

common, get real.

 

[johndiver999]

Vintage divers are probably not going to give up their knives - especially for a little line cutter- even if they thought it was a better solution for most situations. As for your comment about Chatterton. I think he actually dives with the exact knife you were holding up as obsolete or expensive.

 

[AhoyFed]

How can you have an underwater knife fight with a line cutter... or shears

common, get real.

I figured all the Voit Porta-Subs came with a pair of shears

 

[CT-Rich]

“Line cutter” is the generic term. “Trilobite” is a specific brand. There are several variations. The one you show in your video has a steel blade that rust and need to be replaced periodically. It is also effective compared to relatively small lines, and be ineffective against rope and double hose regulators. Ceramic line cutters won’t rust. A BFK makes a great hammer, a good crow bar/probe and mediocre knife.

keep up with the videos, but you may want to go a little more in depth on researching your topics.

 

[Luis H]

I agree with @CT-Rich, about the knife and your videos. Your videos are entertaining, but I would also recommend just a bit more fact checking.

For example, you suggested the piston first stage was probably the oldest. Diaphragm pressure reducing first stages predates piston by a decade or two. All the early two stage regulators (Cousteau's 1st regulators and the Spirotechnique CG45, etc) were diaphragm first stages.

I already notice there have been some comments about the BC's, but I haven't read a lot of it.

I hope this doesn't sound negative, because I totally like your interest and I totally support your effort.

Keep up the good work.

 

[AhoyFed]

I agree with @CT-Rich, about the knife and your videos. Your videos are entertaining, but I would also recommend just a bit more fact checking.

For example, you suggested the piston first stage was probably the oldest. Diaphragm pressure reducing first stages predates piston by a decade or two. All the early two stage regulators (Cousteau's 1st regulators and the Spirotechnique CG45, etc) were diaphragm first stages.

I already notice there have been some comments about the BC's, but I haven't read a lot of it.

I hope this doesn't sound negative, because I totally like your interest and I totally support your effort.

Keep up the good work.

Thank you very much. Let me just explain a few things, so the forum doesn’t think I’m uninformed or uneducated! This is in response to your comment as well as CT-Rich.

I think I meant by the “oldest regulator” I meant oldest regulator still in use, I think the only changes made to the ScubaPro MK2 have been a reduction in overall size.

Cousteau’s regulator was tested in the Marne River in 1943 and was a diaphragm regulator. But that design changed over the years and ended with the Royal Aqua Master. The internal parts were similar but not always interchangeable. The ScubaPro MK2 has remained nearly unchanged and the parts kits apply to all years, similar to the Conshelf regulator.

To defend the BCD video, in ScubaPro’s 2021 catalog it listed the Stab Jacket as being introduced in 1971. If the prototype existed in 1971, I still count that as being introduced in 1971.

Where I come from, we call the line cutters Trilobites since almost all the divers I know carry one (or a version). The levels of experience range from open water to cave and CCR.

Knives rust too, yes there are ceramic blades available for cuters, but I have never heard of ceramic dive knives

I’ve made these videos as a way to introduce vintage scuba diving to a new audience. As much as I hate to say it, it’s a dying art in a growing sport. Just trying to do my part to keep it alive as long as possible

I had hopped to include more vintage scuba diving videos, however there is a current lockdown where I live which prohibits nonessential activities (diving).

I’m always open to dialogue and hope to improve my videos overtime. One of the suggestions was to improve the curtain in the background! Let me know if there’s anything else you guys can think of or any topics you want to hear more about!

AhoyFed

 

[CT-Rich]

Thank you very much. Let me just explain a few things, so the forum doesn’t think I’m uninformed or uneducated! This is in response to your comment as well as CT-Rich.

I think I meant by the “oldest regulator” I meant oldest regulator still in use, I think the only changes made to the ScubaPro MK2 have been a reduction in overall size.

Cousteau’s regulator was tested in the Marne River in 1943 and was a diaphragm regulator. But that design changed over the years and ended with the Royal Aqua Master. The internal parts were similar but not always interchangeable. The ScubaPro MK2 has remained nearly unchanged and the parts kits apply to all years, similar to the Conshelf regulator.

To defend the BCD video, in ScubaPro’s 2021 catalog it listed the Stab Jacket as being introduced in 1971. If the prototype existed in 1971, I still count that as being introduced in 1971.

Where I come from, we call the line cutters Trilobites since almost all the divers I know carry one (or a version). The levels of experience range from open water to cave and CCR.

Knives rust too, yes there are ceramic blades available for cuters, but I have never heard of ceramic dive knives

I’ve made these videos as a way to introduce vintage scuba diving to a new audience. As much as I hate to say it, it’s a dying art in a growing sport. Just trying to do my part to keep it alive as long as possible

I had hopped to include more vintage scuba diving videos, however there is a current lockdown where I live which prohibits nonessential activities (diving).

I’m always open to dialogue and hope to improve my videos overtime. One of the suggestions was to improve the curtain in the background! Let me know if there’s anything else you guys can think of or any topics you want to hear more about!

AhoyFed

I don’t really have much to to say about the particulars of your videos. But my suggestion is that you be aware that things are more nuanced. That the first stab jacket existed in 1971 means little if the were not widely used until the 1980s. That you know a lot of people that use Trilobites, doesn’t mean they are ubiquitous. Dive gear becomes popular in a particular area for a reason and it does not mean people in another area shares the same view. Many divers swear by EMT shears because they will snip through a steel fishing leads like butter, a feat a trilobite may not find as easy. Some divers still drag along knives of differing styles for their own reasons.

If you want to talk about knives versus line cutters, be aware there are more perspectives than your own and make a more nuanced discussion. There are several very knowledgeable people on this site and in this forum. You might want to consult them about your selected topics or ask for feed back on scripts. @Sam Miller III probably knows more about vintage dive gear and the history of diving in the US than anyone. You might interview him for a video or ask him about the evolution of diving.

I don’t mean any of this in a negative way, but I think you will be pleased with the final product.

 

[lowwall]

I’m always open to dialogue and hope to improve my videos overtime. One of the suggestions was to improve the curtain in the background! Let me know if there’s anything else you guys can think of or any topics you want to hear more about!

That was me. I watched your first couple of videos on my phone and I thought you were actually using a trash can liner as a backdrop. The cardboard-colored walls that are visible in the background aren't doing your production values any favors either. One King sized flat sheet will solve those problems. If you can find one in the right color, you can even use a digital background like @jagfish channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvir3qHdGmgQhH_DEk7jbWg

Continuing with the criticism of form over content... While you are raiding Mom's linen closet for a new backdrop, grab an old white sheet to use as a diffuser for your video light.

With all due respect, between the glare and the black plastic on the walls and desk, it looks like a mafia interrogation is about to take place.

 

[Akimbo]

If you want to talk about knives versus line cutters, be aware there are more perspectives than your own and make a more nuanced discussion.

I concur.

@AhoyFed

You do mention that knives are a tool but no mention of what that tool is used for and the limits of each. OK, fighting off sharks is facetious but entanglement isn't. It might be useful to discuss entanglement risks such as monofilament fishing line (with hooks) and small line (string to cave line). Entanglement risk of larger line than a line cutter can handle is much lower because you can usually just unhook yourself. Kelp is a common entanglement concern of new divers but they soon learn that they can unhook themselves or just break it in the rare cases it is necessary.

Fishing net is another serious entanglement risk, especially around wrecks. Line cutters are OK on nets but opposing blades such as shears and diagonal pliers are far superior and faster. Both line cutters and shears are not effective for clearing props, smashing sea urchins, or prying open rock scallops.

Line cutters are useless for working divers because they do need to cut larger line for rigging clearing. Of course any cutting tool is useless unless it is sharp and you know how to keep it that way — which is probably the most compelling argument for most recreational divers to use a ceramic line cutter. How many people own sharpening stones let along know how to use them?

That is the major weakness of the vintage BFK you use for contrast in your video. The stainless alloy has too little carbon and too much nickel to hold an edge, unlike kitchen knives. The contrast is stark but a false one in today's market since nobody makes a BFK anymore. There are reasoned arguments for shorter fixed or folding blades.

Like dull cutting devices, tools that you can't hold onto are equally useless. There are strategies for that too. I replace the Velcro strap with a bungee loop on my line cutters. The Bungee loops under the sheath to hold it and can go over my wrist when in use. I also use a bungee wrist loop on my short blade and folding knifes.

Wrist lanyards are especially useful in midwater working and rescue situations where you don't have enough time to re-holster a tool or free hands.