Perfect Dive knife

[aaen]

I am sure this has already been covered, i am just beign lazy in looking it up. I am currently looking at purchasing a OMS titanium dive knife to use with my BP and wings, just curious as to what other ideas people had and if there was one knife in particular that stood out as the top/best. I know I personally would like to go to a custom knife shop to design one, but I figure for the cost of that I would sonner just buy like 4 or 5 knives.

Steve

 

[cool_hardware52]

I am sure this has already been covered, i am just beign lazy in looking it up. I am currently looking at purchasing a OMS titanium dive knife to use with my BP and wings, just curious as to what other ideas people had and if there was one knife in particular that stood out as the top/best. I know I personally would like to go to a custom knife shop to design one, but I figure for the cost of that I would sonner just buy like 4 or 5 knives.

Steve

Steve,

I like these http://atlanticunderwater.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=66

You can make your own, or buy one from a number of sources.

Very very sharp, cheap, disposable, simple small.

Knifes get lost, dropped etc. Why buy an expensive one?

Tobin

 

[aaen]

yeah I looked into just doing a steak knife, and to me it just doesn't seem right, not knocking it or anything, I am sure I would save alot more money, I just dontt think i would feel content with it. What I do wish though is a knife maker would make a decent knife, well a knife that is suitable for divign and not a huge honker. I would like to see something along the size of a spyderco delica or in that range maybe with a none locking blade, and a blunt tip, but along those lines.

I feel that alot of the manufactures have not produced anything worthwhile to buy in my opinon, although I am sure that statement will catch some flack form others in this forum.

Guess I will continue my search for the perfect knife, and until I find one, 50 bucks is not to bad for a knife inmy opinion, mind you I seem to go through alot of pocket knives at work mainly due to f'ing around with them when bored. Guess I will just have to be more careful.

Any more thoughts on a dive knife that is about the perfect size and has the right features to it, any help would be appreciated.

Steve

 

[D_B]

I like that Knife Tobin , that is what I'm going to do the next time I lose my UK knife .. again! (3rd time)

hey, I didn't know Bettey Crocker was DIR

 

[cool_hardware52]

I like that Knife Tobin , that is what I'm going to do the next time I lose my UK knife .. again! (3rd time)

hey, I didn't know Bettey Crocker was DIR

IMHO Betty's been doing right for a long time, yum

Tobin

 

[cool_hardware52]

yeah I looked into just doing a steak knife, and to me it just doesn't seem right, not knocking it or anything, I am sure I would save alot more money, I just dontt think i would feel content with it. What I do wish though is a knife maker would make a decent knife, well a knife that is suitable for divign and not a huge honker. I would like to see something along the size of a spyderco delica or in that range maybe with a none locking blade, and a blunt tip, but along those lines.

I feel that alot of the manufactures have not produced anything worthwhile to buy in my opinon, although I am sure that statement will catch some flack form others in this forum.

Guess I will continue my search for the perfect knife, and until I find one, 50 bucks is not to bad for a knife inmy opinion, mind you I seem to go through alot of pocket knives at work mainly due to f'ing around with them when bored. Guess I will just have to be more careful.

Any more thoughts on a dive knife that is about the perfect size and has the right features to it, any help would be appreciated.

Steve

Steve,

What many people don't realize is the metalurgy involved. A cutting blade needs to be hardened to create and hold a good edge.

What makes steel capable of being hardened is the carbon content. "High Carbon" steels (typically over .3% carbon) make great cutting tools, but they rust very easily.

"Stainless Steels" are large family of metals. Some SS are very corrosion resistant, but cannot be hardened. Other "Stainless Steels" can be hardened enough to make a descent blade, but these types of Stainless are much less corrosion resistant.

It is not uncommon for somebody that sees a "Stainless Knife" that has rust on it to declare "what a crappy low grade of Stainless, see it rusted!!!" It's not a "low Grade of SS" just one that will hold an edge.

Titanium is also a family of materials, Ti is very corrosion resistant, but even the grades that can be hardened don't offer the edge holding poperties of the hardenable SS types, and are no where near the what can be achieved with Carbon Steels.

Good luck with your search, hope you find what you are looking for.


Tobin

 

[Charlie99]

<....good lesson on metallurgy>

Is ceramic a practical alternative? Somewhere I recall hearing about ceramic knives, or maybe it was just a letter opener.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

The downside of ceramics vs. metals are ceramics are friable, not malleable - they will shatter far more easily. However, they can hold an edge. I seem to remember a "razorback" knife that had a metal blade but a ceramic serrated edge being marketed some while ago.

Titanium is also more susceptible to brittle fracture than steel. It is less malleable, but more so than ceramics are.

I'm curious why none of the duplex SS have made it to the scuba knife industry yet - like 2205 series. This has worked well in industry where needs for properties of austenitic (300 series) and matensitic (400 series) were kind of needed simultaneously. May be a niche for Sumitomo to explore.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I'm curious why none of the duplex SS have made it to the scuba knife industry yet - like 2025 series. This has worked well in industry where needs for properties of austenitic (300 series) and matensitic (400 series) were kind of needed simultaneously. May be a niche for Sumitomo to explore.

Now you have curious too. I'll admit I have zero experience with duplex SS, only what I've read. Interesting sounding stuff.

Sumitomo's got the R&D horsepower to find out.

WWD, are you a metalurgist? Damn handy folks to have around.


Tobin

 

[Tom Winters]

The UK Remora is on my harness - cheap, locks in well, nice design, easy to remove with either hand, sharp, still pretty rustfree after a couple of years of use. What else is there?