Which Dive Knife is Best?

[fnfalman]

Yeah I know, the blingy gold Dive Rite shears are titanium coated... they don't come any other way and the shears themselves are stainless. Do what I say, not what I do!

As much as I love Dive Rite gears, that "titanium" coating on the shears is about as worthless as teats on a boar. Mine get rusted through even though I rinse it after every dive. The center pin is also rusty. I try to put some lubricant/protectant on it, but I'm sure it'll rust through soon enough.

Maybe if Spyderco or Benchmade were to make a decent set of shears that aren't rustomatics. I'd rather buy a $50 pair of shears that would last me a lifetime worth of diving instead of $5 here and $9 there to replace these crappy shears (or in the case of Dive Rite, $30).

 

[Steeltanker65421]

Have a shears strapped to my bc strap. Drilled out grommet and replaced with SS nut/bolt.

Small knife attached to my other BC strap.

Big knife attached to outer side of right calf.

Practice cutting stuff under water so you know what to expect if you need it.

Rinse, sharpen and oil after every dive outing.

 

[Token]

Okay....I started out with one of these....

CRKT Hissatsu.

I had some serrations added, but it's a little long and ummm, aggressive looking for civvy street, and the 440A stainless doesn't resist salt water all that well.

Currently I have one of these on order....

Spyderco Jumpmaster. Looks to be a nice compact knife made for fast aggressive cutting, but not a 'combat knife' as such. The steel is treated with nitrogen and purports to be untouchable by salt water. Comes with a great sheath too. A little pricey, but I like it.


However, if I ever lose my Jumpmaster, I will replace it with one of these...

Spyderco Caspian Salt2

Half the price of a Jumpmaster, but arguably more versatile and designed for diving. [yeah, I should have shopped around a little more first....]

I'm looking for a some shears too... I look to be diving in Mexico fairly often and there are _always_ fishing boats near the dive areas. The chances of encountering cast-off nets or tangles of line are pretty good, IMHO. Knives and other cutters are always necessary safety gear with diving. Snorkelling too...if you get hung up on some line without an air source, you have at best a minute or so to solve your problem....

 

[Steeltanker65421]

I would rethink that second knife.

Get a knife that actually has a handle. If you are wearing gloves, you are gonna lose it for sure.

 

[Steeltanker65421]

Get a dive knife from a company that specializes in dives knives. Get a used, big old, blunt tip Wenoka on Ebay. Get a sharpening stone and sharpen it always. Practice with it.

 

[Carlos Danger]

I use the DeepSee Wenoka Big Squeeze Ti Tanto Tip. For a full-size knife, it has a minimal footprint. The product has been very durable and reliable.

 

[jbb]

As much as I love Dive Rite gears, that "titanium" coating on the shears is about as worthless as teats on a boar. Mine get rusted through even though I rinse it after every dive. The center pin is also rusty. I try to put some lubricant/protectant on it, but I'm sure it'll rust through soon enough.

Maybe if Spyderco or Benchmade were to make a decent set of shears that aren't rustomatics. I'd rather buy a $50 pair of shears that would last me a lifetime worth of diving instead of $5 here and $9 there to replace these crappy shears (or in the case of Dive Rite, $30).

I found a Spyderco knife on a recent local dive and I actually had to clean the handle more than I did the blade. Not sure how long it had been there but there was seaweed growing on the steel and handle. I cleaned it all off and that blade was nice and sharp without any rust (H1 steel). I wish it had been a serrated blade instead of the straight - I think it was a fisherman's as there was no tether or band thru the handle.

 

[ambertiger]

I guess this depends on what you want the knife to do and what purpose you have in mind when carrying a knife. In Taiwan I dive off shallow fringing reefs where there is a lot of waste monofiliment fishing line and nets, both old and new. I think most knives are pretty useless at cutting this sort of stuff quickly. Therefore a carry a simple all plastic heavy duty box cutter that costs couple dollars in my local 5 and dime. I also carry a 5 pack of replaceable blades in a small waterproof case. I can easily replace the blade if it snaps and it costs little to replace if I lose it. It cuts through fishing line and thick rope like butter

 

[johnboywalton]

Yeap, I have to agree that the answer to this "best diving knife" question depends a lot on what you use the knife for. This dictates not just the choice of knife, but also the features. For example, do you want a point, a tanto point or a blunt tip? How big of a knife do you need? Is a serrated edge useful for what you are doing? Etc, etc, etc.

It's the same with any tool - if the user is serious, the answer will vary heavily depending on what specifically you intend to go out and do with it. Would you use a hacksaw to cut lumber to build your bookshelves? Only if you had nothing else available. What if you do so much cutting, prying and probing you need two or more knifes? Etc, etc, etc.

 

[HowardE]

Aqua Lung (US Divers) Master Knife.

I carry a ckrt knife daily but don't use it for diving. Dive knives are for diving.

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