In this episode, Mark Evans looks at scuba diving cutting tools and dive knives to weigh up the pros and cons of what you should be carrying on each dive.
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The Best Dive Knives Or Cutting Tools For Scuba Divers?
- Mark Newman
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- best dive knife, best dive knives, best folding dive knives, best small dive knives, dive, dive equipment, dive gear, dive knife, dive knife guide, dive knive, dive knives, dive tool, diver advice, divers ready, diving, james blackman, KNIFE, knives, line cutter, scuba, scuba advice, Scuba cutting tool, scuba diver, scuba diving, scuba diving - topic, scuba diving (interest), scuba diving knife, scuba gear, simply scuba, simply scuba knife, Small dive knives, top 5
I’ve been scuba diving my entire professional career in both beautiful crystal clear waters of the Tropics to the not-so clear waters around the world. Diving up in the Arctic Circle and marine conservation work down in remote Madagascar. As a full-time scuba Instructor I taught divers in both warm and cold waters and lead countless dives.
But, my main specialty is dive equipment. Since 2010 I’ve been working with a wide range of scuba diving brands and 8 years working for one of the largest scuba diving retailers with hands-on experience with cutting edge dive equipment.
But I really want a big knife to strap to my leg it’s just cool sry mab I’ll carry two lol
2 is one, 1 is none! I’d rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it!
Oh these tedious “safety first” British, sarcastic boring people who don’t know what fun is. “mewl-mewl, haha, why is that knife on your calf? don’t you know NOBODY does that anymore, haha… oh so not cool…” Yeah? Well I’m going to because it’s an excellent location for a knife. The backup is on the BCD. So eat shit!
Side-note: While not a ‘total’ solution; the trauma shears are the only SCUBA cutting tool I’m aware of that you can bring with you on the plane (i.e carry-on; for those of us who like to avoid checked luggage)!
You can fly with Z knifes like trilobites. The blade isn’t exposed so it is allowed.
@Team Peg Leg That’s really good to hear! So you’ve gone through the TSA check with a trilobyte style knife yourself, and they were okay with it? (I actually never tried it, since someone told me it wasn’t allowed..😕)
@Sean Lotz yes even when they were ***holes and were giving me the third degree because I refused to literally take everything out of my bag.
@Team Peg Leg I’ll give it a whirl on our trip coming up in April! (Worst that can happen is that they keep it, but not an expensive item anyway.) Thanks for the info!
Cuda story, funny, not funny, baaaaalistic
You should have seen it – if I’d had a video, that was YouTube gold…
what do you think of knife-scissors? have one in my thigh pocket as my 3rd cutting option on tec-dives ( 1. small dive knife and 2.trilobite on bcd)
I have seen them, and they do work both as a knife and scissors, my concern has always been that the hinge elements, etc, will be prone to pack up after prolonged exposure to salt water. I know how shears die after a few hundred dives.
Some good points and ideas. Thanks!
Hope it helped.
At least one of your cutting tools should be single edged, so you can cut free an entangled person (or marine life or yourself) even if you have to get real close to the body.
That is why I like the Trilobites – virtually impossible to cut yourself – or anyone else – with one of them.
Absolutely spot on 👍 top advice from start to finish this one.
Glad it was some use.
I learned my lesson about a dive knife on my calf, when one time fishing line tangled around my let and knife. Good thing my dive buddy turned to check on me because I couldn’t get free. Not fun at 80 feet down in murky lake water. Now I have two cutting tools to be reached by either hand.
My leg and dive knife got tangled
@Jeremiah Perez Yes, looking back, it was a stupid place to put a knife, but heh, we knew no better!
I may have gone a bit overboard… I carry 4 cutting devices on my BCD.
I consider the EezyCut Trilobite to be the main cutting tool, so I carry two of those. One on my left waiststrap, and one on my right shoulderstrap.
Because the Trilobite doesn’t have serrated blades, and the diameter of line you can cut is limited, I carry a serrated Spyderco Salt 2 folding knife. It’s made of highly corrosion resistant stainless steel, including the hinge, but you need to rinse it out properly to prevent salt buildup. I’ve removed the pocketclip and attached a small boltsnap and clip it off to the right D-ring. I decided on a folding knife because it tucks away nicely, and has a one-sided cutting edge. That way I can still maneuver it between line and skin without the risk of cutting the wrong thing.
My fourth cutting device is a set of XShear trauma shears in a DiveRite sheath. I have that bungeed to the corrugated inflator hose.