custom divers knife...makers?

RAN

Joined
Nov 30, 2000
Messages
1,331
first off Ive received lots of email and support from the knife community since the attack and I want to extend warm thanx to all!
Just signed up for scuba diving certification
amid all the gear I'll be required to purchase
is a diving knife..(dontchya just love an excuse for a new knife!!)
anybody here have any suggestions on specs,materials and makers?
Thank you all in advance
 
we have a maker!(read legend!)
now we need blade material
any votes for stellite(we know kit uses the stuff)
and we need a handle material??
what do the experts suggest and why
thanx all
 
Kit already figured it out for us. Just pick a blade style and he will sure build you a fine knife. Here's the info from Kit. I would go 6K for blade steel.

I have been working with Navy Special Operations/EOD teams for almost 2 years on this design. It is popular with them and many SWAT team personnel. A great entry tool and utility knife.

Large models have a 6 1/2 inch long, 1/4 inch thick blade.
Small models have a 5 1/2 inch long, 3/16 inch thick blade.

Several other blade styles are available with this handle configuration. Serrated edge is standard. Sheathes are Nylon web with kydex liners and range from simple to the very complex one that goes with the Navy EOD teams.
 

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I dive and i agree Kit makes one hell of a dive knife but for a sheath i prefer neoprene. My kydex sheath on my old dive knife got discolored and flaky looking so i opted for the other
 
Hi RAN

You'll be fine with ANY knive underwater. My knive collection is quite extensive (and expensive...), but under water I go for the cheap stuff. Why? Because you'll never use it anyway (not if you can think both over and under water).

If you want some feedback on SCUBA-gear, let me know before you plunk down your cash. I'm PADI AOWD and might give you some headers. Suggest you spend the money you save on a knive you wanted for a long time.

Cheers, and good luck, both above and under water
 
A Carson U2 in 440C would be a good cost effective solution. If you have deep enough pockets, Stellite would be the way to go but, a bar big enough to make that knife is costly.
 
i have been in on and around the ocean all my life. and forget all the special forces,seal, swat stuff unless you really are in one of these outfits, even then the seals i sparred with at the dojo useally carried the cheap stuff when diving unless they needed a non-magnetic tool. as the poster form switzerland said save it for another blade you really want. all you ever really need a dive knife for is kelp, rope,fishing line and maybe a little prying. i still use a Tekna brand one that i paid about $35.00 for over ten years ago. i wouldn,t want to drop a 2-3 hundred dollar knife in 200ft of water.
 
I've made many dive knives for just about every type of diver from neophyte to SEAL and DELTA. I agree with previous posters that what you want is a tough but inexpensive knife that can be lost without tears. Plenty of cheapo types out there.
If you absolutely need (?) a custom. Kit is great. I would avoid stellite or its derivatives as its resistance to bending is low as a dive knife often needs to be used to pry. 440c hardened in the mid 50 Rc range is very good. Not particularly sexy but a good, rust resistant steel of moderate cost.
CPM440V is very good and very tough but more costly. Harden in the upper 50Rc range, not over 60. Make sure blade is half serrated and has a good, wide spine of full thickness material. I and most of my professional customers prefer a robust chisel point, no sharp top edge, finger grip file serrations on the top spine and a slim, canvas micarta handle(Bonded with a good, six-hour cure, salt waterproof epoxy and stainless bolts), Or a file serrated skeleton handle.
Good luck on your dive. I was taught in Guatemala by an Argentine commando named Antonio . He was a good friend and a great cook who hunted guerrillas so his daughters could live in a better world. He was murdered by Salvadoran G-2 operatives in Guatemala the day after he and his commando group gave me a going away dinner just before I returned to the states.BOBT
 
Hi Bob, it is great to have your input here. Sure would like to see more from you. I have had a great deal of respect for you and your knives for many years.
 
before you commit, check out kits backlog, IIRC its around two years,unless you can make it to his table at a show before he sells out (30 seconds or so)

dont get me wrong,he makes a great knife,but thats a long wait,esp if your required to have you dive knife any time soon.
 
I appreciate all the imput given here by the highly respected makers and divers..even exchanged emails with Kit(a healthy and deserved backlog)
Great post Bob (I have long respected your work)very poignant at a time like this when our own freedoms have been violated..thank-you for sharing
 
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