Dive Knife

I've been a PADI Instructor since 1987. Mark me down as number 2 for never losing a knife (1400+ logged dives), although I have lost several to RUST.:mad:

If you are diving in saltwater, H1 is the way to go. The 420 series knives last until you sharpen them and you forget to rinse them after a long weekend in the saltwater.
 
ive got the ocean master one made from beta titanium...now that i think about it, i have no idea what to use to sharpen it.
its chisel ground...
 
I dive too, don't get to right now, but a lot growing up. Free-dive 3-prong spearfishing. Gotta agree that you do lose crap sometimes, not often, but it does happen. Hell, I've even lost a graphite pole spear in the water once while night diving, I can tell you I was pretty pissed that night. So yeah, Varg brings up a good point about getting something relatively disposable (though I can't say I've lost a dive knife, usually it just comes out, then goes back in the sheath).

But I would drop coin for a Salt, because I can't say I've ever had to use my dive knife extensively while diving, and having something rust proof and completely maintenance free that would last forever, bar losing it, outweighs the chances of me losing it in the type of diving I would do. If you have money and rust-proof is important then go H1. If money is an issue or rust-proof is no so import, the Hunter or others would work out too.


ETA: Like drj211 said, all it takes is some forgetfulness and your knife takes a beating. I am pretty thorough in rinsing off my gear after dives, but I don't want to take extra time maintaining a knife that can rust when I can just pay the price up front for a knife that won't. Saves me time, and if I don't lose it, saves me the cost of buying more knives to replaces ones that have rusted too much. But as with everything else, YMMV.
 
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I've never been diving, but the Extrema Ratio Ultramarine looks like one hell of a knife if you want to spend some serious bucks. I have had and do have several Extrema Ratio knives and consider them to be great knives and I think the ultramarine would be a great knife.
 
When I was diving, I found an 18-inch long round metal probe with an L-shaped end to be much more useful than a knife.

The knife I did carry (mostly for cutting discarded fishing line underwater) was a small flat folding knife I simply stuck up the wrist of my tight-fitting wetsuit. I never lost it.
 
I have never used the fixed blade salts, they would probably be really nice.

I used to scuba dive and free dive a lot in HI. When we would snorkle with three prongs (spears) I would always carry a kershaw Amphibian. here is a link to check it out:

http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/kershaw/images/1006k2.jpg

It has a really nice sheath that comes with rubber straps that fit great around the caves (Sp?). I dont know how you feel about 420j2 steel, but it never rusted on me and I took good care of it.
 
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Thanks for all the responses. The h1 steel sounds like the best bet, maybe I'll check possible custom options, not sure it's worth the money for that road though. But thanks all for input.
 
He said he was a commercial diver. Get real guys, he probably works 20 times harder than you have ever worked in your life. And you wonder why he drops his knife? 1400 dives is probably just beyond rookie level to do work at a fast pace.
 
You did say Dive Knife right? I'm kinda perplexed by some of the answers - especially the ones that recommend folding knives???
Folders for Canoeing :thumbup: Diving :thumbdn:

I prefer a fixed blade that's as light as possible and with a secure, multi-positionable sheath in Beta Titanium - like this one. Swim with a heavy steel blade strapped to your leg for any length of time and you'll understand why.

http://www.joediveramerica.com/scubagear/prods/5710000.html

caveat - the link to this site is simply because this is the first one that popped up when I googled for a Beta Titanium knife
 
Beta Titanium knives wouldn't be a bad choice:thumbup:, but I haven't seen it for significantly cheaper than Spyderco's Salt stuff (I could be looking in the wrong place, links?). Seeing as they're in the same general price range, I would go with the H1 since you can get to and I think above 58RC. IIRC, you can't get beta titanium to break 50s, at least the generally available stuff. Maybe not a big deal to the OP, but I figure it's worth mentioning.

Is the added edge retention worth it? For me personally, if I'm paying in that price range already for a rust-proof knife, I'd rather have one with better edge retention. Do I need it? Maybe not, but some enjoy that added bump in performance, even if the bump is only marginal...after all this is Bladeforums:D. Furthermore, I get to support a company I know, have experience with, and respect.

As for the weight thing, for myself, I can't say I've ever noticed a steel blade too much on my leg (thigh or inside calf) and I've done lengthy dives with one on (though I've done a lot, probably more, without one on too). I'm sure a titanium blade would be lighter, but I don't think it'd be light enough for me to want one that badly. My mileage probably varies.

The sheath point though is a good one:thumbup:. I can't say I'm terribly impressed with the sheath of the Aqua Salt, but I don't think it was ever really intended as an actual dive knife. The Caspian Salt I think was more designed with underwater use in mind, and the sheath looks a bit better. The knife itself should be much lighter too, with all that metal in the handle gone. But the sheaths like the one for that knife antonio linked are probably more versatile or easily mountable :thumbup:
 
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Gonna go with the spyderco caspian. Think I'm gonna try to make a neoprene shell for the sheath. We'll see. Thanks again to all for the input.
 
rksoon said:
Beta Titanium knives wouldn't be a bad choice:thumbup:, but I haven't seen it for significantly cheaper than Spyderco's Salt stuff (I could be looking in the wrong place, links?). Seeing as they're in the same general price range, I would go with the H1 since you can get to and I think above 58RC. IIRC, you can't get beta titanium to break 50s, at least the generally available stuff. Maybe not a big deal to the OP, but I figure it's worth mentioning.
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H1 would hold an edge better and has the advantage of work hardening. Normal Ti is pretty soft but Beta Ti will get up around 55RC which isn't too bad. As to the weight - a smaller knife wouldn't make much difference but for a larger knife I find that weight difference significant - others may not notice it
 
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