Do Dive Knives Work As Regular Knives For Cutting & Carving?

W

Wolfeye

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Apr 26, 2015
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My question is pretty much the exact same as the title. I remember seeing those WASP dive knives (that shoot out compressed CO2 out of the blade if you hit a button/trigger) & thinking it was a good idea if you needed it for the one use, but what about the general "knife tasks"? It doesn't look distinctly one way or the other.
 
The Wasp is not a normal diving knife.

Regular dive knives cut, but manufacturers normally choose blade materials for them based on corrosion resistance instead of edge retention. So they cut, but may not hold an edge as long as a land lubber's knife. (Dive knives with H1 alloy blades may be an exception. Also Beta Titanium. However these two alloys are uncommon.)
 
Its not just blade steel, the sheath and handle designs are based on lower dexterity, probably gloved hands, good indexing, and so I suspect any serious work for more than a couple minutes would be quite rough on the hands. Plus a generally thicker blade, and toughened for prying rather than edge holding. I don't know anything about the WASP, just other dive knives I've seen.
 
The last thing those WASP knives are made to do is cut. They can probably do it, but the cutting-edge is kind of an after-thought. It's more about making sharks and watermelons explode.
 
I would say not.

Generally, a dive knife is short, stubby, sometimes with blunted point and oftentimes serrated, at least in part. All of these characteristics are beneficial in diving scenarios but counter to general cutting and slicing functions.

Not to say that a cutting and slicing knife could not be used for diving, but they generally do not call themselves "dive" knives.

YMMV, happy hunting.
 
They would if you forced it. The purpose, use and ergonomics of a knive designed for use underwater is not the same as on land. Hence non-diving knives will
handle your chores better.

On a separate note- I didn't see anything on the Wasp site about the knife as a "knife". Anyone know what the blade material is?
Also, as a former diver I'm surprised the handle isn't designed to adapt to a rod/pole, be it a speargun or sling shaft. I would consider my
bangstick to be a far better protective weapon as maintaining distance is crucial in dealing with large predators be they on land or underwater.
Basically I imagine that by the time you are "stabbing" a large assaulting shark with this Wasp Knife other parts of your body could well be in it's mouth.
 
Excellent question! For me, 99.9999% of my knife work involves making sharks explode underwater. And its great for that. In that rare 0.0001% of the time when I need my knife to cut or carve, the WASP knife is good enough. Its so rare that it really doesn't matter.
 
marcinek said:
Excellent question! For me, 99.9999% of my knife work involves making sharks explode underwater. And its great for that. In that rare 0.0001% of the time when I need my knife to cut or carve, the WASP knife is good enough. Its so rare that it really doesn't matter.
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James Bond wishes he was as cool as you. I think he fought a shark once, but he didn't have a WASP knife.

I'm pretty sure Batman circa 1960s did make a shark explode though. He definitely had shark repellant in his utility belt.
 
Depends on the knife. I have a Benchmade H2o that looks and handles just like any other knife in my collection.
 
marcinek said:
Excellent question! For me, 99.9999% of my knife work involves making sharks explode underwater. And its great for that. In that rare 0.0001% of the time when I need my knife to cut or carve, the WASP knife is good enough. Its so rare that it really doesn't matter.
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You can't argue with that!

Man has dreamed for centuries of making sharks explode... or at least since the late 70's. Now we can live that dream, safely stabbing mako's and tiger-sharks to see a bloody fish-guts explosion the whole family can enjoy.

And if you hate watermelons as much as I do, the WASP is clearly the greatest piece of anti-melon technology in the US arsenal, even better than baseball bats and rooftops, I daresay.
 
...but can the knife in question make FLYING sharks explode. Now that is real value!
 
I would go with one of the Spyderco H1 or Benchmade N680 knives.

Most of the dive knives I have seen in the past are pretty junky feeling. Serrated edges that would probably cut rope if enough force was applied, but they alway seemed more intended for prying ur using as a flathead screwdriver.
 
Diver here.

Dive knives are a finicky thing. Seriously, why do you really need one? Defense from animals? Animal attacks on divers other than ones where the diver was messing with the animal, are exceptionally rare. Sharks don't a attach divers for no reason. They smell like rubber and blow bubbles. NOT FOOD! Now, get your ass in a frenzy or catch one and you are in trouble.

So really, you don't need one for defense (unless you have another diver chasing you to kill you aka bond).

Now, what you gonna cut? Got a package to open? That pesky twig needs whittling? Unlikely. The most likely cut will be to cut a line you are trapped in. All my knives (I dove with one folder and 2 fixed in three distinctly different places) have line cutters. I need them to make only a few cuts (hopefully never needed!) to free me from a line I may be tangled in. All three have partial serrations to cut rope. Those are the criteria more important than steel. Edge retention comes next (in case I need to cut a few lines to get free). Let's hope that's not needed ever.

In several hundred hours underwater, including wreck dives, very minor cave entry, muddy water search, clear and murky water spear fishing, the only time I have used my knife was to pry some crap up/off something to see what was under or behind it. Playing, basically. Oh, I did use one to stab a flounder once, to grill later that evening.

The short answer to your question is, most dive knives, due to their composition, will not hold an edge for a long time of use due to their design to not corrode in extended exposures to salt environments. It'll cut shit. But not many times before it's dull.
 
I'm like SVT. Over 8000 dives over 40 years (yep, some years, I would log 300+ dives). Most of the time I used a knife (or semi-sharpened pry-bar) to wedge or scrape something out of the way. The only times I ever actually cut something, most of the time it was to cut fishing line or rope entangling either myself or my dive buddy. The knives of the 60s, 70s and early 80s were essentially stainless steel Bowie knives with 7" blades with very poor edge retention, black handles and black sheaths. The ONLY time I was happy to have one of those honking big knives was when I needed to cut away a big-assed fishing net that had gotten wrapped around the screw of the LPD I was on. We were 50 miles west of San Clemente Island (about 140 miles west of San Diego) and the nearest land was about 2000 feet. Straight down.

Now, my cutting instruments of choice are a pair of trauma shears and a pair of 4" blunt tip, dual edge (1 plain and 1 serrated) YELLOW handle knives Still stainless steel, still with poor edge retention. Smaller, lighter, easier to find if dropped in shallow enough water.

You never have to do a lot of cutting underwater. If you are, you are doing something wrong.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
Now, my cutting instruments of choice are a pair of trauma shears and a pair of 4" blunt tip, dual edge (1 plain and 1 serrated) YELLOW handle knives Still stainless steel, still with poor edge retention. Smaller, lighter, easier to find if dropped in shallow enough water.

You never have to do a lot of cutting underwater. If you are, you are doing something wrong.
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I've heard of people switching to trauma shears lately and I really like that idea! I'm going to swap one of my knives out for that when I begin diving again (after my daughter gets old enough if she is interested).

Amen on colors. I have bright colored everything.

And I especially agree with your last statement.
 
SVTFreak said:
I've heard of people switching to trauma shears lately and I really like that idea! I'm going to swap one of my knives out for that when I begin diving again (after my daughter gets old enough if she is interested).

Amen on colors. I have bright colored everything.

And I especially agree with your last statement.
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One of the key things with trauma shears is "Carry 2". Other than my "2 knife fetish", the reason is that with shears, it is really hard to wash out the pivot pins well and that is the failure point. You can wash them well, dry them under a hair dryer and oil the c,,p out of them and the pivots still rust, even they are not being used for diving. And they ALWAYS fail while you're using them. The good thing is thy're relatively cheap. I have caught them for as little as $1.5@ in lots of a dozen. So I get lots of back-ups and they make really, really cheap, but useful, Christmas gifts. :D
 
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