Multi purpose dive knife

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guitardemon

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Jun 8, 2005
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I am a huge outdoors person and am taking a scuba class this semester and I am required to get a dive knife. I was wondering what dive knives out there can be used for more than diving. I know I could take one of those special yellow handled diving knives out camping but that seems kind of lame. Right now I am looking at either the SOG seal 200 or seal pup. I want something that is nice, but affordable. Anyone have any other suggestions?
 
I take to sea a cheap skeleton dive dagger which has served me well, tarnishes but doesn't really rust and cost around $20. Did I mention that it comes with a waterproof very useful sheath? If you lose it... who cares?

Edge holding is ok (420J steel) and I have used it many times to pry golf ball out of the reef and the knife is still in one piece from tip to butt.

If you want more you can do better of course, but its gonna cost you.
 
The SOG is not appropriate for use as a serious dive knife, IMO. too big, too pointy, too rusty.

First choice: Benchmade River/Dive in H1 steel, about $75. H1 simply does not rust. The design looks good.

Second choice: Kershaw Amphibian, about $40. File the tip to a flat about 3/8" wide so you can use it for moderate prying and won't poke your BC.

Third choice: Underwater Kinetics Remora (this is what I keep on my BC; in truth you will *rarely* need to use a dive knife), about $30. At $30 the Remora is a really good, dedicated dive knife, so why bother with a multi-use knife? But if you really want to spend some money and/or need a big hunk of steel to show off, get the Benchmade. Though I'd spend the money on a custom wetsuit or if conditions dictate, a dry suit.

The expensive knife and watch are really for show. Serious working divers (yes, I know quite a few) tend to wear Casio G-shocks and to carry rusty, bashed-up old knives that don't like like much but that are kept at least moderately sharp. They laugh at noobs with $500 regulators and huge knives and tanks that still have most of the paint on 'em.
 
Is there anything i can do to prevent my knife from rusting, or is the salt water going to cause it to rust no matter what?
 
guitardemon said:
Is there anything i can do to prevent my knife from rusting, or is the salt water going to cause it to rust no matter what?
Click to expand...

Yes. After your dive, flush it well in fresh water and let it sit in a bucket of fresh water for a while. Dry it off and coat it with silicone goop that is used for O rings and such. You can buy a tub of it at most dive shops.
 
Check out the Hammond ABC from CRKT http://www.crkt.com/abcaqua.html . I have one of these, and while I have only had the opportunity to use it for its intended purpose once, it did the job admirably. The blade is thick enough to make a good prying tool, has a decent edge, and serrations on the back edge. You can get either a yellow or black handle, and a flat or tanto-ish tip. The sheath is decent if you're going to use it with webbing or on a belt; the little metal clip that it comes with is three kinds of useless. The handle it comfy, and you can add a lanyard to help with draw and visibility.

Happy diving.

- Mike
 
You could get a knife that IS actually made for use as a dive knife; such as a Benchmade. You could get a Mission Knife and Tool, all titanium knife, but I suspect THAT might be out of your price range.
 
Its not that I wouldn’t want to buy just a dive knife. Its just that I’m a college student, so I’m trying to save money( for beer and such) and figured maybe I could kill two birds with one stone and get one that works for a couple different things. I really enjoy camping, hiking, fishing etc so I figured maybe I could get one that would double up. Someone said the SOG seal is really too big. How about the SOG seal pup. Is this a good dive knife?
 
The sog seal pup would make a great dive knife and an ok all rounder. My mate uses one for diving and likes it.
 
For diving, snorkeling and kayaking I have used the Seal Pup, BM River Rescue and the Kershaw Sea Hunter. I also carry and back up folder (Spyderco Salt I or Pacific Salt). All will serve you well.
 
I use a spyderco pacific salt for diving and it's perfectly suitable. I don't scuba that much any more and tend to just free-dive on the reefs near home. The scales of the knife are very grippy which gives it good retention in whatever you are clipping it to (usually just the waistband of my boardshorts), it's ok for light prying (has removed a few abalone) and is a good EDC the rest of the time.

For a fixed blade I'd go for the Benchmade in H1.

You can't rust H1, even if you were to replace Pilot1's bucket of fresh water with salt water.

The pacific salt is perfect salty lifestyle knife. I tend to paddle my sea kayak out in the mornings, look for somewhere to dive, dive for crays (rock lobsters) then paddle back in the mornings. Then I might jog down later in the day to fish from the beach. None of my other knives stood up to this and would rust spot and pit no matter how well I looked after them. The H1 is perfect.
 
To me this one from Greg Lightfoot, currently being offered by Tadgear is very affordable, 325.00 and very cool, it has the tritium studs for finding/indexing the blade in low light conditions.

The knife can be attached to the forearm or leg.
 
BladeGoblin said:
To me this one from Greg Lightfoot, currently being offered by Tadgear is very affordable, 325.00 and very cool, it has the tritium studs for finding/indexing the blade in low light conditions.

The knife can be attached to the forearm or leg.
Click to expand...

Ahhhhh!! Thats nice!!
 
When I did SCUBA I got the cheapest dive knife I could find, with a strong buttcap for pounding, then ground the tip to that of a screw driver. I sharpened it the best I could. But in all the years I did SCUBA and even helped teach classes, all I ever used it for was poking and prying.

Now, when I eventually wound up diving commercially in the Gulf of Mexico along with other places, we all used a Queen Big Chief easy open series, (like this one. Back then you could get them for $5.00. We made little sheathes out of duct tape so they slid in and out easy enough, but were snug enough not to just drop out and taped the duct tape sheathes to our diving harnesses. We tied line to the knife and to the harness at a length that you could use it for cutting stuff. Used them every day on the job. They made nice "rope wrenches".
 
That Tadgear knife is pretty sick, but just a wee out of my price range. I was wondering if anybody knew weather or not the SOG SEAL Pup came with rubber straps to strap it to your leg. If not i guess ill have to see if a local dive shop carrys some.
 
Couple more thoughts. Most dive knives from dive shops have pretty thick blades and are made of softer steel. Remember, even though they call them "knives", they are actually more of a tool for prying, poking, hammering. Nobody cares what dive knife you have at depth, the fish don't care, the crabs don't care, etc. You might be better served by having a separate knife/knives for use topside and a separate knife/knives for use while diving.

Personally, I just wouldn't spend a whole bunch of money for a dive knife. I knew guys that used old bayonets as their dive knife.
 
See if you find an old Tekna skeletal. They show up in Ebay now and then. Holds an decent edge and work rather well as a EDC. If you're allowed to carry a dagger that is.
 
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