The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
those are free diving fins! Run Silent, Run Deep!What's with the size of those flippers? Are they to scare away sharks?
I Boat dived off of Point Loma & did shore diving in La Jolla for many years. A long time ago.... Got a few nice Calico Bass with a spear in the latter..Bingo
I was in San Diego Harbor
Thx and I agree
The plastic wide belt loop area protects you somewhat while resheathing
The Spyderco is a nice knife but they really missed the mark on the sheath design
Like I said it’s relegated to a rod and reel and bowfishing knife now
I'm 99.9% sure that MAC knives out of Italy (owned by Boker, as is FOX) makes the Riffe knife. They make MOST dive knives in the market and private label them for dozens of small-time, niche spearfishing brands.
Some ppl request sheite 304 steel to keep prices low and others spend a bit more for quality. Riffe is using their best material, but the knife and sheath design is not my favorite .
Americans like big (4"+) spearfishing knives... But the rest of the world uses 3-3.5" blades and in my opinion, anything over 3.5" risks an accidental hand-stab while subduing your catch. 4"+ might be fine if you're only targeting 200# yellowtail, otherwise 3.5" is perfect and much safer on fish right down to 1#.
I use a 3.5" recurved blade of theirs in 4116 steel presently. It eliminates the "dagger" illegality I face traveling to some places, while still being a super useful fish "silencer", and also has other utility and geometry advantages that a triangular profiled dagger does not.
Any knife with this shaped handle, the ubiquitous related plastic moulded sheath or a handle like the Riffe knife is made by MAC.
In my opinion and experience, the single best placement for a freedive knife is at 12:00 on your belt, so it can be reached with either hand.
This necessitates a sheath that has virtually no length of handle sticking up above the belt, so that it does not dig into your stomach when bending over, putting on fins, etc. No handle sticking up also reduces entanglement issues.
When I carry 2 knives (most times), they are on either side of my belt buckle.
If 3, then it goes at 6:00. I never wear a knife on my calf or arm and try not to wear one on either the 3:00 or 9:00 side of the belt.
The "Riffe" style of sheath leaves something to be desired in this regard. It works well for calf placement or hip placement, but as I said... Those are suboptimal locations and can even lead to increased risk of entanglement as well.
A symmetrical handle also better allows for ambidextrous use and if you're caught if some fishing line, netting or need to cut your shooting / reel line in a damn hurry, centreline knife placement and an ambidextrous handle is really the only option.
If Spyderco wants input on a design refinement, I'm available and very happy to discuss with @Sal Glesser
I know many ppl who would love a quality spearo knife, but the blade design and sheath system of the Spyderco just doesn't quite fit the bill. And yes, I get that it was a modification of the existing aqua salt design and had those constraints.
My little 3.5" knives with robust tips have taken down some large fish with insanely thick skulls.
I'd love a refined design in serrated H1 and have a design / idea for an amazing usable sheath that would be CHEAP and ideal for freedivers / spearfishernen.
Until then, the 9cm recurved MAC is the best compromise I've found through my years of spearfishing.
I can't imagine choosing anything but H1 (or LC200N) if you were on the water frequently. Rust and pitting that one time you were in a hurry and didn't clean up well would be a PITA. I understand the sheath dilemma though.
Really enjoyed your spearfishing vid Joe.
I have several ideas to improve upon these designs, but the first one will without question be to utilize a proper steel alloy with actual knife properties. Testing is already underway...
What's with the size of those flippers? Are they to scare away sharks?
No to swim away from them
Saw you on Forged and fire buddy you looked great
What's with the size of those flippers? Are they to scare away sharks?
Thank you Laurence
My buddy has an old big chromium knife I gave him years ago and we drop it and as it flutters down it flashes and draws fish
One of these days we are gonna loose it
I carry my dive knife in the inner left calf. If carried on the outside there are more chances for it to tangle with your float line, but keeping it on the inside prevents this issue.
I guess we have no spear-fisherman or fisherman here
I recently got into spearfishing, and I love it. I've been SCUBA diving and freediving for years, and spearfishing has become my favorite thing to do. I think I even like it better than regular fishing.
I'm going to have to check these knives out. I've been using a cheap knife I found on amazon. It gets the job done, but it's a real crappy knife.
Here are a couple of Florida Keys Hogs I got a while back.
