Suggestions for Dive Knife

B

Boozoo Chavis

Joined
Oct 18, 2003
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I'm going on a 10 day dive trip in the Virgin Islands in about a month. I have a fair amount of knowledge when it comes to fixed blades and folders but am totally clueless about dive knives. Looking for something in the 50-80 dollar range and I'm leaning towards the Benchmade River Rescue with H-1 steel...

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
 
Check out the smaller Mission Knives products that are made out of Beta Titanium. Probably the MPU or MBK. They'll cost you more, but you will be getting a superior salt water knife.
 
The $8.00 dive knife (possibly cheaper):

1. Order a Victorinox serrated paring knife; the one with the red or black plastic handle. Leave the tip intact or grind it off flat if you prefer.
2. Purchase about 18 inches of 2" black nylon webbing. (Check the SCUBA shop for this.)
3. Fold the webbing to make a seath with a belt loop. You can either sew or rivit it in place.
4. Make sure the knife fits snug, but not too tight.
5. Mount the knife in the middle of your waist strap so that it is accesable with either hand. Do not mount the knife on your leg or on your chest...it looks silly and does not work for real diving.
6. Dive.

This knife will out cut ANY commercial dive knife that I have seen, and is far more corrosion resistant. You do not need a massive, sharpened prypar for diving. Having a smaller, sharper and more managable knife is much better than having a gigantic piece of useless steel strapped to your leg. At best, the knife would be used for cutting line or removing gear quickly during an emergency situation. If you anticipate prying underwater, carry a mini pry bar in your pocket. Dive knives are for cutting only.

I have been doing deep wreck diving for years, and this dive knife is by far the best I have ever used. If your serious about diving, this is the way to go.
 
The Benchmade 100SH2O dive knife is the one to get...The one with the yellow handle.
 
glockman99 said:
The Benchmade 100SH2O dive knife is the one to get...The one with the yellow handle.
Click to expand...


I have one in stock. Its pretty nice and comes in a Nimravus type kydex sheath with the thumb lock. The handle is almost day glow lime green yellow. It looks like it would do a great job as a dive knife.
 
For diving titanium blades are the most convenient since you are unlikely to have to put your blade to heavy use (so high rc are not really a factor here, at least for most divers). The best titanium diving blades I have seen are the Ocean Master series (and they come with very high quality seath/leg-wrap combos).

I have to say that Ocean Master's customer service is louzy and that their customer service manager is plain rude. You might want to try a company with better support.

I should also mention that I have come across posts by a guy working for Mission Knives who claimed that Ocean Master titanum blades are a scam, that their real rc is dismally low and that they are not even heat treated. I cannot comment on that since I have no way of checking this info. All I can say is that I would stay away from Mission Knives which are grotesquely overpriced (even if their titanium blades are better quality than the Ocean Master ones).

Maybe somebody more knowledgable here can tell you more about OM blades. Mine *looks* good - but that really proves nothing either way.

Otherwise, go with a cheap n' rugged stainless steel knife. I used the same MaresSub knife for over 20 years and while it did end up rusting I cannot blame it for that: I gave it absolutely no cleaning whatsoever and I mistreated it constantly.

Good luck!
 
I've looked at a few different models myself and have the Oceanmaster Beta Titanium version with chisel point. However, if I had to do it over again, I'd reccommend the Underwater Kinetics Blue Tang, especially the titanium version. I think they're right at the upper edge of your price range. P.S. where in the V.I. are you going. I've been to St. John twice and it's amazing diving. Check out Waterlemon Cay.

Lagarto
 
Also check out the Remora. I think it too is by Underwater Kinetics. Very low profile and various mounting options. Nice sharp large serrations. Small blade length.

John...
 
I've been a certified diver since 1976, and I think Electric Zombie gave you good advice. Where you'll be diving, prying chunks of coral loose will not be allowed; your biggest danger is not having to fight off sharks, but cutting fishing line you've found yourself tangled in. Eight bucks for a dive knife? A bargain.

A friend recently sent me a Schrade WR1 that sure looks good, though.
 
No argument from me about the $8 knife, either about his choice or his experience, and his arguments are sound...the trashing of Mission as overpriced by another poster, fails to take into account not only the fact the edge-holding beta-ti is 5X's more expensive than steel, but also the fact that it is an extremely difficult material to work, it has to be blanked out by water-jet (expensive), and then shaped by machining operations (expensive), which coupled with the titanium being worked, takes a tremendous toll on cutting tools which have to be replaced (expensive), and also the variety of hi-consumption belts used to get rid of the most objectionable of machining marks (expensive)...much less recouping R&D costs and start-up tooling needed to come up with the exotic things in the first place (VERY expensive)....to him I say, buy your soft 6al4v-ti or not-heat-treated beta-ti Ocean Master, and when it comes apart, buy another...do that several times, and you will wish you had bought an MPK in the first place...meanwhile, my MPK will still be going strong 20yrs from now....
 
mtngunr said:
to him I say, buy your soft 6al4v-ti or not-heat-treated beta-ti Ocean Master, and when it comes apart, buy another...do that several times, and you will wish you had bought an MPK in the first place...meanwhile, my MPK will still be going strong 20yrs from now....
Click to expand...

Come apart? That, of course, assumes that a diving knife has to do something besides cutting lines, killing speared fish or being available to cut off equipment in case of emergency (at least that is what I did while diving for the past 35 years).

The OM knife can do any of that well, comes with a very comfortable sheath/leg-wrap and it will not rust even with no maintenance. That is *all* I ever wanted from any diving knife and the OM offers that for a reasonable price.

Now of course, if your diving involves "SEAL-like" macho stuff (like LAPESing and drowning off the coast of Grenada for example or falling off helicopters in Afghanistan) for the next 20 years... :D

As for me - for *real* cutting I would never use titanium to begin with, whether OM or MPK.

Lastly, when buying equipment, of *any* kind, you really want to keep the law of diminishing marginal returns in mind as it fully applies to the costs of purchasing anything.
 
I have some Gerber/Fiskars river knives that are black and yellow handled. One has a blunt screwdriver prying tip on it and the other is a spear point style of blade. Both are pretty good for kayaking and canoe or raft ventures down stream but for diving I've always thought it was best for a knife to be heavy.

The Mike England diving knife I have is very heavy on land. Almost unwielding and awkward it is so heavy. But once you get under water with it the thing handles like a dream when you use the hammer head on the handle to dig with it to find goodies or break rocks or smack a shark in the head or whatever. The heft actually helps to make it work closer to how it would on land if that makes sense. I notice that most diving knives are thicker for prying open clams, dislodging rocks or other hidden treasures and stuff like that. Most have a saw tooth edge or serrations to aid in cutting rope also.

So, I'd say it would be pretty hard to find a 'good' diving knife without hands on experience in the water. My suggestion is to go to a place near the ocean and find a shop that sells that kind of supply and see what they have that you can try out. You might even meet some guys that have some good experience with various knives that can recommend something to you.
 
STR said:
I have some Gerber/Fiskars river knives that are black and yellow handled. One has a blunt screwdriver prying tip on it and the other is a spear point style of blade. Both are pretty good for kayaking and canoe or raft ventures down stream .
Click to expand...

were do you attach them?

I have a sit-on-top kayak (Wilderness Systems) which I use both in the surf and in rivers, and I found that the old-fashioned leg attachment makes most sense (at least on a sit-on-top). I like it also for canoes, but a for a regular sit-inside kayak that would, obviously, not be a good choice.

Do you attach yours on the PFD?

Cheers!
 
Yeah. Just pick a convenient strap and make a couple holes and pop the sheath on the snaps that come with the knife. Or you can just slip it on a strap using the clip/belt loop built into the sheath. These little knives come with a pretty cool sheath that has these snap plugs that pull in and out to secure it better. They are pretty stout. I've popped mine in and out several times now and they are just as hard to get out now as they were the first time. I keep the one I carry on the chest/shoulder strap for my life vest (PFD). I can't show you the one I carry because it is at my cabin with my stuff. But I can show you the one I don't use that much.

Note the two button looking flat heads in the sheath above the clip and the other one is actually in the top part of the clip. You can see the one pretty good top of the pic. That pops out. You make a hole and snap it back into the sheath from the back side of the strap through the hole you made. You can't see it but each of these snap buttons has a hole in it so you can stick a wire or paper clip or a cotters key so they can't pull out. These are pretty good set ups I think. I've never lost one. (knock on wood. )

Gerberriverknife-copy.jpg
 
I'm not an expert on diveing but for 20bux plus shipping you can get a CRKT Companion in either serrated or plain blade with the black finish from SMKW

Serrated:
Click Here

Plain:
Click here

AUS-6 with a black coating wont rust really bad and the sheaths offer alot of choice in how to carry it and at 20bux you could afford 2 and with shipping still be under the 50.00 mark.
 
STR said:
Yeah. Just pick a convenient strap and make a couple holes and pop the sheath on the snaps that come with the knife. Or you can just slip it on a strap using the clip/belt loop built into the sheath. These little knives come with a pretty cool sheath that has these snap plugs that pull in and out to secure it better. They are pretty stout. I've popped mine in and out several times now and they are just as hard to get out now as they were the first time. I keep the one I carry on the chest/shoulder strap for my life vest (PFD). I can't show you the one I carry because it is at my cabin with my stuff. But I can show you the one I don't use that much.
Click to expand...

thanks for the explanations and the photo. To be honest, I would also prefer wearing a knife somewhere on my chest or shoulder. The thing is that I have to confess that I often do not wear my PFD (but I always have a within easy and fast reach though). I live and kayak in Florida and with the heat around here always wearing a PFD can be a pain. Also - I often beach my kayak on a sandbar or an Island in the Intercoastal River or the Mosquito Lagoon and go fishing by wading in shallow water - also without my PFD. Lastly - I free-dive from my kayak - so a "real" diving knife makes sense. So that has kept me from getting something more adapted to kayaking than my diving knife. But as soon as I set some $$$ aside for this, I think I will get one of these PDF-attached blunt-tipped models (maybe a CR or something like you have).

thanks for the tips!
 
When I was in the Keys I got my PFD there. It is like a vest and thinner than any I had seen offered before. It is the Sabre Sport PFD lifevest. The adjustable shoulder support and the thin profile are the best I've rund across. I am sure I paid more than I should have for mine I have a 100 bucks in it but it has been a great vest. It rarely gets in the way and I find myself wearing this one as opposed to doing the same thing you do with yours.
 
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