Diving Knife

Diving Knife

Diving knife can be made of different materials, and can vary in size or shape. Yet you have to remember that your knife is not a weapon but only a tool. Let us list a few tools that will help you to make a good decision on what type of knife will be the best option for your needs.

As far as size is concerned, large knives are defined as having a blade longer than five inches. There is a common misconception that the large the knife the better. Yet it can either cut you or your buoyancy control equipment. And be an awkward burden in a situation that you want to get rid of any unnecessary weight.

Medium sized knives have blades of four-five inches and are the most practical ones. They can be easily mounted on the BC, leg or arm. You can grip this knife securely and manage it as a handy tool underwater. If you buy a mini knife with two or three inches of blade, make sure that its handle is longer than three inches. Otherwise it can harm your hands or gloves if you wear them underwater.

The shape of a diving knife varies, too. It can have straight edges that is useful  for cutting plastic. This includes monofilament fishing line, as well as nylon rope. Diving knives with serrated edges are useful in cutting kelp and natural fiber rope. In this kind of knives serrations should run along almost whole length of the blade, so that it can produce a decent sawing motion. Many knives have both edges, staight and serrated, so you can use them in almost any situation.

Sometimes they have sharp tips that can be used for spearfishing, and blunt tips for prying, hacking, chiseling or digging. Sharp tips can potentially harm your BC, so you can use a blunt tip instead. For cutting small lines you will need a knife with a line cutting notch.

Many diving knives are made with 300- or 400-series stainless steel alloys. Due to high carbon content many stainless steel knives show signs of rust. Thus they require some maintenance: rinse your knife well with fresh water and dry outside of sheath. Then you coat it with a light layer of silicone or oil.

As far as 300-series or 400-series allow, the lower the number, the more corrosion resistant this diving knife becomes. Yet it is less capable of keeping a sharp edge. You spend less time on its maintenance but need to sharpen it after two or three dives.

Titanium knives are rustproof  and corrosion resistant. They do not contain any carbon. Thus you do not need any sharpening or maintenance for a long period of time.

There are a lot of manufacturers of diving knives, such as Aeris, Aquatec, Akona, Armor, Deep Outdoors, Cressi, Cutterfish, Deep See, Dive Rite, Innovative, Mares, Max., Oceanic, OMS, Promate, Zeagle and more…