Do You Need a Scuba Diving Knife?

Many people consider scuba diving knives as diving accessories. Recreational divers in most cases don’t carry a diving knife with them each time they go diving.  If you are new to scuba diving you may wonder do you need a scuba diving knife.

A scuba diving knife is important to free yourself or your dive buddy from abandoned fishing nets or kelps. It can also help free trapped marine life, get your buddy’s attention, or as an anchor to the sea bed when you encounter strong waves. Many recreational divers don’t carry a dive knife unless diving in an area with a lot of kelp.

On the other hand, wreck divers, professional and technical divers must carry their dive knives each time. Their dive spots are more prone to have a lot of things that can entangle them or they may need to cut their way through.

Dive knives should only be used when necessary and not as weapons or protection against marine life. Don’t use a dive knife to chase or scare marine life away, this can result in accidents as the marine animals may see this as a threat to them.

As mentioned in a number of my articles, avoid provoking marine life in any way. The animals underwater don’t really bother with scuba divers, we’ll unless provoked. Just enjoy the dive without touching, poking, or chasing any marine life.

In this article, we’ll dive deeper into dive knives, are they a mandatory part of your gear, and also list some of the best dive knives for beginners.

Let’s jump into it!

Do Scuba Divers Carry a Dive Knife

As mentioned earlier, recreational scuba divers don’t always carry a dive knife. Many recreational divers go diving in clear waters and don’t really need to cut through any kelps or nylon nets.

Diving in clear tropical waters the divers can see underwater and spot anything that could easily trap them. Sunlight also penetrates deep into clear water making visibility quite easy.

Technical and professional divers on the other hand must carry their diving knives. Given that they dive over 60 ft. it gets darker as you go deeper. The divers need the knives to cut their way through wrecks and caves and also free themselves or their buddies.

A diving knife is optional in recreational diving but it’s an important part of the gear for technical, wreck divers, and professional divers.

In addition, understanding your dive spot can help determine if you really need to carry one. There is no harm in always carrying one every time you dive since you never know when you may need it.

Recreational divers can carry a dive knife to help free trapped marine life. It’s sad that humans have polluted the environment so much that some of the waste ends up under the water.

A dive knife will come in handy to free a turtle from plastic ropes, plastic bags, or any other forms of waste preventing their free movement.

The decision to carry a dive knife among recreational scuba divers depends on the individual. Don’t stress about not having a diving knife on your first few dives, you may not really need or use the dive knife.

What Is the Point of a Dive Knife

The main point of carrying a dive knife is to help free yourself, your dive buddies, or marine life from kelp and abandoned fishing nets.

Dive knives are also important to clear your path when diving into wrecks and caves.

Other uses of a dive knife may include, getting your buddy’s attention. Use a dive knife to tap onto a tank until your buddy hears you.

In case of strong currents, a dive knife can act as an anchor to the seabed. This prevents drifting away or trying to swim against the currents leaving you exhausted and causing you to rapidly use up the air in your tank.

Why Do Diving Knives Have Blunt Tips

The main reason is to make it safer to carry the knife and prevent accidents such as stabbing yourself, tearing your diving suit, or any other gear.

Blunt tips are useful when digging the sea bed if the need arises. It also prevents the knife from breaking easily.

With a sharp tip, it’s quite easy to tear a dry suit risking your life. If you tear your dry suit then it can no longer serve its purpose. Water flows in the wetsuit leaving you freezing cold and it will also affect your buoyancy.

Sharp tips can easily tear the regulator hoses interrupting airflow. In such a case a diver may end up panicking or drowning.

Other gear needs to stay protected from sharp knife tips too. Most divers store their dive knives in the BCD pocket, it’s important to take them out and back in safely without tearing the BCD.

A sharp tip isn’t really necessary in beginner recreational scuba diving. The most important parts are the serrated and sharpened needs of the knife. These are the parts used to cut through fishing nets or kelps.

Diving knives used in spearfishing tend to have sharp tips but this isn’t common in scuba diving knives.

Can You Use Any Knife as a Dive Knife

No, you can’t use any knife as a dive knife for multiple reasons.

First, regular knives are big and an inconvenience to carry when diving. It would be very hard to fit a regular knife in a BCD pocket.

Regular knives also have only one sharpened end compared to diving knives which have two sides to use. These knives don’t come with a sheath making it easy to tear through your gear and equipment.

Secondly, regular knives lack the good grip handles required in a scuba diving knife. Most knives have smooth handles that will slip off when in water.

Some knives may be too small to hold when wearing diving gloves and also weak to cut fishing nets.

Regular knives are risker to use underwater and are prone to rust quickly since they are not designed for use under salty water.

Other knives such as pocket knives will be too small to use, hard to grip, and also rust must faster.

Diving knives are designed specifically for use underwater. The titanium material used is strong enough to cut through tough fishing rods and kelps.

Below we’ll discuss some factors to consider when buying your first dive knife.

How to Choose a Dive Knife

Buying a good knife will serve you for many years and save you money from frequent replacements.

When buying a dive knife consider the following tips;

• Pick a compact knife as it’s easier to carry in your BCD. 3- 5 inches in blade size is ideal.
• Has both straight and serrated edges. Each edge works well for different situations. Serrated edges cut nicely through kelps while straight edges cut plastic and nylon perfectly.
• Blunt tips are better for beginners for safety reasons.
• Good grip. A good diving knife has a comfortable grip when wearing diving gloves or not. Test out the grip before buying. Practice sheathing and unsheathing to get used to it even before diving.
• Beginners uncomfortable with carrying or handling knives can get diving shears first. Shears are easier to use even for a first-timer and are very safe.

Best Diving Knife for Beginners

Atomic Aquatics Titanium Ti6 Scuba Diving Knife

If you are a beginner in scuba diving this is the best pick for you. The titanium blade prevents corrosion and eventual rusting after each dive.

It has both serrated and sharp edges perfect for cutting through any form of tangles.

Has the perfect grip handle even when wearing diving gloves.

Easy to sheath and unsheathe. These are important factors especially when you need to act fast to cut through nylon fishing net or kelps.

Its compact size makes it easy to carry and store in the BCD pockets. The knife comes with straps in case you prefer strapping the knife to your arm or leg.

Low maintenance without any worry of the knife rusting or breaking.

Seasoned divers or those preferring knives with sharp tips, the knife is also available in sharp tips.

It’s currently available on Amazon. Click on the link for current prices.

Parting Words

We’ve gone through the importance of diving knives and whether divers really need them. Among recreational divers, a diving knife may not be the first accessory a diver reaches for but it is important to have. Technical and professional divers must carry their diving knives for various reasons as mentioned above.

When diving for the first time, don’t worry about not having a diving knife on you. Focus on enjoying the dive and exploring the underwater world.

I’ve also highlighted the top-rated dive I would recommend for beginner divers. It’s very easy to use and value for your money as it will serve you for many dives to come.

I hope this article provided useful information on whether divers need a scuba diving knife.

Happy diving!