Boats and Boating: Boat parts and accessories - "Dive Knives: The many different ways they keep you safe underwater" |
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Taking precautions and extra safety measures is a must in scuba diving. There are so many possible situations where trouble could arise, meaning each diver needs to have properly functioning basic equipment as well as additional accessory safety equipment. Dive knives are a highly recommended accessory because they are multi-purpose safety equipment. As a result of the multi-faceted quality of dive knives, many recreational divers carry one on every dive, no matter how pleasant the conditions.
While it is not necessary in favorable diving conditions to carry dive knives, there are other underwater terrains that can only be safely ventured through with a knife. It is wise to keep a dive knife readily available when swimming through caves, sea grass, kelp or other areas where your equipment may catch. With dive knives you can quickly cut yourself away from anything and avoid having to abandon your equipment or perform an emergency ascent.
Dive knives are also a helpful accessory to use for line cutting. This task may be necessary while diving to free fish or coral from caught lines or if you are spear fishing. Although dive knives, or any knives, are primarily for cutting, chopping or sawing at something, divers use them to perform other not-so-obvious tasks. Dive knives are also used to dig, scrape and scratch in an effort to uncover something you are unable to see at first glance. You will also often find that divers use their knives to pound on a rock or their tank in order to catch their buddy's attention.
Of all the choices in styles, types and features you have for dive knives, those with serrated edges are the most diversely used because the serrations perform a better cutting job on the things you might need to cut underwater. Since serrated edges are a prevalent feature on most dive knives, it is better to classify the knives in different ways. The common separation between types of dive knives is whether one has a blunt tip or a drop point.
The blunt tip dive knives are unlike the typical sharp tip knife you would think of because the tip is not pointed, rather squared off. Blunt tip dive knives are popular for recreational divers who prefer to carry a knife on every dive for safety purposes, but they rarely use it. Dive knives with a blunt tip are much safer than a pointed edge, or drop point, and you are less likely to puncture any equipment.
For many divers, having a drop pointed edge on their dive knives is not at all necessary. Cutting lines or kelp underwater requires only the sharp, serrated edge and digging with a squared tip is actually more efficient than using a typical knife. Still, for others the drop point dive knives are preferred and in some instances, a drop point is more effective.
Aside from the knife tip style you choose, dive knives are also separated by where they are attached on a diver. Dive knives are either strapped onto a person's leg or attached to the BCD on the shoulder strap or a hose. Pocket dive knives are another way of carrying a knife, but it is usually a back-up. Wherever you carry your dive knife or knives, be sure at least one is easily accessible with both hands, if possible.
In addition to the mixture of the above listed features, dive knives have blades made out of one of two metals: stainless steel or titanium. Both types of blades are widely used by recreational scuba divers. The deciding factor between which metal to use is often a question of how large your budget is. Titanium dive knives are not unreasonably expensive, but they are noticeably more costly than stainless steel knives.
Stainless steel is what the original dive knives were made of, and the quality of knives made from this metal has increased through time. Cleaning maintenance is necessary for stainless steel dive knives in order to keep them sharp and rust free. Since the introduction of titanium knives, divers have experienced the luxury of having a rust resistant, durable, low maintenance and long lasting dive knife.
However, as mentioned before, price keeps some people from switching to titanium dive knives. For the price of a basic, low-end titanium dive knife you could buy a quality designed, high profile stainless steel knife. That argument works for some divers, but others believe the slight extra monetary investment is worth getting a life long, barely destructible dive knife.
It is not impossible to find affordable titanium dive knives. At JoeDiverAmerica.com a titanium dive knife is featured at about $50, which is inexpensive for any titanium dive knife. The blade is mid-sized at nearly four and a half inches long with a drop point tip and serrated edge. Overall this titanium dive knife is suitable for a broad range of divers because of its high quality, affordable price and moderate blade size.
If it's stainless steel dive knives you are looking for, the Skeleton knife available at Island-scuba.com is a good starting point. The Skeleton is a full size, nine inches overall, stainless steel dive knife for $15. For a full size knife that comes with leg strap attachments, this is a good deal. The blade does have serrations on one side and a pointed tip, which are both features that make it useful for many situations.
Both above examples of titanium and stainless steel dive knives are good choices for a diver's first knife, although the titanium knife will probably last for many years to come. In each metal category the prices of other dive knives will increase from that of the knives listed, depending on blade size, attachment type, tip style and other added features.
Aside from the styles and features of the blades, you want to pay attention to the casing that will be holding the knife while it is attached to either your leg or BCD. You want a case that will securely hold the knife in place while you swim. The holder should also have a release button or clasp that is easy to find and function underwater.
An inflatable boat trailer is needed if the user has a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB), since those boats have only a deflatable collar surrounding a solid hull. RIB's are regular boats in many ways. A true inflatable boat does not need a trailer but in some cases the user may want one.
Larger inflatable boats can take some time to inflate and be assembled completely. If the user has an inflatable boat with an outboard motor, they may prefer to get it ready at home before heading to the launching area. In that case, an inflatable boat trailer may be necessary.
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