Diving knife

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A diving knife

A dive knife is tailored to the needs of divers tuned knife .

nature

A diving knife should always have a shaped and largely non-slip handle. The blade should on the one hand a strong sharpened smooth finish and on the other, for easier cutting of fibrous material with a serrated edge feature. A blade with a special sack-like bend for cutting plastic cords is recommended (in the illustration on the upper edge of the blade just before the handle).

On some models, the blade can also serve as a lever and the handle as a hammer. The shape and size of the knife handle must also be easy to handle with gloves, the knife itself must be stored in the sheath in a loss-proof manner by means of fasteners (strap, catch, care rope, screw connection).

In addition, the diving knife should have a lanyard so that it does not sink irretrievably into the depths or into the bottom sediment if it falls out of hand.

Intended use

A diving knife is an emergency instrument by means of which the diver can free himself and others from a dangerous situation such as getting caught in nets, ropes, fishing lines, etc. It should therefore always be carried in unknown waters.

Older diving knives in particular are often equipped with a metal knob which enables the diver to send out acoustic signals, in particular by hitting the knob on his compressed air bottle. Modern knives regularly do not have a metal knob, but the blade can be used for acoustic signaling. However, a diving knife is not a substitute for safety-relevant signal means , in particular surface signal means .

Contrary to popular belief, sea creatures cannot be fended off effectively with a diving knife. There is also very seldom a need for this.

use

Divers knives are available in different designs. Larger knives are attached to the diver's lower leg in a special holder with two straps . A large diving knife is usually a hindrance, which is why experienced divers attach them to the inside of the lower leg or prefer medium-sized to smaller knives. Under no circumstances should the diving knife be attached to a detachable weight belt, because if you have to loosen it in an emergency, the knife will be lost or the equipment can be damaged when pulled out. Smaller diving knives are often worn on the right forearm or attached to the buoyancy compensator, whereby care must be taken that the use of the knife is not restricted by diving watches or diving computers . Overall, it is advisable to carry the knife so that you can comfortably reach it with both hands.

variants

Even with stainless blades should be noted that the majority of stainless steels in chloride -containing media such as seawater quite susceptible to corrosion are.

There are special steels that are resistant to this, but you generally cannot tell from the blades. It is therefore advisable to take care of the knives ( rinse them in fresh water and grease them). Ceramic knife blades are an alternative . However, they are comparatively expensive and ceramics are brittle and easily fragile. Knives with blades made from titanium are also available. Titanium is lighter than stainless steel and just as unbreakable. At the same time, titanium is characterized by a high level of corrosion resistance in salt water.

Web links

Commons : Diving Knives  - Collection of images, videos and audio files