View Full Version : Borg
I know i,m only a novice at the mo. Got O/W and just crossed to S/D but was amazed at what i saw today. Went for a fitness swim at my local pool and a certain diving club were having an open day. Two of the instructors/ Demonstrators had knives still on theirs BCD,s.
One of them in particular had a large knife on his waist belt a secondary knife on his LP hose. A torch on each shoulder and a couple of things i didn,t recognise. All in all he looked like he had been assimilated by the Borg.
I quite like gadgets myself and will dive with a knife in O/W, but is it really necessary or safe in a pool. i couldn,t find any nets or line so maybe it was to trim his toe nails with when he got bored.
Maybe coz i,m new to the sport but i would have took knives and torches out of their pouches and scabbards and left them at home.
Kris.
Chris Cherrington
25-05-2008, 18:13
You will find many odd things in diving if you stay in the game long enough. Dive knives are rather more about machismo than safety. They are pretty close to useless if you need to actually cut anything.
Chris
Two of the instructors/ Demonstrators had knives still on theirs BCD,s.
One of them in particular had a large knife on his waist belt a secondary knife on his LP hose. A torch on each shoulder and a couple of things i didn,t recognise. All in all he looked like he had been assimilated by the Borg.
Kris.
Certainly not Borg :D wouldn't be wearing a BC and wouldn't be wearing a knife on the LP hose.
However if I was practicing in the pool I would be wearing standing kit which does include a small knife on the waist band and backup torches on the harness.
Where was the pool ?
Mark Allen
25-05-2008, 19:16
What you have to remember is that out in public, wearing a knife any length can be classed as carrying an offensive weapon and you can be arrested for it. In a public pool you could be breaking the law. Police officers know we have them when we go diving so having a knife on you kit when going diving it’s not a problem. The best thing to do for the pool it not have one anywhere remove it from you sheaf and leave it in your car out of sight out of mind. If you attend a TIE and have a diving knife on you can fail due to safety reasons for carrying an offence weapon.
As I have said leave it in your car or better at home.
Mark Allen
Diving Officer
RMB Chivenor 1197
Thanx for your imput Chris, i realise its probably an ongoing bone of contention about whether to wear a knife or not. I tend to believe it can,t do any harm and hopefully i will never need it but if i ever do it will be there.
To fiona i would ask is it really necessary to wear knife in pool where you know there are no potential threats or nets or lines.
To Mark, many thanks. I,m aware of the legality or not. Thankfully even at this stage would not dream of leaving a knife in the sheath even if it was attached to bcd. At the best it seems like bravado and at the worst stupidity.
However if I was practicing in the pool I would be wearing standing kit which does include a small knife on the waist band and backup torches on the harness.
Why?????
What possible use could you have for a torch let alone a back up one in the pool !!!!!
As for the knife, that's plain stupid
Why?????
What possible use could you have for a torch let alone a back up one in the pool !!!!!
As for the knife, that's plain stupid
Because if your kit is set and ready to go diving with everything justwhere you want it then why remove something just for a pool session? Also, being familiar with your kit and where everything is positioned is essential if you need the backup when there is a problem?
Nick Argue
25-05-2008, 23:30
Personally I take the knife and line cutter off my stab when doing pool training. Though judging from the amount of hair I've seen recently in the pool perhaps I should reconsider keeping the line cutter in case of entanglement. :D
Chris Cherrington
25-05-2008, 23:38
...an ongoing bone of contention about whether to wear a knife or not. I tend to believe it can,t do any harm ...
I do not share your belief.
There are many better cutting tools available. Wearing a knife (particularly a big one strapped to your leg) can not only make you look like a right wally but it can do harm. (Unless you are a real US Navy SEAL/James Bond and want to stab Blowfelt with it of course)
I believe the Ford Anglia was a decent car in its day. (My grandad had one) This is no reason to suggest they are better than a Toyota Yaris.
Chris
Michael Purcell
26-05-2008, 03:57
Dive knives are rather more about machismo than safety. They are pretty close to useless if you need to actually cut anything.
Chris
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
And now back to reality...
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2314354/2/istockphoto_2314354_tangled_rope.jpg
http://www.halcyon.net/images/acc/10-knife02.jpg
http://www.divelocker.net/store/media/ScubaDiversLineCutter
http://www.surgicalsindia.com/gifs/scissors.jpg
http://www.signedknife.com/images/silvertridentframed.jpg
Michael Purcell
26-05-2008, 04:51
Certainly not Borg :D wouldn't be wearing a BC and wouldn't be wearing a knife on the LP hose.
However if I was practicing in the pool I would be wearing standing kit which does include a small knife on the waist band and backup torches on the harness.
Where was the pool ?
and like Fiona I know that my torches and small knife would be in pretty much the same locations.
Dive knives are rather more about machismo than safety.
Chris
Not sure mine fits into your bracket ;)
http://www.divingniknaks.com/prodimages/dzknife_sm.gif (http://www.divingniknaks.com/proddetail.php?prod=65050)
MarkA / Kris2 - As Finless said practicing skills in the pool is easier if all your standard kit is in its correct location, if I wanted to practice deploying a backup torch - oh I forgot I left them at home.
Next you will suggest I don't need my canister light :D
Steve in Sharm
26-05-2008, 07:21
I do not share your belief.
There are many better cutting tools available. Wearing a knife (particularly a big one strapped to your leg) can not only make you look like a right wally but it can do harm. (Unless you are a real US Navy SEAL/James Bond and want to stab Blowfelt with it of course)
I believe the Ford Anglia was a decent car in its day. (My grandad had one) This is no reason to suggest they are better than a Toyota Yaris.
Chris
I'm with Kris2 and Chris,
For those of you who claim "its standing (standard) kit so I would be using it in the pool as well (do you 'really' practise 'deploying' a torch???),
I ask this - Do you then still wear the same amount of lead in the pool as in saltwater, or do you leave some lead off your belt 'cos its not required'? :rolleyes:
Do you still take your snorkel in case of waves whilst finning over to the shot?
Do you still take your net bag in case of goodies (dropped knives perhaps)?
Do you still wear your wooly bear in case you get cold going that deep?
Come on guys n gurls - get real.....
Regards
Steve
Michael Purcell
26-05-2008, 07:31
Not sure mine fits into your bracket ;)
http://www.divingniknaks.com/prodimages/dzknife_sm.gif (http://www.divingniknaks.com/proddetail.php?prod=65050)
MarkA / Kris2 - As Finless said practicing skills in the pool is easier if all your standard kit is in its correct location, if I wanted to practice deploying a backup torch - oh I forgot I left them at home.
Next you will suggest I don't need my canister light :D
Deploy a torch?
Practice buoyancy?
Deploy and stow long hose?
Perform Shutdown drills?
Remove and replace knife?
Why on earth would you waste your time practicing these drills? What are you some sort of GUE automaton? ;)
To Ste,
just about the most sensible answer to my Thread. I,m sure the peops of Preston will feel safer if not sharing a pool with machette wielding scuba warriors.
If divers feel like trying their knife out they have ample opportunity to do so in their own clubs where the public are not using the pool at the same time.
I do intend to wear knife in open water situations but like i said before seems silly in a public pool . Thanx,Kris.
Chris Cherrington
26-05-2008, 09:34
...
http://www.surgicalsindia.com/gifs/scissors.jpg
....
That's the one Michael.. Yup.
I would urge anyone to try it out in the pool first though :D
Chris
Paul Oliver
26-05-2008, 10:26
My knife got lots of use yesterday as we were on a near virgin wreck :) and i spent a lot of time scraping stuff looking for non-ferrous :)
It also cut several fishing lines and a net for me with no problems. I think i must have got it out at least a dozen times, and its strapped to my leg ;)
Damn i am getting this diving lark so wrong ;)
As an aside i have another knife strapped to my wing and do tend to forget to remove it when i practice drills in the pool :o i don't teach in the pool with it on though :) i have a BC for that :)
BogSnorkeller
26-05-2008, 16:17
I know i,m only a novice at the mo. Got O/W and just crossed to S/D but was amazed at what i saw today. Went for a fitness swim at my local pool and a certain diving club were having an open day. Two of the instructors/ Demonstrators had knives still on theirs BCD,s.
One of them in particular had a large knife on his waist belt a secondary knife on his LP hose. A torch on each shoulder and a couple of things i didn,t recognise. All in all he looked like he had been assimilated by the Borg.
I quite like gadgets myself and will dive with a knife in O/W, but is it really necessary or safe in a pool. i couldn,t find any nets or line so maybe it was to trim his toe nails with when he got bored.
Maybe coz i,m new to the sport but i would have took knives and torches out of their pouches and scabbards and left them at home.
Kris.
Who gives a rat's arse? If someone hasn't bothered 'unloading' their BCD, what business is it of anyone else's? Does anyone honestly believe the police will wade into a swimming pool and arrest a diver for having a knife? Of course they won't - they will exercise their discretion and either ignore it or have an (apologetic) chat with the diver and ask him to put it back in his kit-bag. And the situation would only arise if someone was deliberately stirring up trouble by making a complaint in the first place. (Nobody would genuinely feel threatened by a dive instructor wearing all his bells and whistles, any more than they would feel fear knowing someone had a kitchen full of cutlery.)
On the few pool sessions I've helped out at, I tend to rush there from work, and whatever gear I have comes straight out of my bag 'as is.'
Steve Knight
26-05-2008, 16:43
Because if your kit is set and ready to go diving with everything justwhere you want it then why remove something just for a pool session? Also, being familiar with your kit and where everything is positioned is essential if you need the backup when there is a problem?
Sounds sensible to me. Why strip down your BCD just for a pool session. Also the pool is a good place to try out new kit or cofigurations before you use them in open water
Steve k
Michael Purcell
26-05-2008, 17:04
That's the one Michael.. Yup.
I would urge anyone to try it out in the pool first though :D
Chris
JJ hasn't told me where to affix them yet so I don't know how to integrate them into my configuration but when he does I will hit ebay and buy a batch. ;)
Seriously though I can see the advantage on monofilament and thinner lines. Would also be handy cutting webbing. Not sure about with thicker mm wet gloves though. I still don't believe it off-sets the diving knife, but of course we are talking the 3" knife not the more traditional John RAMBO blade.
Of course I was in a situation topside where an anchor line needed to be cut and I can tell you your scissors wouldn't have done it and my 3" while sharp wasn't exactly slicing through butter. As I was pushed aside by a Bearded man with an old school dive knife that sliced it in a couple of strokes.
Paul Oliver
26-05-2008, 18:40
A few weeks ago one of my buddies off of Dover was trying to release a trapped Porthole from under a load of fishing net, old rope/string type stuff and monofilement :)
He started off with one of JJ's butter knifes but gave it up for useless, then pulled out a net cutter and zipped through it in seconds, much more efficient :)
The porthole was rescued and had an uncontrolled ascent to the surface where it was fine after 108 years of saturation diving :)
I'm with Kris2 and Chris,
For those of you who claim "its standing (standard) kit so I would be using it in the pool as well (do you 'really' practise 'deploying' a torch???),
I ask this - Do you then still wear the same amount of lead in the pool as in saltwater, or do you leave some lead off your belt 'cos its not required'? :rolleyes:
Do you still take your snorkel in case of waves whilst finning over to the shot?
Do you still take your net bag in case of goodies (dropped knives perhaps)?
Do you still wear your wooly bear in case you get cold going that deep?
Come on guys n gurls - get real.....
Regards
Steve
Steve
You forgot the
Gloves
Hood
SMB
Flag
EPIRB
Compass
Etc.........
Went for a fitness swim at my local pool and a certain diving club were having an open day. Two of the instructors/ Demonstrators had knives still on theirs BCD,s.
One of them in particular had a large knife on his waist belt a secondary knife on his LP hose. A torch on each shoulder and a couple of things i didn,t recognise.
Kris.
Have you considered that as the club were having an 'Open Day' maybe the instructors had purposely kept their knives/torches on so as to show those visiting the sort of things that you may carry when diving. :)
Dave Lev
28-05-2008, 08:15
Nobody would find it that weird to find a pool-training diver had a DSMB in their BCD. I probably wouldn't carry a knife into a pool... but then I rarely carry a knife into the sea! But each to their own.
I would have a little chuckle*, though, if I saw anyone strapping a dive 'machete' to their leg at poolside!
* Probably accompanied with an amount pointing and snickering!
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