Shears?

[String]

Following on from the one piece harness thread can anyone recommend decent shears/snips ?
Ive seen some people recommend buying paramedic/medic cutters whereas others ready made alternatives. Ideally something that'd either fit in a pouch pocket or in their own holder to thread through waist strap would be nice.

[J.D.]

I use trauma shears from Maplin. Think theyre about £3. They don't come with a sheath though, so I clip them onto a bungee loop in my drysuit pocket

[Rob Dobson]

I use the Bowstone ones - very nice and make light work of pretty much everything.

[String]

Originally Posted by James Davies

I use trauma shears from Maplin. Think theyre about £3. They don't come with a sheath though, so I clip them onto a bungee loop in my drysuit pocket

Dont they puncture the suit leg through the pocket without a sheath? No rust problems?

Im going past Maplin in cardiff tomorrow so may give them a go.

[dry suit diver]

Maplins is the best bet, you can make a sheath with a bit of webbing and some creativity.

Do not get them from your LDS they will cost 10 times that amount.

[Tim Davies]

The pin on the Maplin shears (Tuff Snips, I think) will rust but the blades are stainless. No big problem.

I don't know about using any kind of sheath: when you want the snips, you need em quick. If you're worried about them opening in the pocket, how about using an o-ring to hold the blades shut, and just roll it down when you need to?

[Lou]

I have mine clipped off in my pocket, with the blades held shut by a couple of inches of bicycle inner tube. Slip the tube over the blades and take up any slack in the width with a turn of insulating tape. Not too tight or it won't come off mind!

[J.D.]

Originally Posted by String

Dont they puncture the suit leg through the pocket without a sheath? No rust problems?

Im going past Maplin in cardiff tomorrow so may give them a go.

No the end is blunt so no risk of them puncturing the suit. No problem with rust either - apart from a very small amount on the rivet that holds the 2 halves together. I usually wash them after a days diving and spray them with a bit of teflon spray, seems to do the trick.

They had them in stock in the Cardiff Maplin last time I was there, at the back on the left hand side with the wire cutters, crimpers etc

[Tim Davies]

Might be little risk of puncturing the suit but they do come open and in the right circumstances could feasibly cut through a fold of the suit out of sight. It might be sensible to use *some* kind of retainer (like an o-ring or small ring of inner tube) but for me, a sheath is a no-no.

[NotDeadYet]

There's one big problem with trauma shears, they are designed to cut thin materials. If you try to cut something thicker, like rope or hose then you find the shear blades can twist and get bent apart. The alloy is a fairly brittle one and the blades tend to snap rather than flex. I've had it happen a couple of times.

I use B&Q gardening snips, very similar to the shears sold by Mares, etc. These have very tough stainless blades that will cut pretty much anything. I dive a lot in rivers and freshwater which tends to have a lot more crap dumped in it than the sea as well as branches and organic material so tougher shears are much more useful. Mine cost about £12 but I've been using them about three years with no corrosion.

Don't chuck away your knife either. If you ever have to cut something with line tightly wrapped round it (a fouled prop for example) then shears are next to useless if you cannot get one blade under the material.