[Mal Bridgeman]

I got some shears off Dick Barwell of this parish and they are not showing anysigns of rusting at all. Might be worth a pm to him.

Rgrds
Mal

 

[Kanga]

Usually by trying to cut something, and seeing if it works.



Sometimes I accidentally stab myself too, blood is another good sign of sharpness.

Not always - if I take your eyeball out with one of those plastic spoons that Captain Landfill is doubtless familiar with, there's blood, but I can't then use the spoon to cut my way out of some webbing. I reckon blood is more a sign of endeavour, or a really long Tuesday afternoon, than sharpness.

 

[Guest]

I got some shears off Dick Barwell of this parish and they are not showing anysigns of rusting at all. Might be worth a pm to him.

Rgrds
Mal

fresh water is more forgiving though

 

[Clare]

Three things.

One. For sharp knives talk to Finbar. He'd only been on my course for ten minutes when he drew blood - mine!

Two. Getting someone out of a correctly fitted one piece harness should not require cutting it - although if necessary cut away!

Three. Shears are the way to go - but they do need to be checked. I change mine roughly every six months and throw the old pair in the toolbox as spares. I picked up an old pair at the weekend of a ziptie and the pin which holds the blades together sheared off levaing them useless. Not something you want to happen when you need them underwater.

 

[dave archer]

I got some shears off Dick Barwell of this parish and they are not showing anysigns of rusting at all. Might be worth a pm to him.

Rgrds
Mal

Ditto, and they cut very well :thumbsup:

Dave.

 

[Kanga]

Three things.

One. For sharp knives talk to Finbar. He'd only been on my course for ten minutes when he drew blood - mine!

Two. Getting someone out of a correctly fitted one piece harness should not require cutting it - although if necessary cut away!

Okay, so hijacking my own thread here: how do I know if it's correctly fitted? I find, if it's loose enough to get out of without wriggling, my backplate slides around when I'm swimming. If it's tight enough not to slide, I have to wriggle around to get out of it.

PS Ah! Fin resorted to physical threats? I wondered how the king of Doing It His Way managed to remain on a Fundies course :secret:

 

[4823]

Okay, so hijacking my own thread here: how do I know if it's correctly fitted? I find, if it's loose enough to get out of without wriggling, my backplate slides around when I'm swimming. If it's tight enough not to slide, I have to wriggle around to get out of it.

This might help

http://www.halcyon.net/manuals/Halcyon_mc_manual05web.pdf

I find I usually have to drop down in order to slide out of mine

 

[gwilson]

Okay, so hijacking my own thread here: how do I know if it's correctly fitted? I find, if it's loose enough to get out of without wriggling, my backplate slides around when I'm swimming. If it's tight enough not to slide, I have to wriggle around to get out of it.

PS Ah! Fin resorted to physical threats? I wondered how the king of Doing It His Way managed to remain on a Fundies course :secret:

Or this

DIR-diver.com - Adjust the backplate

I readjusted mine following these instructions and seems to of work a treat.

 

[Mal Bridgeman]

how do I know if it's correctly fitted?

Eventually you just "know" because it feels right and you can do all the things you need to do, like put it on, take it off, manipulate valves......the process of getting there takes a little longer though:

1) Buy one piece harness and fit it as per internet guidance
2) Find you can;t get in it so slacken it off
3) Get p*ss*d off that your twinset lolls around during a dive
4) Tighten the harness a bit
5) Reach a point where you are satisifed with it
6) Go on a course where a professional adjusts it and explains the importance of the waistband position and the crotch strap
7) Think you will never get in it but if you did you are not sure you'd get out of it
8) Slacken it off when instructor is not looking
9) Dive with it for a bit and think it's a bit slack
10) Tighten it back up to where it was at point 6
11) Wish you'd started and ended the whole process at step 6

HTH
Mal

 

[Lou]

Two. Getting someone out of a correctly fitted one piece harness should not require cutting it .

What, even on land and if you suspect physical injury?

The jiggling I took when folk got me out of mine flat out on the floor was enough to make me pleased I didn't have broken ribs/back/arm etc

 

[Mal Bridgeman]

What, even on land and if you suspect physical injury?

The jiggling I took when folk got me out of mine flat out on the floor was enough to make me pleased I didn't have broken ribs/back/arm etc

Presumably if you are in that state you are going to be cut out of your drysuit too
Mal

 

[Kanga]

Eventually you just "know" because it feels right and you can do all the things you need to do, like put it on, take it off, manipulate valves......the process of getting there takes a little longer though:

1) Buy one piece harness and fit it as per internet guidance
2) Find you can;t get in it so slacken it off
3) Get p*ss*d off that your twinset lolls around during a dive
4) Tighten the harness a bit
5) Reach a point where you are satisifed with it
6) Go on a course where a professional adjusts it and explains the importance of the waistband position and the crotch strap
7) Think you will never get in it but if you did you are not sure you'd get out of it
8) Slacken it off when instructor is not looking
9) Dive with it for a bit and think it's a bit slack
10) Tighten it back up to where it was at point 6
11) Wish you'd started and ended the whole process at step 6

HTH
Mal

Oh so true. :embarassed:

Thanks for all the info, everyone.

Lou, I'm inclined to agree with you that if I wasn't in a position to wriggle myself, there's no chance you could get me out of my harness without a good pair of shears. But I'm going to get someone to try it this weekend.

 

[cosmo]

Going back to knives - I have two cheap knives one i use and a spare in my kit
and fingers crossed I have never been let down.

Cosmo

 

[ardhill]

OK, I do actually have a pair of the Dive Rite shears mentioned at the beginning of this thread.

I have had them for Ohh at least a year and they are in perfect condition, but then again I do rinse my kit well after diving. No WD40 though, but if I needed to leave the shears for days without washing eg on a dive trip, then I would probably use WD40.

The Dive Rite ones come complete with a handy pouch for keeping them in, which will thread onto your waistband. They will also cut webbing easily (wet or dry), which not all on the shears do - so be careful of the cheaper ones. I have a few pairs of shears and I must say that the Dive Rite ones cut webbing better than the others.

Oh, and when I had a dive knife with a straight blade, I did sharpen it up real good But I am good at loosing knives so...

Regarding getting someone out of a one piece harness. Yes if it is fitted correctly and you are being rescued by someone who is well acquainted with them, then I am sure you can be extracted quickly and easily. But I don't trust people, especially when the adrenaline starts to pump. So in my buddy checks, I do point out the shears and tell my buddy just to cut me out if he / she has to (and I have a clip in my harness).
.

 

[Steve Summers]

Actually, since there's a hijack in progress (sorry!) here's something I was wondering about: do most people actually sharpen their dive knives, and if so how? Or do you just accept that the blade is so blunt you're probably going to die if you ever actually need it?

Every year or so I sharpen mine on a bench grinder, it can cut through thick rope and webbing with ease.

My weapon of choice though are some heavy duty shears, [possibly Dive Rite?] they look more like pruning shears and I've had them over 3 years with no problems, I just put a smear of sillicone grease on the blade every now and again.

Safe diving,
Steve

 

[davebarber]

Every year or so I sharpen mine on a bench grinder, it can cut through thick rope and webbing with ease.
Safe diving,
Steve

How do you run the bench grinder u/w ?

 

[4823]

How do you run the bench grinder u/w ?

with a handle!

 

[Mick F]

But do you take a redundant bench?

 

[Woz]

1) Buy one piece harness and fit it as per internet guidance
2) Find you can;t get in it so slacken it off
3) Get p*ss*d off that your twinset lolls around during a dive
4) Tighten the harness a bit
5) Reach a point where you are satisifed with it
6) Go on a course where a professional adjusts it and explains the importance of the waistband position and the crotch strap
7) Think you will never get in it but if you did you are not sure you'd get out of it
8) Slacken it off when instructor is not looking
9) Dive with it for a bit and think it's a bit slack
10) Tighten it back up to where it was at point 6
11) Wish you'd started and ended the whole process at step 6

12) Throw the crotch strap in the bottom of your dive bag until you need it for scootering
13) Eat pies until the harness is a bit tighter

 

[finbar.taylor]

PS Ah! Fin resorted to physical threats? I wondered how the king of Doing It His Way managed to remain on a Fundies course :secret:

Nothing of the sort Clare asked if I had a knife she could borrow and she managed to do all the rest herself. I must admit it was an intersting start to the course I think I would have got a better result on the course if I'd had some plasters with pictures/cartoons on or all black as oposed the blue food plasters I had to administer.

Fin