Knife for the beach with sharks in mind?

D

David G

Joined
Dec 11, 2000
Messages
54
Scenario. Newsy but relevant.

You are planning a vacation at the beach with the family. There was recently a shark attack at that same beach on which you will be vacationing, so your wife is especially concerned. To set your mind less at ease, there was a shark attack at another beach just 10 days earlier--a beach you have also been to with your family. The father of that family had a hard time beating the shark off of his son (presumably using his bare hands).

You carry knives every day, but have never carried one on you at the beach in your bathing suit.

The questions are:

What knife model are you carrying affixed to your bathing suit and why? (You want the knife concealed beneath or clipped to the suit so as not to scare anyone. It will spend all day wetted with salt water, but could be washed each evening. Also, you don't want your suit suddenly pulled down around your ankles by a very heavy knife.)

Will this knife make any difference (stow the concern and enjoy beach)?

Regards,

David
 
Pick the bluntest knife you can find, so it won't hurt too much when the shark shoves it up your a$$ ;)
 
Well, most swimmers don't even realize that there are sharks and cudas in and out of their swimming areas all the time.... most of these attacks are reportedly the sharkie just "tasting" what's playing in it's backyard- to see if it's worth the trouble of pulling down and ripping apart... some people think the sharks are developing a taste for us now, and less of a fear of us anyway (I'm wondering if they were ever really afraid as we define the word)...
I'd stay out of the deeper water, and make sure there are a lot of large slower people out further in the water....if you absolutely have to be in deep enough water for a shark to swim (and remember- tigers and bull sharks can still move in on you in 3 - 4 ft. of water, and they are statistically meaner for their numbers out there)...
I've been swimming (distance swimming) for 20 years, and I know I'm a decent swimmer...but I also know I'm way out of my element in a shark's world...
I don't think a knife would help at all, what would help is the awareness and cold realization that we are potentially bacon bits if we push the odds too far. Just remember- most serious shark attacks are "sneak attacks" where you're hit hard, fast, and without even seeing it coming...I think you'll be more concerned with trying to find which way is up and trying to get yourself to stop rolling around in the waves....
Now, if you witness an attack- maybe, just maybe, if the juice is flowing and you're in excellent shape, and the shark is rubbing some sand and can't maneuver very well...maybe then a knife would be handy, you'd still be bleeding, and the jaws may very well stay locked as you stab the bugger, even with an eye stab...
 
I, also, am not convinced you’d be able to do much with your knife in the event of a shark attack, but we ARE knife people here, so let’s recognize this: If you feel better just having a knife with you, carry one!

How about rigging it this way? Use paracord around your waist and allow a fixed blade knife to hang from it, down your strong-hand side, just inside your swim trunks. Unfortunately, you’ll be limited to a knife that, in its sheath, doesn’t peek out the outside of your swimwuit leg.You can probably get away with a 9 or 10-inch OAL knife in this manner. I have carried a Mad Dog Mirage X Operator in this fashion when in a swimming pool and no one knew it was there at all.

Even if you don’t want to do this, you might still consider using the paracord trick under your trunks and clipping a folder there, so as not to weigh down your trunks.

Good luck.
 
How about a Cold Steel Trail Master Bowie? Those sharks are BIG, and sharp, and ANY knife that I'D go up against a shark with would need to be the same...Big and sharp!

I'd have to carry this knife in my mouth like a pirate, as it just wouldn't look right fastened to my Speedos.:D.
 
Since I lived at the beach(Blue Mt. Beach, FL) for a few years, I have thought about this topic a lot as well. My friends and I used to carry whatever knife we had at the time, but it was always a fixed blade. I would have a Ka-Bar,(only the edge would rust, but I usually had the knife blade soaked in WD 40 anyway) and my friend would carry a Cold Steel Bushman or one of the Air Force survial knives made by Camillus. We would go out in the Gulf of Mexico just as hurricanes were approaching(not while they were upon us) and the knives would not come off, so I know that this works. We would usually have a paracord running through the belt loop, then we would tie it around our chests, kind of like a one would wear a pouch of arrows. We would knot up the rope below the belt loop so that it would not slide down. You would just reach back and grab the knife like you were taking out an arrow. It was fun nonetheless and the tourists always gave us hilarious looks. We never encountered a shark attack, but it gave us peace of mind, I don't know how though.
 
Well I think your best bet is a large fixed blade in a bag on the sand with you so you can help others is the way to go.Bigger the better,and if you want well I would and do carry a CS tanto point Voyager clipped to my trunks,plus tied on with a lenght of cord.Thats my boat and beach knive;) .
 
Lotsa luck! Shark skin is thick and tough. I've seen navy training films where a diver was unable to penetrate the hide using a commando dagger. The water drag prevents you from getting any speed behind your thrust. I would use a push dagger if anything.
 
When you are in the water, you'll only be able to tickle the shark, no matter what you carry. Your movements under water are not fast nor coordinated enough to fight with even a small shark. Best advice..have lots of slower people around you and swim like hell.
Just face it..in/under water, especially if you cant stand on the bottom, your bacon to a shark.

But... if you are outside of the water (knee-hip high), shark can attack there too, and then you may have an effective weapon if you carry something big enough to make a serious chop, like a khukri or a sword. Off course, a serious gun would be more effectient.

another..I have done a few dives around (small) sharks, and I think a more efficient way of not getting bitten is learning more about a shark. For example.. surfboard with people on the look like seals from under water. If you would swim besides your surfboard, you wouldn't look like sharkfood. The nose of a shark is also hypersensitive. Stabbing a shark is not really any good, as pain only seems to make it more agressive (this comes down to you losing more bodyparts :D ). The tail is also about the only place you can grip a shark and hold on. You can kill a smal shark easy if you grab behind the gills and just hang on whil it chokes..it can't bite you that way either. When you hold a shark still, or drag it backwards, it dies in a matter of minutes.

You can also buy yourself a stainless steel ring-suit, like the knights had for armour. that helps very good for sharkbites, but is a bitch to swim in.

greetz, bart.
 
Let me start this post by saying that my single biggest fear is sharks... It's definitely a phobia - I'm even afraid of them in big pools sometimes.

You would go into water reported to be infested with sharks? I think you should visit the psychiatrist before you worry about your choice of knives! You would not catch me in that water!! Not even with a bazooka! :eek:

I'd imagine trying to use a knife to fend off a shark would be like using a wooden shield to deflect a speeding train! :D
 
I am with you Jim Six. The only reason I would have a knife is to make me feel better. I really doubt any of the knives I own could do anything but help me sink faster. However, if I could get ahold of a balistic knife then I would have something to my advantage. I hear you AntDog. I have somewhat of a phobia also. Sometimes I let my mind go a little too far when I am in the swimming pool and find myself looking behind me expecting to see a giant tooth filled mouth ready to saw into me. Statistically I know that I am more likely to die falling in the shower than being killed by a shark, but it is pretty hard to get the idea of a giant fish devouring me out of my mind. I have read that sharks are extremelly vulnerable to electricity, even in small amounts. If you could take a "water proof" low power taser of some sort into the water you might have a handy way of deterring a shark.
Matthew
 
A very simple way of scaring of a shark (or drive one nuts in a tank) is by trowing a 9 or 12 V battery in the water. Off course, it shortcircuits, but it gives of a neat puls which shark absoluetly hate.
...
...
Or so my friend here at the university of marine biology told me.

greetz, Bart.
 
Wanna play pirate with sharks?
use pirate stuff:

View


You dont have to stab, just use it like a boar-spear:
hold it firm and let him swim in.

Good luck :eek:

BTW: you will need LARGE swimming trunks :rolleyes:
 
I'd use my hands before I'd bother unsheathing a knife. From what I've read on the subject, raking the gills of a shark will take him out of that feeding mood in a heartbeat. This is common to all fish. The gills are extra-sensitive. Most fish will stop in their tracks once their gills are grabbed. Try it on a northern pike or muskie sometime. They go instantly from ferrocious to helpless.
 
How about a Busse Battle Mistress?! ON top of everything else, the special steel it is made with - INFI - is more impervious to salt water than just about anything else.

My preference would be a speargun with a 7.62mm military cartridge at the tip that detonates upon impact with the shark. But then you said "which knife" not which weapon....
 
Oh, man, you're going to be armed!? This changes everything. We native Floridians tend to spend our afternoons at the beach laughing at your sunburned a$$es! You don't have a short temper, do you? :p

Regarding a knife for a shark ... What color is the sky in your world? :rolleyes:
 
As a life long Florida resident, I'll tell you our secret for dealing with fiesty sharks.
When the sharks are feeding exceptionally close to shore,

we use the pool! :rolleyes:

That's right and you heard it here first!

Sharks, even small sharks, hit fast and hard. Only when they are idly curious do they take the odd nip and release now and again.
When they are chasing the fish close to shore, things get to moving very quickly. You are just an obstacle in the water. You are not going to be able to move fast enough to get out of the shark's way even if you see it coming at you. Remember many of them can swim at 20-30 mph. When the sharks are feeding close to shore, most sane Floridians stay OUT of the water.
Sure, there will always be sharks in the water with you. You'll very seldom know they are there, but they are there nonetheless. Occasionally one may brush your arm or leg in passing, leaving your startled self wondering what the Hell that was that just touched you, but, no harm no foul. When they are actively feeding close to shore, stay away from the buffet.
So if you've read up to this point, I imagine your starting to see that a knife in the water will be doing you little good. But, peace of mind is peace of mind after all, so if you need a knife with you I'll recommend something extremely sharp and pointy in the 440c range with a bit more Chromium to help keep corrosion at bay. Keep your bead blasted stuff at home unless you enjoy rusty blades.;)
The best bet is to just realize that sharks are an apex predator in the water and we are not. We may rule on land, but in the ocean the shark is the Big Kahuna.

Oh! FWIW, if you see the shark that is going to bite you, I've seen where sticking a solid, metallic object like an underwater camera in their mouth sends them packing.
 
Since it sounds like you're hinting about Va.Bch,VA. your best bet is to leave the knife in your hotel room. Shark or no shark the police don't take knidly to knives being carried on the beach. Some are cool but for the most part their not. :(
 
You know, there have been fewer shark attacks this year than average. There was one shark attack that made a dramatic story, with a father bravely fighting a shark to save his son ... so the national media ran that ... and it sold so well that in the absence of much else for news (seasonal) they ran a few other shark stories ... and they sold too ... and ever since there's been a media shark frenzy.

I suppose if I were to fight a shark I would want something a little longer than my Outdoor Edge Wedge, but I doubt I'll change....

By the way, INFI is more corrosion resistant than most non-stainless steels, but not as corrosion-resistant as any of the stainless steels.
 
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