Spearfishing Knife & Safety Accessories — What You Need in Victoria

Spearfishing safety is not one item — it is a system: buddy, float and flag, rigging, and small tools that solve big problems when line wraps your wrist or kelp holds your floatline. This guide covers knives and the accessories Victorian spearos actually carry — without turning you into a walking tackle shop.

Read alongside the spearfishing safety checklist.

Flag design: Denelson83, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The knife — non-negotiable

What a dive knife is for

• Cutting your own tangled line or kelp
• Freeing floatline from reef snag (after assessing risk)
• Humane dispatch of fish when trained (not hacking living reef)

What it is not for

• Prying abalone or damaging habitat
• Threat display or “spearo cosplay” on the beach
• Substitute for poor rigging or diving alone

Blade types

Type	Notes
Blunt tip	Safer around inflatables and your leg; good general choice
Sharp tip	Fine with discipline; slightly higher self-injury risk
Serrated edge	Cuts line and kelp efficiently
Line cutter notch	Backup for thin monofilament

Titanium resists salt; stainless needs more rinse care. Either works if maintained.

Where to mount

Float-mounted (primary for many Victorian shore dives):

• Reachable when hands are busy with fish or line
• Cuts entanglement without reaching to leg in surge
• Pair with Alpha flag float

Leg or arm mount (backup):

• Traditional; works when separated from float briefly
• Must be smooth profile — no catching on line when swimming

Belt-only mount:

• Acceptable if float knife also present on busy Port Phillip traffic days

Rule: You must reach a cutting tool blind, in surge, in one motion — practise on land.

Two-knife culture

“Two is one, one is none” — common on Peninsula reef where line and kelp meet. Primary on float, backup on leg is the standard recommendation in many club safety briefings.

Whistle and audible signals

Surface buddy may be 20 m away in chop. A pea-less marine whistle on the float:

• Alerts buddy to abort dive
• Signals boats if you are separated from flag briefly
• Works when voice does not

Agree whistle blasts with buddy in pre-dive briefing — one blast vs three.

PLB and phone

Personal Locator Beacon (PLB): Satellite distress where mobile has no coverage — sensible on remote Gippsland and long west coast drifts.

Waterproof phone pouch: Useful for calling emergency services from inshore Bay areas; not a substitute for PLB offshore.

Register PLB to you; test battery annually. Tell land contact your dive plan.

Torch / dive light

Uses in Victorian inshore:

• Checking crevice ID before shooting (know rules)
• Signalling buddy in murk
• Early morning / late evening where legal — know local restrictions

Not: Wandering reefs at night without experience — separate topic with higher risk profile.

Small handheld or compact spearfishing torch on float — not huge scuba canister for shore reef.

Catch bag and stringer

Float-mounted catch bag keeps blood away from your wetsuit and off the gun. Check:

• Bag does not drag deep and pull float under
• Bag limits respected
• Iki jime or dispatch done before long swim to shore

Stringers exist but snag in kelp — many Victorian reef divers prefer bag on float.

Mask, snorkel, spare strap

Not “accessories” in the toy sense — but carry:

• Spare mask strap in float pocket (cheap session-saver)
• Defog routine — spit or mild defog; fog kills spotting in stalking

Library gear: inspect strap before leaving pickup — report wear.

First aid awareness

You do not need a full kit on every Peninsula shore dive, but:

• Land contact knows location
• Buddy trained in blackout rescue
• Boat dives: oxygen kit and first aid on vessel when available

Rigging accessories to float D-rings

Suggested priority order:

1. Alpha flag (on float, not accessory — core)
2. Knife
3. Whistle
4. Catch bag (when keeping fish)
5. PLB or phone pouch (remote or boat)
6. Torch (murk / dawn dusk where allowed)
7. Spare strap / small tool

Avoid D-ring Christmas trees — each clip snags line.

Maintenance

• Rinse knife, sheath, and screws; dry before storage
• Disassemble sheath occasionally — salt crust binds knives
• Replace worn leg straps before they drop knife in sand
• Test whistle after winter storage

Common mistakes

1. Dull knife — worse than no knife under stress
2. Knife only on back leg — unreachable when line wraps front
3. No whistle — buddy cannot hear “up” in surf noise
4. Catch bag dragging deep — invisible float, boat risk
5. Buying gadgets before buddy and flag — wrong priority order

Library loans

Borrow float, knife setup, and full kit from the Equipment Library — learn where you want knife mounted before drilling holes in expensive floats.

FAQ

One knife enough for beginners?
One minimum; two recommended once diving kelpy Peninsula reef regularly.

Serrated or straight edge?
Serrated main edge with line notch is the common spearfishing setup.

Are power heads safety accessories?
No — specialised legal category; not beginner gear.

Knife on gun?
Some mount small knife on gun — ensure it does not interfere with bands or shooting line.

Is a dive watch an accessory?
Depth/time awareness helps long aspetto sits — use conservative limits, not watch to max every dive.

Related: Float line rigging · Weight belt