Posted on 06/16/2008 9:03:35 PM PDT by Flavius
By Andrew Liszewski
We all remember how cool it was when Chief Brody literally blew up Bruce the shark at the end of Jaws. (Oops, that should probably have had a spoiler alert.) But what if you happen to find yourself in a similar situation without a sinking ship and a tank of compressed air? I’m sure that same thought was going through the head of whoever invented the WASP diver’s knife. The knife features a small tank that “injects a frozen ball of compressed gas approximately the size of a basketball at 850psi nearly instantly.”
While it’s able to bring down a large land predator, it seems even more effective while diving, where a shark or other underwater attacker will be immediately carried to the surface before any blood is released into the water. And when the blood is released, other predators will be drawn to the surface instead of towards the diver in peril. The WASP knife is rumored to have a price tag of about $400, but there’s a pretty good chance it won’t be sold to civilians.
Also, is it just me, or does that cutaway diagram have a weird, optical-illusion thing happening? Looking at the butt of the knife and the top of the small gas canister, I can’t really tell which way the knife is supposed to be pointing.
[ WASP Diving Knife ] VIA [ Boing Boing Gadgets ]
Cutaway diagram? Back to html bootcamp for you.
this might have uses on land as well!
Hilarity will ensue when divers collecting abalone manage to jab themselves in the leg with one of these devices.
Error
What's next, the “Beano” protective vest?
By the way, I scuba dived for a decade growing up in Florida.
Good luck stabbing any fish.
And a shark?
Good Lord, they have the toughest skin in the ocean.
If we modify this into a soft plastic, form friendly design, and cut back on the psi, it might have a future as a sex toy.
Okay, okay, so they were bottom dwellers.
The WASP would be overkill.
“this might have uses on land as well!”
Mostly building the careers of prostituting...er prosecuting attys and civil action attnys.
I cant imagine a bear standing there and letting you inject him with this thing... and cougars come hard and fast..from behind..so they are out.
So that leaves people. And if you use something like that on a person, even in a clear cut case of self defense, chances are the aforementioned attnys are going to take you apart no matter what.
Ever hear of the Farallon Shark Dart? There might be patent infringement.
James Bond used a gun like this to (literally) blow up Dr. Kananga (played by the excellent Yaphet Kotto) in “Live and Let Die.”
In the film, "Commando," Schwarzenegger used a ballistic knife to neutralize an enemy soldier. The knife uses a spring to launch the blade out of the handle.
"Como esta!?"
“Also, is it just me, or does that cutaway diagram have a weird, optical-illusion thing happening?”
Not just you. The drawing is wrong. The cut away off the butt of the handle is not consistent with the front of the handle.
The small gas tank is what throws it off, but you're actually viewing the inside of the tank. It's a section view, so the tank is halved lengthwise; open.
Put your thumb over the front of the tank, and the illusion disappears. Magic!
You’re right. Technically it is correct.
I think there’s shading issue on the inside curved portion of the CO2 cartridge that keeps me from seeing that it’s the INSIDE of it.
Isn’t this the knife that is a a Spetsnaz specialty?
There are Russian models out there, and I am fairy certain that it's a Spetsnaz specialty.
Are they legal here in the USA?
I don’t know...
I think so in some states. I bought the one pictured first about 25 years ago. They've since been made illegal here in California.
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