Mares Maximus Dive Knife Review

I like the Mares Maximus, but I think I like the idea of it more than I actually like the knife itself. It’s billed as a multi-tool, which I think is cool—multiple uses, one price. But then I looked at the tools offered outside of the cutting edges, and I’m not sure they are really necessary.

Let’s go through them. The screwdriver pieces seemed like a good idea, but then I wondered how many times I’ve had to screw or unscrew something during a dive. Let me tell you, the answer is less than one. Well, maybe it’ll be good on the boat. Not great there either. Boats carry actual tools that fit.

Next is the bottle opener. Great. I love beer, maybe more than most. But again, I never drank a beer at depth. And most boats don’t like glass bottles on board, so this seems unnecessary unless you’re carrying the knife out in town after the dive, which might raise other suspicions.

Now, the cutting edges. The straight edge is pretty good. It cut through the 550 cord fairly easily, and handled the poly dock rope with a little bit of work. The serrated edge and line cutter both cut the 550 cord. The serrated edge did struggle with the thick braided rope though.

The Maximus is easy to get in and out of the sheath, but the snap closure gets more difficult the thicker your gloves are. I would probably slip a hair tie or some rubber tubing over it to ensure it stays locked.

Overall, even with some of the gimmicky additions, the Maximus is still a good knife. Its solid construction and nice cutting edges make it worth it. If it’s a little too big for you, we suggest checking out our review of the Mares Neutron. It’s basically the same design, but in a “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” kind of way.