Is it true that scuba divers bring a Glock 9mm with them underwater for personal protection against sharks?
by 
kuyakev
ANSWERS: 7
-
My husband never did when he went diving in the ocean, however, he did carry a pretty hefty knife with him on his dives. Actually I've never heard of the practice of carrying a Glock 9mm for protection while scuba diving. Seems dangerous to me.
-
Would the weapon even work underwater?
-
The television show MythBusters undertook to study the behavior of projectiles fired into water; comparing several firearms including a muzzle-loader, a Beretta 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a .357 magnum, an M1 Garand, a .50 caliber rifle, and a shotgun with a deer slug, they found that the lower velocity projectiles had lethal penetration at a distance of 8-10 feet, while high velocity projectiles fragmented upon contact with the water. They followed this with an experiment on firing guns underwater, using a Beretta 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a .357 magnum, a Garand M1, and a shotgun. While all the guns successfully fired underwater, the shotgun was completely destroyed, with the barrel splitting. The bullets were unable to provide lethal penetration after traveling two feet.
-
some do... there are modifications that need to be made to a 9mm glock to get it to reliably cycle underwater (gunbroker.com search "Glock AMPHIBIOUS"), however an out of the box glock will shoot and cycle underwater. the most important thing is the choice of ammunition, you want to use a full metal jacketed (non-hollowpoint) subsonic round. the faster the bullet the more energy it expends, leaving less energy to impart on the target, so slower is better. NEVER EVER EVER, FIRE A GUN inside a pool. you want to be in an open body of water, as the gunshot passes the majority of the energy to the water, which will pass it to you, causing tissue damage. the larger body of water you are in the more area for the force to be dissipated in, hence less threat to you.
-
Where do you get these stories from? A normal scuba diver doesn't even carry a knife...let alone a 9mm Glock. I guess there are always some weird ones out there. Some of them probably carry hand cuffs too...just in case.
-
The best protection against sharks is either repellent or a shark stick. If it is necessary to use either you need to get out of the water immediately after. If sharks are known to be present you shouldn't be in the water in the first place.
-
Absolutely NOT. Spear guns or bang sticks are used, if they suspect the need to defend against sharks. Scuba divers are usually an intelligent breed, though...stupid ones don't live long. So they will avoid shark infested waters unless they have a reason to be there in the first place. Then they will take other measures as well, like a shark cage or a chain mail shark suit.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC