A little Salt update...

truthseeker

truthseeker

Joined
Jun 23, 2006
Messages
2,911
It's probably no real surprise, but this little Salt has fared extremely well over the past 2 years. I do a lot of work in some pretty nasty industrial environments, and this blade goes with me into all of them. So far, it's been exposed to acids, bases, strange solvents, powdered mystery residue of various types, mud, sand, abrasive compounds, metal shavings, and fine metal dust. It's been dragged across rocks, dropped from scaffolds, run over by a truck, thrown at a possum, and used as a light hammer. It went to Cozumel and went snorkeling. It narrowly avoided being blown up in Tacoma (ok, not much of a test there, but maybe it's a lucky knife :D). It got inspected by the TSA twice and didn't get stolen. And.....it got peed on by a dog.

All that and it looks pretty dang good. The edge hasn't worn much at all, even with all the sharpenings. The edge holds for quite a long time now, too. There's no horizontal blade play, which really blows me away considering it doesn't have screws in it and it has plastic scales. There's a tiny bit of vertical play, probably from all the abrasive junk getting in the lock. It's never really been cleaned with anything but tap water, and I modded the clip a little by replacing it with a Ti clip from a Pac Salt. The stock clip rusted to junk pretty quickly.

Anyway, I just realized it's been right about 2 years since I bought it, and thought I'd share the hard knocks the thing's been through. :D



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High-res pic.
Another.
 
I wish they made salts with the D4/E4 handles and with screw together constructon but I still wanna get a fully serrated salt of some sort.
 
You just sold me! I just moved to the coast and I am sick of taking off my knife everytime I go into the water! I've been waiting for something to convince me to buy one. You just did it my friend!! Thanks!

Greg
 
My Pacific Salt is also my number-one EDC over the Militaries, Polices, and Natives in my collection because of similar reasons---it's a more economic product, it won't rust, and it seems to be practically indestructible. I ran ten miles last weekend at the local reservoir, walked back in the soaking ran, and went for a swim in my pool all without taking off the same shorts---and my yellow-handled, serrated Pac Salt. Still haven't bothered to thoroughly clean it since I got it two Christmases ago, and no corrosion, blade play, etc. :D Great design. 'Nuff said.
 
I think it's safe to say that you got your money's worth. Thanks for the update. Very cool.
 
Just so there is no misunderstanding; the earliest Salts had regular metal clips like Truthseeker's, but after that they were replaced by Ti. clips. Unless you get one from the first batch, you need not worry about rusty clips. :)

Also, obviously it is personal preference, but the E3/D3 style handles are fantastic, adding extra screws that can come loose, just makes for more error prone posibilities.
 
Wow, that knife has been through a lot! But it' s in pretty good shape for that, nice.
 
zenheretic said:
Just so there is no misunderstanding; the earliest Salts had regular metal clips like Truthseeker's, but after that they were replaced by Ti. clips. Unless you get one from the first batch, you need not worry about rusty clips. :)

Also, obviously it is personal preference, but the E3/D3 style handles are fantastic, adding extra screws that can come loose, just makes for more error prone posibilities.
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Did the Salt I start getting the Ti clip when they got the H1 engraving on the blade? In the clip's defense, I'll say that it didn't start rusting until it got exposed to some pretty nasty stuff. Normal use probably wouldn't phase it at all.


Oh, and I washed it off pretty good after the dog pee thing. :D Talk about an unfortunate chain of events....honestly, did he really have to pee on my knife? Didn't even know the dang dog...musta had it in for me somehow. :o
 
I've had a Salt 1 SE for about two years now. I agree 100% it is one tough knife. Mine is used to cut up a lot of cardboard boxes. The H-1 steel actually heats up during use and becomes stronger.
 
Lol, wanted one of these but think I might actually go ahead and get it. My biggest concern with a lot of spydies is the toughness due to plastic handles. Should the sharp as hell edge always seems to win me over.
 
riz_aaroni said:
Lol, wanted one of these but think I might actually go ahead and get it. My biggest concern with a lot of spydies is the toughness due to plastic handles. Should the sharp as hell edge always seems to win me over.
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Just to let you know, the "plastic" is fibreglass reinforced nylon, and is strong enough to survive pretty much any day-to-day activity, and more.
 
truthseeker said:
Did the Salt I start getting the Ti clip when they got the H1 engraving on the blade? In the clip's defense, I'll say that it didn't start rusting until it got exposed to some pretty nasty stuff. Normal use probably wouldn't phase it at all.
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I do believe it was before that.
 
zenheretic said:
I do believe it was before that.
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Hmmm...mine must be pretty old, then. Guess I better buy a new one. :D

I want a yellow handled version. My Pac Salts are all yellow, and it's definitely harder to lose. This one usually sports a Chris Reeve-style lanyard made out of bright yellow 550 cord. :thumbup:
 
truthseeker said:
Hmmm...mine must be pretty old, then. Guess I better buy a new one. :D

I want a yellow handled version. My Pac Salts are all yellow, and it's definitely harder to lose. This one usually sports a Chris Reeve-style lanyard made out of bright yellow 550 cord. :thumbup:
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Sal said through color tests, that the yellow was the easiest to see underwater. Hopefully you don't have to be submerged much on your job, but at least you can find it easier if you drop it while crawling through pipes of dangerous chemicals...:eek::p
 
macgregor22 said:
Can someone explain to me how H-1 hardens with use?

I just cant wrap my teen head around it.
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Technically, all steels harden with use by a process called work hardening, but it's more prevalent in H1 for a reason I'm not sure about.

From first year materials at uni, inside all grains you have tiny little dislocations. The less dislocations in the metal, the more ductile it is. When you work metal, the dislocations multiply and move around the metal. However, because they move around, they interact and block other dislocations, so more energy is required to move the dislocations any further. This gives the material a greater hardness, but at the cost of ductility.

To any of the metallurgists out there, if I've mucked my explanation, please say so.
 
If there are any other people still on the fence about the quality, durability, corrosion resistance, etc. of the Salts, here's a Pac Salt I've been using for a little over a year. I got it in July '07 and have been beating the crap out of it ever since. I just thought I'd add it in here with my other beater. :thumbup: :D

It's developed some slight horizontal play, but I've been prying on stuff with it, so I'm not concerned.

The funny-looking scratches towards the top of the blade are from prying up steel tabs on crates. :eek: :thumbup:


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High Res 1
High Res 2


Oh yeah, some jerk with the TSA stole one of my Salt I's (not Old Faithful) along with a pair of dirty underwear. Don't check bags unless you have to. :grumpy:
 
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truthseeker,

Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing that with us. I love seeing very well used knives.
 
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