Any diver here ? Mystery Ti alloy blade

It’s all about corrosion resistance, no one wants rusted gear. That’s where these titanium alloys shine. A ton of dive knives, offshore shears and pliers are made from titanium. It’s not absolutely necessary but it is an option.

A bright yellow handled Spyderco Fish Hunter would be a nice compliment to just about any diving setup. If I was looking for something bit more robust I certainly wouldn’t be mad at the chisel point dive knife you linked.
 
If you intend to let your knife covered in salt for hours Titanium alloys may make sense, as they will basically not rust.
However, the usual affordable Stainless steel diving knives you can buy in any diving shop are fine, as long as you remember to wash them after the dive. They are also generally cheaper, if you lose them or if they rust (a bit).
I have been using basic, decent, fixed blade (prefeed as it is easier to use underwater) SS diving knives for years, in saltwater diving, with no issues - they get washed after and they look like new. Some are mirror polished and some have a coating, for better protection.

The Titanium knife you show does not seem that expensive, so buy what you like the most.
 
Ti can't rust. Any steel can rust, especially in saltwater. Stain Less just takes longer to do so..
I don't know how well Ti would hold an edge. Probably depends on how much aluminum, magnesium, and molybdenum are in the alloy. I heard pure Ti is somewhat soft, comparable to pure aluminum, so wouldn't hold an edge worth 💩
 
Wouldn't this be one of those situations where Otter-Messer's Cobalt stuff would come in hand?
 
Bluebird.Vaillancourt said:
Hi guys,

These Ti alloy blade seems to be very popular in the diving world:
www.divers-supply.com

Buy Uk Blue Tang Titanium at Best Price | Divers Supply

UK Blue Tang Titanium
www.divers-supply.com www.divers-supply.com

In my mind, these mystery Ti alloy was just a marketing thing when it come to blade.

Are they a thing or it's probably shit ? Im talking to a diver.. i told him he is better get a spyderco in lc200n or H1.. What do you think ? Thanks
Click to expand...
I’m just gonna mention that 12C28N has almost the exact same corrosion resistance as LC200N for way less in the way of price.

You’d never know the difference, but your wallet will!
 
Leo Greer said:
I’m just gonna mention that 12C28N has almost the exact same corrosion resistance as LC200N for way less in the way of price.

You’d never know the difference, but your wallet will!
Click to expand...
14C28N has very good corrosion resistance for a non-salt steel, but it's no match for LC200N, and will definitely rust when exposed to seawater.
 
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I'm not a member of the "diving community", but I would assume that just like in any hobby/interest-based "community" that there are people who want what they perceive to be the "coolest" gear, and that there are manufacturers looking to fill, or create, that demand. And a titanium knife sounds "cool".

But I'm not saying this is a bad thing.

I would also assume that any serious diver would take good care of their gear, and wouldn't mine spending a few minutes wiping a steel-bladed dive knife down with WD40. I would think that a serious diver would take a moment to maintain their knife no matter what it was made of.
 
They are made from so called beta Titanium. They are really soft and only really needed for combat divers who work around magnetic sea mines. As a volunteer rescue diver i only use Spyderco H1 knives. They are virtually rustproof and have usefull hardness. I doubt these Ti knives can cut through a floating net. They have a RC hardness of 51-54. I also carry cheap trauma sheers in my DBC. Just rinse in fresh water after use, dry and spray with WD40. I throw them away if they rust too hard. I also have a Spyderco Enuff Salt sheepsfoot blade on my DBC. And a Spyderco Saver Salt fixed with some paracord and a brass clip in one of my pockets. I can get to one of my knives on both sides of my body. Carry at least two cutting implements while diving. Most of my equipment is redundant.
 
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Bluebird.Vaillancourt said:
Hi guys,

These Ti alloy blade seems to be very popular in the diving world:
www.divers-supply.com

Buy Uk Blue Tang Titanium at Best Price | Divers Supply

UK Blue Tang Titanium
www.divers-supply.com www.divers-supply.com

In my mind, these mystery Ti alloy was just a marketing thing when it come to blade.

Are they a thing or it's probably shit ? Im talking to a diver.. i told him he is better get a spyderco in lc200n or H1.. What do you think ? Thanks
Click to expand...
"Safety matters—don’t dive without the Blue Tang® Titanium knife. Getting caught in netting or fishing line is a dangerous and common occurrence. The Blue Tang Titanium is designed with a hook at its base to help you easily cut through any entanglement."

I've never heard of this one in particular but I think it'd be a good idea for Will Smith to keep one of these around. 🤷‍♀️

Edit: On a serious not though.. If you would like a completely titanium knife for underwater purposes I would recommend looking for one that has a carbidized edge. You grind the blade into a chisel grind and then carbidize the flat side. Then, when you sharpen the beveled side, the carbidizing on the opposing side is a higher hardness which gives you your edge and more strength behind. I would think there's a couple production Ti knives out there like this but if you go custom you can definitely find someone who does this. Ol' Charlie Mike used to be the carbidizing master around here.
 
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HP2114B said:
14C28N has very good corrosion resistance for a non-salt steel, but it's no match for LC200N, and will definitely rust when exposed to seawater.
Click to expand...
My question would be how long does it take for each steel to develop corrosion upon contact.

I’m no metallurgist, and I don’t have a ton of experience with testing these steels, but from the data I’ve read from people who are metallurgists, Vanax is at the top, followed by H1, and then LC200N, Nitrobe 77, and M390. And then supposedly 14C28N is next in line.

Vanax and Nitrobe 77 aren’t really popular enough that I would consider them viable options for most people to use in saltwater situations, and H1 supposedly needs incredibly frequent sharpening, so that leaves LC200N, M390, and 14C28N as the front runners (in my opinion).

I was actually surprised to learn that M390 is so close to LC200N and higher than 14C28N.

I would personally consider all three as options myself for saltwater use, as I wouldn’t leave my knives for the multiple hours all three of these steels might require to rust.

The variable I saw was that LC200N remained almost corrosion free even after long durations of exposure (eight hours +).

So yes, what I learned definitely supports your statement that other steels will definitely rust, but I think it makes a significant difference if a knife rusts after ten minutes or five hours. I.E. both will “definitely rust”, but one can be used for multiple hours at a time with no issue.

Do you have personal experience with these steels that might suggest something different? (I’m not meaning that sarcastically at all. I hate text for communicating things like this.)

Also, I think price would factor into my personal decision, as I can choose between so many more knives in M390 and 14C28N than LC200N, which I think tends to have a disproportionately high price point for what you get.
 
Underwater Kinetics is decent quality for the money. The question is whether or not you need titanium, even Beta Ti. Now, if your friend just wants titanium, that's a whole other question. I'd rather have a Mission MPK in Beta Ti. Costs a bit more, tho....
 
afishhunter said:
Ti can't rust. Any steel can rust, especially in saltwater. Stain Less just takes longer to do so..
I don't know how well Ti would hold an edge. Probably depends on how much aluminum, magnesium, and molybdenum are in the alloy. I heard pure Ti is somewhat soft, comparable to pure aluminum, so wouldn't hold an edge worth 💩
Click to expand...
I don’t believe H1 can rust. I have had a H1 Pacific Salt in salt water without washing it many times.
 
I'd worry more about the sheath and if it worked for how you wanted to carry the knife. My diving experience has led me to believe that the percieved usefullness of a diving knife is greater than any actual usefullness. (I've never become entangled.) Still, better to have it and not need it than the opposite. I use a solid titanium bladed knife, definitely a no maintenance required piece of gear. It's not like I am going to be batoning, carving feather sticks, or cleaning game while diving. It's a tool to cut you out if you become entangled in a net or fishing line. Titanium works for that. Any number of other knives will too for that matter. I think there was a movement where some technical divers used to use kitchen steak knives, but it's been years since I visited any SCUBA forums.

Grizz
 
Leo Greer said:
My question would be how long does it take for each steel to develop corrosion upon contact.

I’m no metallurgist, and I don’t have a ton of experience with testing these steels, but from the data I’ve read from people who are metallurgists, Vanax is at the top, followed by H1, and then LC200N, Nitrobe 77, and M390. And then supposedly 14C28N is next in line.

Vanax and Nitrobe 77 aren’t really popular enough that I would consider them viable options for most people to use in saltwater situations, and H1 supposedly needs incredibly frequent sharpening, so that leaves LC200N, M390, and 14C28N as the front runners (in my opinion).

I was actually surprised to learn that M390 is so close to LC200N and higher than 14C28N.

I would personally consider all three as options myself for saltwater use, as I wouldn’t leave my knives for the multiple hours all three of these steels might require to rust.

The variable I saw was that LC200N remained almost corrosion free even after long durations of exposure (eight hours +).

So yes, what I learned definitely supports your statement that other steels will definitely rust, but I think it makes a significant difference if a knife rusts after ten minutes or five hours. I.E. both will “definitely rust”, but one can be used for multiple hours at a time with no issue.

Do you have personal experience with these steels that might suggest something different? (I’m not meaning that sarcastically at all. I hate text for communicating things like this.)

Also, I think price would factor into my personal decision, as I can choose between so many more knives in M390 and 14C28N than LC200N, which I think tends to have a disproportionately high price point for what you get.
Click to expand...

Don't forget about S110V. It's the most corrosion resistant non-salt steel that's readily available, and performs better than M390 or 14C28N in saltwater tests.

If it's not a true salt steel, any sort of irrecoverable ingress will develop rust, such as in narrow gaps between the tang and scales/handle.
 
Titanium knives can get wear resistance from the Carbides that are included in the blade. Titanium Carbide is particularly hard. Stellite knives have low Rockwell numbers but have such a load of included Carbides that the material is used to coat the edge of bulldozer blades. Steve Ryan makes/made Carbidized Titanium knives.View attachment 1795689
 
Have been using one of those for years, it is a DIVE knife, where different qualities are needed compared to normal knives. I do carry a Spyderco H1 in my pocket just in case I need to do some real cutting.
 
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"Safety matters—don’t dive without the Blue Tang® Titanium knife. Getting caught in netting or fishing line is a dangerous and common occurrence. The Blue Tang Titanium is designed with a hook at its base to help you easily cut through any entanglement."

Old time diver here. Fishing line yes, but netting is too wide for that hook.
 
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