Anyone Use Silica Gel Packets or "Sorb-It" to Keep Carbon Knives Dry?

AFAustin

AFAustin

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Somewhere I read of someone stashing some of the little silica gel dessicant packets in the drawer where he keeps his carbon knives, to help keep them dry and thus corrosion free. I've got some of the little packets, as well as the small "Sorb It" plastic dessicant cannisters, and am thinking of doing the same.

Anyone use these for this purpose? Any reason not to?

Thanks,

Andrew
 
Only thing I'd be concerned about is a false sense of security in using them. So long as I've been collecting & using knives, I've never had any issues keeping them dry & free of rust, so long as I stored them inside the house. The silica gel packs do absorb moisture, but I'd bet they saturate quickly as well. Unless an effort is made to dry them again (heating & evaporating), they'd only be effective for a short while. In a very humid setting, I'd bet they don't last long at all, without a lot of re-drying. I wouldn't have much confidence in relying on them, if just tossed into a non-airtight drawer with my knives. Maybe if they're used in a sealed package/container with the knife (like a zip-loc bag), they'd last longer.

BTW, I used to live in the Austin area myself, for ~20 years, so I'm familiar with the sometimes wet/muggy climate there. Only knife that ever rusted on me was a Victorinox SAK (stainless, no less) that I'd stashed in a toolbox in the back of a covered pickup and forgotten. It stayed there for a few years before I 'found' it again, and it rusted pretty bad. Aside from that, no isssue with knives I kept in the house, if cleaned after use & put away. Never even oiled any of my blades, and had no issues.


David
 
David, thanks for your thoughts. Didn't know you're a former "Austin boy"! Yes, that makes sense---probably a very temporary remedy.

BTW, I have been following your advice as to wiping my carbon knives down with alcohol before putting them away, and it has worked fine. And it beats always having an oily blade! The silica gel packets I guess would just be overkill.

Andrew
 
More often than not, I use Windex to wipe down my blades. I have sometimes used the alcohol, and both work well to remove oily fingerprints. The Windex is more readily available to me, and I think that has a lot to do with why I use it so much. I like the alcohol also for flushing residual moisture out of a knife that I've just given a 'bath'. Used to work in the semiconductor industry (in Austin) as a electronics maintenance/repair tech, and isopropyl alcohol is a standard remedy for flushing moisture out of electronic gear that's gotten wet. Also used it in similar capacity in the military, doing the same type of work. Works great in that capacity. :)


David
 
I would think that the humidity in Austin would be low enough that if your knives were kept in a temperature controlled area (inside your house) that you would be fine. Now if you lived in Houston, you might need to store them in vacuum sealed bags. Talking from experience as I lived in Austin for 3 years, and was born and raised near Houston. As much difference as night and day from the two cities. Austin is almost (key word) as dry as New Mexico. While Houston is 90 percent humid and above 300 days a year.

Blessings,

Omar
 
Here in the north east, i use the packets in my sharpening stone case due to a bit of a mold issue and rust on my older stones. Worked great. I do keep one in my box o' knives, but i never had an issue with them to begin with so it didn't hurt.
 
Yea, I put them in with my knifes and firearms. At first I tried to buy a few. But they are not easy to find in small quantities.
You can make your own also. I know it sounds strange but ...
The packets are silicone.
Get cat litter made with silicone. You can find it at most grocery stores or pet stores.
Wrap it in a coffee filter. Fold the edges to give a seal to hold it in. I just staple the coffee filter around the edges.
A small bag of litter makes many.
 
OHALLUM said:
I would think that the humidity in Austin would be low enough that if your knives were kept in a temperature controlled area (inside your house) that you would be fine. Now if you lived in Houston, you might need to store them in vacuum sealed bags. Talking from experience as I lived in Austin for 3 years, and was born and raised near Houston. As much difference as night and day from the two cities. Austin is almost (key word) as dry as New Mexico. While Houston is 90 percent humid and above 300 days a year.

Blessings,

Omar
Click to expand...

Well, I halfway agree with you Omar. ;)

Totally agree on Houston, it's a soggy place to be.

I'm a NM native, and transplanted to Austin in 1990 at age 28. Most of my knives were accumulated while I was there. Came back to NM in 2010. New Mexico, for the most part, is typically WAY dryer than Austin was. Annual precipitation (total) in the Albuquerque area is usually around 10" per year, vs. ~32" per year, which was Austin's average when I left there. My 'sweat meter' used to think 30% relative humidity was a fairly dry day in Austin, and when the humidity got up around 50-60%, it was starting to feel pretty muggy. 30% RH is usually called 'monsoon season' in NM (literally), when the daytime relative humidity gets up to 30-40%, a departure from the rest of the year, when it's usually anywhere from 5-20% or so. When it's dry here, it's really, REALLY DRY. My sinuses go crazy, and I want to scratch all the skin off my legs (itchy, itchy, itchy).

After Houston, however, I'm sure even Austin would seem pretty dry by comparison. I had an aunt who used to visit us in NM when I was a kid, and she lived in Fort Lauderdale, FL. That transition was never easy for her, when she visited us, and she was always, always looking for ways to moisturize. :D


David
 
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Almost was my key word there, meaning in comparison to Houston. Love the weather in your neck of the woods. Have spent some time there. Was there in 82 I believe it was for a week at a corporate meeting. Was during October and the Balloon fest. Got to go up in a balloon, went to the top of the mountain via the lift and played in the snow. Last day we were there, it snowed. All in one week's time. Not to hi-jack a fellow Texan's thread, but just wanted to comment on Albuquerque. Was through there a lot before I retired. It was always one of my layover places en route to California.

Blessings,

Omar
 
chevy_racin said:
...
The packets are silicone.
Get cat litter made with silicone. You can find it at most grocery stores or pet stores.
Wrap it in a coffee filter. Fold the edges to give a seal to hold it in. I just staple the coffee filter around the edges.
A small bag of litter makes many.
Click to expand...

I worked 25 years with a company that made silica gel (W.R. Grace). One thing you need to know - silicone is not the same thing as silica gel. They are entirely different in chemical structure and properties.

It is true that some brands of cat litter contain silica gel and you may be able to use it for drying purposes. Silicone however is basically inert and is generally slippery so it makes a very nice lubricant in its liquid form.
 
Most kitty litter is made from bentonite or the same stuff that the absorb-all for oil spills used in most auto repair shops. It is actually a dry clay type product that is also used in vitamins and lots of other things. In other words it is dirt. A lot of it is mined in Wyoming around Casper. It might work to absorb moisture, but is not what I would use for knives. It would absorb and hold moisture, therefore raising the humidity around whatever it was trying to protect. It works great to absorb liquids, but will not dry the air around it, and in fact will eventually make it wetter.
Nothing better in my mind than circulating dry air to protect your knives.

Blessings,

Omar
 
silica gel dessicant packets in the drawer
Click to expand...

I use lots of desiccant in safes and ammo boxes, containers that are fairly air tight.

In a drawer I would be concerned that moist air could seep into the drawer as fast as the desiccant could absorb it.

But they are not easy to find in small quantities
Click to expand...

Easy to find in coin collecting supply stores.
 
AFAustin said:
Somewhere I read of someone stashing some of the little silica gel dessicant packets in the drawer where he keeps his carbon knives, to help keep them dry and thus corrosion free. I've got some of the little packets, as well as the small "Sorb It" plastic dessicant cannisters, and am thinking of doing the same.

Anyone use these for this purpose? Any reason not to?

Thanks,

Andrew
Click to expand...
If the drawer is not airtight -- or at least close to it -- it is pointless. As it draws moisture out of the air in the drawer, more moist air from outside the drawer will replace it. If it seals up fairly well, then it might help a little bit.

The easiest way to make some is to buy silica gel at a hobby store like Hobby Lobby, find some 35mm film cannisters (stop by the newspaper and maybe they'll have some left over?), take a hot needle to melt holes in the sides & bottom of the cannister, fill with the silica gel, and you have some dessicant containers.
 
Thank you, gents, for all the replies and good points. And thanks, Lagrangian, for the link.

Always learning here....

Andrew
 
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