AUS 8 steel with sea water

B

BillL

Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
239
Hi,

Does AUS 8 steel rusts easily when used at the beach?

Do we need to wash with fresh water and dry off immediately after use or can we leave it wet and wait until the end of the day to clean it?

Thanks
 
I have used my AUS8A around salt water and it rusts quickly. For example I went swimming in the ocean with a clean shiny blade, and when I came out an hour later it was pretty rusty. The rust comes off easily with steel wool though. Same thing with getting spashed with salt water throughout the day on ship. At the end of the day, it is rusty and needs cleaning. keep it well oiled, it helps alot!

Will
 
Fresh water hasn't ever been a problem with my CS Voyager. I rinse it off in the sink a lot, and get it wet now and then. No problems.

But yeah, salt's a different story.

_z
 
my beadblasted aus8 CRKT exhibited discoloration after being going in and out of seawater a few times in the span of one afternoon. My highly polished aus8 Cold Steel R1 went into the same water for the same period of time and exhibited no visible discoloration.
 
What GarageBoy said.

I left a Pacific Salt soaking in a half filled jar salt water for over a month now, without a speck of rust or discoloration.



- Frank
 
A while ago I asked Sal Glesser about H-1 and he explained to me (sorry sal if I misunderstood) that H-1 in a PE configuration cuts as well and has similar edge retention to AUS-8. Therefore by getting a knife with an h-1 blade, you will not lose any cutting or edge holding ability with the added benefit of no corrosion.

however, I have a feeling that you aren't looking to buy a knife, but rather take a knife you already own, with an aus-8 blade to a salt water environment. My brother uses a delica in aus-8 on the boat and it rusts. oil the pivot, and oil the blade lightly and you should be ok. The rust usually comes off, it DOES leave stains on the blade, but personally, I don't mind my users to have some scratches or scars.

pete
 
IIRC, H1 has lower edge retention than AUS-6 in plain edge, however if you get a serrated model, the edge retention quadruples (edge retention always increases with serrations, but usually not to that magnitude). In any case, it sharpens very easily and gets very sharp. It'd be much easier to maintain a non-rusting blade with lower edge retention than a rusting blade with higher edge retention (and any additional edge retention would probably be lost if it rusts).
 
Reviving this necro thread... I'm gonna use my Cold Steel Bird and Trout as my kayaking knife.

Before this I had used Buck's 420HC, and it did very well until it was stolen :)
 
Arisen from the hoary depths, AUS-8 would come up as a pile of rust. :p

Seriously though, AUS-8 doesn't have the best corrosion resistance. It's better than D2, similar to 8Cr13Mov, and notably worse than a bunch of other popular budget-oriented stainless steels such as 9Cr18Mov, Acuto 440, 14C28N, VG-10, and N690. Given that you'll also get better edge retention from those more corrosion-resistant steels; go that route if you can.
 
Chronovore said:
Arisen from the hoary depths, AUS-8 would come up as a pile of rust. :p

Seriously though, AUS-8 doesn't have the best corrosion resistance. It's better than D2, similar to 8Cr13Mov, and notably worse than a bunch of other popular budget-oriented stainless steels such as 9Cr18Mov, Acuto 440, 14C28N, VG-10, and N690. Given that you'll also get better edge retention from those more corrosion-resistant steels; go that route if you can.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll report back what I find.
 
BillL said:
Hi,
Does AUS 8 steel rusts easily when used at the beach?
Do we need to wash with fresh water and dry off immediately after use or can we leave it wet and wait until the end of the day to clean it?
Thanks
Click to expand...

If you mean "rust" as in show orange colored stains, yes. If you mean severe rust with pitting like a carbon steel knife, no.
Aus6 shows less staining than Aus8. H-1 obviously doesn't at all. Staining can be washed off, scrubbed, or if needed hit with Flitz or Simichrome or other similar product.
Any knife should be washed/rinsed in freshwater after contact with saltwater regardless of steel type. Especially so with folders.
 
Well, after a couple of outings, I would like to say the previous posts have been on point. AUS8 is not a good choice for a kayaking knife. I think the 420 stainless steels will do better in this regard.
 
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Has anybody ever tried work hardening their H1 blades? Like actually tried hammering it or compressing the edge to try and see what level of hardness can be achieved? I have heard that it's possible to get it very hard by work hardening. I wonder if anybody has ever tested it, because apparently it can get very hard. I don't own any H1 to test the theory.
 
Buy a Boye Basic or folder. They won't rust and hold an edge. They are designed for active water sports. I know a first mate on a kiteboard pulling boat and pro kiteboarder who use his folder.
 
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