Black blades

M

mordi

Joined
Aug 12, 2007
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137
Got a couple of black bladed knives as gifts for army guys.
How long can they expect the black finish to last?
 
mordi said:
Got a couple of black bladed knives as gifts for army guys.
How long can they expect the black finish to last?
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That is a lot like asking how long a paint job will last on a Jeep Wrangler. Depends - are you going to drive carefully on paved roads only or are you taking it off road on a daily basis.

In my experience black coatings come off fairly quickly with hard use - some faster than others depending on the type of coating (teflon, powder coating, paint, etc.). If they do a lot of carrying and minimal cutting (boxes, zip ties) the coatings should last a long time. If they baton with it, the coating will wear off very quickly.

I know this doesn't answer your question with specificity but there are too many variables.
 
sheepdog229 said:
That is a lot like asking how long a paint job will last on a Jeep Wrangler. Depends - are you going to drive carefully on paved roads only or are you taking it off road on a daily basis.

In my experience black coatings come off fairly quickly with hard use - some faster than others depending on the type of coating (teflon, powder coating, paint, etc.). If they do a lot of carrying and minimal cutting (boxes, zip ties) the coatings should last a long time. If they baton with it, the coating will wear off very quickly.

I know this doesn't answer your question with specificity but there are too many variables.
Click to expand...

No offense, but Spyderco's black blade coatings (on recent models) are NOTHING like paint on a Jeep. It is not powdercoat, paint, Teflon, or anything else that would be easily scratched up by the boxes or zip ties.

I urge a search of this topic (it is discussed frequently). DLC (as used on the Military and Paramilitary models I own) is extremely tough, hard, and durable. I have heard claims that it is harder than the underlying steel...and I have witnessed nothing over the years of use that would indicate that this claim is false.
 
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unit said:
No offense, but Spyderco's black blade coatings (on recent models) are NOTHING like paint on a Jeep. It is not powdercoat, paint, Teflon, or anything else that would be easily scratched up by the boxes or zip ties.

I urge a search of this topic (it is discussed frequently). DLC (as used on the Military and Paramilitary models I own) is extremely tough, hard, and durable. I have heard claims that it is harder than the underlying steel...and I have witnessed nothing over the years of use that would indicate that this claim is false.
Click to expand...

You should re-read my post. I said that if they are only cutting zip ties and boxes the coating will last a long time.

I said that if they are batoning the coatings will wear quickly.
 
unit said:
No offense, but Spyderco's black blade coatings (on recent models) are NOTHING like paint on a Jeep. It is not powdercoat, paint, Teflon, or anything else that would be easily scratched up by the boxes or zip ties.

I urge a search of this topic (it is discussed frequently). DLC (as used on the Military and Paramilitary models I own) is extremely tough, hard, and durable. I have heard claims that it is harder than the underlying steel...and I have witnessed nothing over the years of use that would indicate that this claim is false.
Click to expand...

Maybe they could just make the blade from DLC?
 
Spyderco's DLC is the only ones I like, I feel others companies are thicker and wear. The spyderco's is insanely durable though.
 
sheepdog229 said:
You should re-read my post. I said that if they are only cutting zip ties and boxes the coating will last a long time.

I said that if they are batoning the coatings will wear quickly.
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Thanks, I have re read your post, and I stand by my statements.

I will now add that if you baton with a Spyderco folder, you (should) have far greater concerns than the blade coating.
 
The black blade on my Spyderco Military has resisted wear for ten years now, most of which is using it for things it likely wasn't intended for (batoning, opening bags of gravel, etc).
 
unit said:
Thanks, I have re read your post, and I stand by my statements.

I will now add that if you baton with a Spyderco folder, you (should) have far greater concerns than the blade coating.
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First, if you re-read my post and standby your statement than you may have a reading comprehension disability.

Second, I don't recall anyone mentioning a folder before your post... probably because you were the only one to make that assumption.

Back to the topic at hand - various coatings will last various lengths of time based on several variables - this is what I said before but in terms that perhaps you can comprehend.
 
sheepdog229 said:
First, if you re-read my post and standby your statement than you may have a reading comprehension disability.

Second, I don't recall anyone mentioning a folder before your post... probably because you were the only one to make that assumption.

Back to the topic at hand - various coatings will last various lengths of time based on several variables - this is what I said before but in terms that perhaps you can comprehend.
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Wow, Not sure what the difficulty is here. Perhaps you need to re read what I typed. I am quite able to comprehend.

Now, this is the Spyderco forum...so it would seem a pretty safe assumption that we are talking about Spyderco knives (which none that I know of that are currently or even recently offered have any of the coatings you list). Of the Spyderco knives that have a black coating, most are folders...and the only Spyderco fixed blades I know of that are also black are double edged....so I assume that you are not going to baton against an edge.

Obviously you know far more than I do, and I intended no offense.

For the record the statements I stand by are:
1. No offense
2. Spyderco's black blade coatings (on recent models) are NOTHING like paint on a Jeep.
3. It is not powdercoat, paint, Teflon, or anything else that would be easily scratched up by the boxes or zip ties.

Any disagreements so far?...I am still standing by those.

4. I urge a search of this topic (it is discussed frequently).
5. DLC (as used on the Military and Paramilitary models I own) is extremely tough, hard, and durable.
6. I have heard claims that it is harder than the underlying steel...and I have witnessed nothing over the years of use that would indicate that this claim is false.

These (4, 5, and 6) are statements of my findings and opinions...disagree if you like, but I still stand by them.

Have fun...again, no offense, do what you like, dismiss me from your thoughts...it just is not worth it to get all twisted over a blade coating.

Peace. Out.
 
I can say without a doubt that the DLC I had on my Millie and have on my Para is tough stuff. I whittled, cut cardboard and never babied it and not once did it scratch. It scuffed but not scratched and I could clean it up and make it look new again. In contrast I have a Benchmade that I scuffed up a bit and when I tried to clean it with a scotchbrite it took the coating right off!
 
I've used my Endura 4 Black Blade pretty hard, including around the grounds cutting vines, etc. Also on food, where acids eat at coatings. I try to keep clean it after use, but I'm not anal about it. The Endura has endured (sorry) it all without visible degradation in the blade coating. FWIW.
 
Thanks guys.
The knives are Endura's and Delica.
I taught these guys how to use a knife and if I caught one of them batoning
with a folder I'd be very unhappy.I don't care about scuff marks only
coating to reduce glare. The answers given seem to point to a very
strong finish . Thanks
 
They seem to have a very strong finish indeed.

I was noticing earlier today that my ~2 year old Spyderco Military (Black on Black) had a little bit of the finish staring to come off of the spine of the blade.

Don't know if it was keys in my pocket or something, but I was a little disappointed.


edit: on further inspection, it seems to have scratches or rubbing on the spine rather than the finish wearing off.
 
unit said:
No offense, but Spyderco's black blade coatings (on recent models) are NOTHING like paint on a Jeep. It is not powdercoat, paint, Teflon, or anything else that would be easily scratched up by the boxes or zip ties.

I urge a search of this topic (it is discussed frequently). DLC (as used on the Military and Paramilitary models I own) is extremely tough, hard, and durable. I have heard claims that it is harder than the underlying steel...and I have witnessed nothing over the years of use that would indicate that this claim is false.
Click to expand...

I think you misunderstood what he was trying to say.

He wasn't comparing the durability of a knife coating to the paint on a jeep. He was saying that the nature of the OP's question was similar to asking how long a paint job on a jeep would last. Both of which can be answered with "It depends on how hard you will use it".
 
chanwahyaoh said:
I think you misunderstood what he was trying to say.

He wasn't comparing the durability of a knife coating to the paint on a jeep. He was saying that the nature of the OP's question was similar to asking how long a paint job on a jeep would last. Both of which can be answered with "It depends on how hard you will use it".
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Nonetheless I apologize @unit for being an ass.
 
sheepdog229 said:
Exactly.

Nonetheless I apologize @unit for being an ass.
Click to expand...

hey, likewise...I apologize. I really did not intend anything harsh.

Just the same, no apology necessary (from you)...it is all good;)

Info for the thread topic...

I was carrying my DLC Military yesterday and encountered a washer that was folded/crimped slightly and stuck on a bolt as a result. The washer had to be straightened to get it to pass onto the threaded portion of the bolt....anyway, I was PRYING :foot: with my black blade and got the job done, but it took a lot of force (luckily I could use the spine of the knife about an inch up from the tip...where it is strong enough to not break apparently).

I thought for a second that this action was actually enough to have scratched the DLC after 18 months of carry and intermittent (fairly) hard use. I was wrong, there was steel embedded in the DLC and it was removed with some serious scrubbing with an eraser. NO SCRATCH! Normally, I do not make big efforts to clean this knife...but the timeliness of this thread and the appearance of a scratch...I had to find out.

DLC is VERY tough.

BUT! OP says these are Endura and Delica class knives which sport the black titanium carbonitride coating. I hear it is also very tough, but I do not have direct experience with it.

Have a great weekend and fear not...they are fantastic knives.
 
Well based on that inspiring account, I'm not canceling my back ordered order for a black bladed Para 2 (w. black G10).
 
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