Blade for a saltwater environment

B

Blade of Danu

Joined
Aug 24, 2002
Messages
12
Evening all,
I'm looking to be buying a knife for use in saltwater environments and was wondering if any of you have some suggestions on blades to purchase. I've looked at a few such as the SOG SEAL knife, but I'd like to hear from people who have used experience in the matter.


Much obliged, Rob
 
this is the answer for sure. I just picked one up myself for a general all purpose camp folder that would need little maintance and they are great. Not to mention cheap ($139 each or $109 each if you can find two buddies to go along with ya like I did). Man haven't posted here in a year or so (bali forum keeps me busy) and I stop in and find this thread, amazing. take a look here
 
Check in with Marc Fratello (head of the Busse custom shop) who does quite a bit of spearfishing in saltwater. His email is marc.fratello@powercerv.com

If you search for his BFC name (Contender) on the Busse Forum here you'll come up with some threads where he talks about dive knives and posted some pix of his catches.
 
I've done numerous dives in Northern California. Here are my findings:

No knife is truly 'stainless'. If you do not wipe down the metal parts of the knife after a dive, or rinse the salt water off, you will end up with spots on the knife in no time.

You can buy titanium knives, which will not rust at all, but the ones I have seen do not have much of an edge.

I have a SOG Seal Pup which I use. The blade is 440A and coated with something and has had no problems. The edge did develop some discoloration, but it still cuts well. The coating on the blade scratches off easily, and this can lead to some rust if you don't wipe off the blade.

I also have a generic United single piece dive knife that looks like a 4 inch bladed dagger. It's 316 stainless (I think) and has no coating, but it stains less (but still has some stains). However, it does not cut for S#!T!

I have also tried to use my Fallkniven A1 with a condura sheath. It rusted like hell, because te sheath held in the saltwater.

I would recommend to buy any stainless knife you like that comes in a Kydex or plastic sheath. Just wipe it down after each use.
 
There are dedicated diving knives out there. Whatever you choose, I would suggest that the steel should have a high Vanadium, Chromium and Molybdenum content. Normally the very "shiny" stainless steels have a high chromium content etc. This is good for a salt water environment. Try and avoid satin and bead blasted finishes as this will rust like crazy in sea water. I use a cheap US$10 Tramontina Amazonas Two Sport Knife when at the coast, or fishing etc. It has a high Chromium-Molybdenum content in the steel and does not rust if cared for. ie. must be wiped and kept clean and dry when not in use. It also keeps an edge quite well, but most importantly, it sharpens very easily.

All the best.

______
MAC
 
I carry a ScubaPro knife when I dive. I paid about $130 for it, And I love it. Nice Shealth, Great blade and steel, I don't think you can go wrong with anything ScubaPro makes.
 
Just curious, as I'm not a diver, but what about Talonite or Stellite? Would they be useful in a dive knife? I'm not sure what the majority of tasks are that are required in such a knife, so I'm not sure if their capabilities would be suitable.
 
I'm not a diver either (my extent of salt water environs comes from shipboard work in the Navy) but I would suspect that a dive knife would be a little handier with an edge (just guessing:rolleyes: ) I've sharpened several of these Ti dive knives and have never been able to get them scary sharp nor would they hold an edge for any lenght of time. Cobalt based alloys instead of ti or iron seem to be what's called for. Just my $.02 though
 
What is it for, if it is for fishing then buy a good fillet knife, if it for general use, then first you need to decide if you need a fixed blade or folder. My friend who dives frequently here in southern california recommends a fixed over folder for diving- no moving parts, no lock to get sand or grit in, etc.
Cbalt knives like Boye, Camillus, etc they are nice with good edge holding (although all are soft- Boye is softest, 39 RC!), however the price hurts if you lose them.
"Stainless steels"- no they are not rust proof, however they will only suffer from corrosion if you leave them wet and in-sheathed when you come out of the water or wet environment. If you wipe them down and rinse out the sheath (here kydex is very nice to have), let them both dry, you should have no problem. Those who have excessive rusting with stainless are either exceptional case or not so diligent about cleaning after use. Another friend- Storyville on forums, he used to dive for several years with 1095 Ontario spec plus pilotes knife- discoloration yes, but severe rust no!
Martin
 
My experience, such as it is, comes from canoeing and ocean kayaking. No steel knife will withstand salt water for any extended length of time. Busses are surprisingly good, actually. They rust but clean up pretty well. Still, after trying a variety of stainless, titanium [ will not hold an edge for long], I finally had Neil Blackwood make me a custom stellite and a more standard talonite, which are superb. You can also find great blades from other makers, depending on how much you are willing to pay. However, beware that all stellite variants are relatively soft materials and if you subject them to high impacts you can roll an edge relatively easily. If memory serves, there was a huge Carson stellite or talonite diveknife out there not too long ago that was a real beauty. Too nice to use, probably. There are also some titanium laminates out there that might be interesting. Still, for my purposes, I do like talonite or stellite for general and emergency use with a Busse for high impact stuff like chopping ice and digging. Or get something you can abuse and replace, which in my case was [and sometimes still is] a Buck Intrepid out of 440A or something like that. It rusts, i try to clean it and shake my head :). It is a bit liberating for a knife fanatic to have a knife you don't mind abusing like that. Maybe Cliff is contageous :p
 
I think the Boye Boat Knives sound like the way to go as far as folders are concerned.

As far as fixed blades go, I'd suggest a Fallkniven knife with a teflon coated blade and a kydex sheath. Plenty to choose from, depending on what you are looking for: http://www.fallkniven.com/next-index.htm
 
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