Cold Steel X2 Voyager Rust Problem

D

DancesWithKnives

Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Messages
1,385
For many years I've had a CS XL Voyager that I carried on hikes in the local foothills, where a decent sized fixed blade might draw unwanted attention. I've never experienced any rust problems with it. I recently got the 1" larger X2 Voyager, just for the heck of it.

At 6pm yesterday I took the X2 on its first hike, about 5 miles and 1,000 v.ft. of elevation. Later in the evening (round 11pm) I took it out of my pocket and the exposed portions of both sides of the blade (above the zytel frame) had a fine coating of rust. It came off with 0000 fine steel wool and a little oil, but I was very surprised. I assume that CS is still using AUS8A for the Voyagers. It may not be the latest and greatest steel, but it was always pretty resistant to corrosion. Anybody know whether the composition of the 8A used by CS has changed? Anyone else had rusting problems with recently manufactured Voyagers?
 
DancesWithKnives: I also have one of the 2X Voyagers. No problem with rust. Have been carrying it in my pocket for the past few days in very humid weather and so far, all is OK.
 
Jay,

Thanks for your experience. I began thinking that maybe I hadn't adequately washed my hiking shorts after the last trip to the beach and immersion in saltwater. I'm going to try the same route with different hiking pants and see if I still get rust.

By the way, I like your part of MA a lot----my mother lives in Concord and I have a cousin in Sudbury. I lived in the area in the mid-70s and did quite a bit of canoeing on the local rivers. I know what you mean by humidity during NE summers!

I don't know if it is any good these days, but there used to be a Polynesian/Chinese place on Rte. 2A that made great Mai Tais. I think it had a name like Makaha. Ever been there?
 
Hey Danceswithknives,sorry that this doesnt have to do with your post but I was wondering do you hike up in angeles crest/big tujunga,just wondering because where you live,
 
Featherstone,

Glad to hear from you; talking about hiking is more interesting than rust anyway!

During the cooler months I've hiked in a wide variety of areas. Unfortunately, since I've become an older, fatter bastid, I can't really take the hotter weather hikes during the summer. Therefore, I usually restrict myself to the Santa Monica Mountains ranging from West LA (like Will Rogers Park) to Malibu/Ventura (La Jolla and Sycamore Canyons, for example). I'm presently trying to get in good enough shape to take a trip into the high mountains near Bishop.

Did you see on the news yesterday that they had to helicopter rescue a Scout leader and two Scouts who tried a challenging hot weather hike without sufficient water and physical conditioning? That's one of the things I'm trying to avoid.
 
HEY DANCESWITHKNIVES, yeah I saw that yikes,I bring a 90 ounce blatter in my camelback just on a day hike,I usually hike up in the Angeles crest forest its pretty nice,except for the bear scat and bears I saw:eek:.Hey did you see the news on the 2 kids up in that cave in the cleveland national forest they died of lack of oxygen,I guess they found a lake inside a cave and decided to swim:eek: Anyway if you ever are around up in my area and want to take a trip up in angeles crest let me know,there are some pretty tough hikes up there,but just let me know.

Oh as for the coldsteel voyager mind rusted in the same place but it never spread,weird huh:D
 
When I lived in Irvine, I used to hike the canyon in which those two died. Really sad. Caving takes special training and experience, which they didn't have.

Thanks for the hike offer. If I can get in better shape by the time cooler Fall weather arrives, I might be able to make it without slowing you down too much.

If the Voyager continues to rust in other hiking pants, I'll just have to hit it with some Marine Tuf Cloth (or the like) before each outing.
 
I know what you mean about the weather its about 95 here and im freekin dying over here,
as for slowin me down I have no problems takin a break:D
Yeah those kids were not very smart,at least the one boy had some smarts and say hell no im not going in and when the 2 boys didnt come out he went for help.
Anyway it was good chattin with ya.
 
Tried the hike again with the knife clipped in different pants. Still getting light rust. Time to break out the Tuf Cloth or Boeshield.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top