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Do you re-oil your blade during outings?
- Thread starter MattBlade
- Start date
Don't worry about it, the knife is not going to rust in just a few hours. Just take a dry bandana and wipe it down that night, and it'll be fine. A wipe down in the boring and again at night is just good maintenance.
Never. Provided I do not take the knife apart for another reason, I can get about 6 months to a year between reapplication of lubrication on an EDC.
More important than the frequency is the actual product being used. Some lubricants outright suck...they fail in reducing friction and they fail in preventing rust. If one of these products are used, chances are someone will have to reapply more frequently, will likely still be left with more long term wear on components, and will likely have to worry about corrosion.
More important than the frequency is the actual product being used. Some lubricants outright suck...they fail in reducing friction and they fail in preventing rust. If one of these products are used, chances are someone will have to reapply more frequently, will likely still be left with more long term wear on components, and will likely have to worry about corrosion.
Hi, how well does vegetable oil works? I handle food often and will be avoiding any inedible lubricants.
Hi, I'm actually worried about the oil coming off. I will be going for a camp which lasts for several days. Should I buy a Fallkniven knife for multi-day outings?
I'm using the BK-2. I never had issues with rust but I have yet to bring it for multi-day outings.
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Like everyone else has said, you should be fine with the Becker. I've used uncoated 1095 before and never had a problem with just basic care like jackknife and others have recommended. If you're thinking about using it for food prep, food grade mineral oil would be better than vegetable oil. Doesn't go rancid with time. If the Becker is still coated you should have no worries at all.
Matt, lets put this in some kind of perspective.
The old Vikings sailed open boats across the sea and their axes and swords survived just fine. The mountain me with their green river knives spent the whole winter up in the snow covered Rockies with no problems of their skinning knives or Hawken rifles rusting. And they didn't even have the technological advantage of modern coatings. YOur BK-2 is not even gong to be affected by a couple week camp outing. People have been using carbon steel cutting tools for a couple thousand years with no problems keeping them from rusting. I think people today have become so spoiled by stainless steel, that they think the old carbon is going to rust away before their eyes. It ain't gonna happen. It would take months of neglect for your BK-2 to show any damage from moisture.
Relax and enjoy your campout. Your knife will fine with only a minimum of maintenance.
The old Vikings sailed open boats across the sea and their axes and swords survived just fine. The mountain me with their green river knives spent the whole winter up in the snow covered Rockies with no problems of their skinning knives or Hawken rifles rusting. And they didn't even have the technological advantage of modern coatings. YOur BK-2 is not even gong to be affected by a couple week camp outing. People have been using carbon steel cutting tools for a couple thousand years with no problems keeping them from rusting. I think people today have become so spoiled by stainless steel, that they think the old carbon is going to rust away before their eyes. It ain't gonna happen. It would take months of neglect for your BK-2 to show any damage from moisture.
Relax and enjoy your campout. Your knife will fine with only a minimum of maintenance.
I feel more confident about my blade now.Vegetable oil is not advised. Like olive oil, it can go rancid and it will smell terrible, be a nightmare to get off, and isn't food safe once rancid if left on the knife. Like mineral oil, it may actually expedite corrosion over using nothing at all in some instances (in some cases, mineral oil makes rust worst in the same fashion Militec-1 does over untreated).
Cleaning the knife with water after usage and drying promptly is probably your best bet in this instance. IIRC the Becker in 1095c, which, while reactive, is not terribly reactive compared to many other steels. If you constantly use it to prepare food, allowing a patina to develop on the small portion of the exposed edge will help protect it from pitting and is an easy way to get reactive steels to have better corrosion resistance.
There are some food safe protectants, and there are some that are non-toxic although not marketed for usage with food. The non-toxic offerings from Corrosion-X will probably be your best bet if you are really worried about corrosion. Like Eezox, it runs circles around most other products on the market. With that said, it probably is not necessary for this specific application, especially if you go the route of the patina.
Thanks! I suppose I need to remove the coating on the knife first.
Do I need to remove the coating to develop a patina?
No, I would not advise removing the coating under any circumstances. The coating is going to give you as much corrosion resistance as possible...there is nothing you can do to improve upon the protection that the coating will give and if you are worried about corrosion, this is the worst possible thing to do!!!
The patina I am talking about is the outer portion of the edge not covered by the coating. This is the only area on that knife that is prone to corroding unless you use the knife heavily and remove the coating over time through hard usage. If the coating is in good shape, it should not be oiled at all (this can actually damage it in some cases). Usage of cutting acidic foods will allow the patina to develop on that small portion of edge. Once that happens, you have a naturally protective layer. Each time you sharpen it, you will remove it but it is easy to redevelop (stab a grapefruit, give it a while, and periodically inspect until you have a nicely developed patina.)
No, please do not remove the coating. It's there for a reason, and taking it off will just make things worse. If it's a coated blade, then the only part of the edge that's going to weather, is the very edge where it gets sharpened. No problem.
Matt, you're worrying way too much over this. The knife is going to be just fine, and if you do get a couple spots of rust along the edge, just give it a swipe or two along the edge on a stone. If you're really really worried over it, drop a tube of Chapstick in your pocket. Then, at any time, you can smear a bit on your thumb, rub your thumb and forefinger together, and wipe down the blade edge with your Chapstick. It will work. The knife in the pic below has 1095 carbon blades. I live in Maryland and a lot of my family are working Chesapeake Bay watermen. So far this summer this knife has been in salt water uncounted times, cut salted eel for crabbing bait, cut saltwater soaked twine, and still no rust beyond a nice gray patina showing up. There's no blade coatings, or anything protecting this blade, at all. If I am going out on the bay, it gets a little Chapstick rubbed on the blades. VERY LITTLE! Just a barely there light film. It hasn't rusted at all, in spite of being wet with salt water often.
Matt, you're worrying way too much over this. The knife is going to be just fine, and if you do get a couple spots of rust along the edge, just give it a swipe or two along the edge on a stone. If you're really really worried over it, drop a tube of Chapstick in your pocket. Then, at any time, you can smear a bit on your thumb, rub your thumb and forefinger together, and wipe down the blade edge with your Chapstick. It will work. The knife in the pic below has 1095 carbon blades. I live in Maryland and a lot of my family are working Chesapeake Bay watermen. So far this summer this knife has been in salt water uncounted times, cut salted eel for crabbing bait, cut saltwater soaked twine, and still no rust beyond a nice gray patina showing up. There's no blade coatings, or anything protecting this blade, at all. If I am going out on the bay, it gets a little Chapstick rubbed on the blades. VERY LITTLE! Just a barely there light film. It hasn't rusted at all, in spite of being wet with salt water often.
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Wipe it off as best you can with a dry textile before returning to its sheath. This alone will go a long way toward protecting it. If it has a leather sheath, the inside of the sheath can be treated with wax, making it almost impervious to rusting. I EDC mostly carbon steel fixed blades, almost all are IWB, Kydex lined with wax-treated leather. Even sweating all over the knife while doing a long day of work I've never had one rust in a quality sheath, though any hardware outside the sheath is another story...
