Does anyone else carry stainless steel knives in the summer?

[Lee48]

Up until a few months ago, I never carried a traditional knife. Then I fell in love with stockman, congress and jack knives with carbon steel blades and they became my standard EDCs. But it's hot and humid here and I sweat a lot. And I guess my sweat is corrosive as well. I've had a Winchester 94 show minor pitting rust after an hour or two of being slung across my sweaty back on a summer afternoon. I've had a pocket-carried S&W 442 form rust on the cylinder and barrel after a particularly sweat soaked day of outside work. And, most recently, I've found rust spots forming on the the carbon steel Case and Moore Maker stockmen knives I rotate carrying. This after doing the usual weekly yard chores and getting soaked with sweat. Oil doesn't appear to help in my case. Stuff just gets rusty quickly when exposed to my perspiration.

Looks like it's time to do a seasonal switch to stainless. Luckily, I have a few stainless traditionals on hand. I'm wondering if anyone else has a problem with sweat causing rust on their knives.

 

[jc57]

Many people here carry stainless knives regardless of the season. My "always" carry knives are stainless - Victorinox Alox Cadet in the pocket for general utility, Case Slimline Trapper in my bag (reserved for food prep - SS for easy wash up with no worries).

My "extra" knife, when I carry one in addition to those two, may be either carbon steel or stainless depending on my mood. Recently it has been a Buck 303 stockman pattern in 420HC stainless.

If I knew I would be out doing hot and sweaty stuff, I would choose one of my stainless knives. I tend to have about a 50/50 split between carbon and stainless, so plenty of options either way.

 

[jc57]

[duplicate post]

 

[JustinR]

Pretty hot and humid here in the sandhills of SC and I dont have a problem of rusting 1095 in the summer....my sweat must have a higher pH. I carry 1095 all 4 seasons....well more like two seasons. Hot and not as hot

 

[black mamba]

Yes, I like stainless knives for summer, but for all seasons as well. Here are a few of my stainless carries.

 

[yatsunil]

Here in the tropics we sweat all year round Haven't noticed any rust on my knives although I have a mix of stainless and 1095.

 

[cwood8656]

I'm in the process of getting rid of my knives that are other than stainless. I find that I only carry the stainless ones day to day because I don't want the extra worry over rust, etc.

Chris

 

[Bigfattyt]

I carry both carbon and stainless. Winter, summer spring, fall, chances are ill have both.

 

[B.F.U]

For the past... Oh about 9 months (bought my first traditional like a year ago) I've carried a carbon steel (1095 or O1) every day except maybe 10.

I have what doctors call a bit of a weight problem, so I sweat a lot. I also work at a canoe rental, so I get wet often. I also do a lot of yard and garden work at my house here in good ol humid PA. So my knives see their fair share of moisture.

Amazingly, the only time I've gotten any rust to speak of was on a knife that I HADN'T carried for a while and had been in its tube.

I don't know if it's because I always carry a handkerchief I can wipe them off with or that I sometimes use a slip to carry them. Either way, nothing wrong with stainless or carbon. If you think stainless would work better for you then go for it!

I love the GEC American elk (which are stainless) and look forward to getting one.

 

[knarfeng]

I tend to carry stainless year round, though I also occasionally carry non-stainless year round. My choice is due to preference rather than season.

 

[sitflyer]

Lee, I am just like you. My sweat will form pepper spots and surface rust on exposed steel in just a day. I used to favor stainless only, but a certain knife company has many patterns that I adore ( and they heavily favor 1095 ). I tried blueing the carbon steel...no luck, pepper spots still formed. What finally worked for me was to just use 'em like I stole 'em. Peel some taters, cut up some apples, slice a steak with hot sauce on it. Get a good patina going and the rust doesn't seem to form as readily. I don't like having a bunch of oil on my knives. It attracts dust and grit. A little bit in the joints is all that is needed. I have come to believe it is better to have one, or just a very few users that are heavily patina'd in constant use. It is easier to maintain them and keep an eye on them, and for whatever reason, at least in my case, a daily driver seems to do better than the occasional user in terms of rust issues.

 

[Will Power]

Must be due to the acids or other chemicals on an individual's skin wether rust is promoted or not I suspect. Bit like some people are immensely attractive to biting insects, others not (how lucky!).

I like both carbon and stainless but lean more to the latter as I very often use knives for food prep on the go.

 

[midnight flyer]

Must be due to the acids or other chemicals on an individual's skin wether rust is promoted or not I suspect. Bit like some people are immensely attractive to biting insects, others not (how lucky!).

You may have something there, Will. I am another that can easily generate rust on a blade in a day very easily. When I was carrying carbon only back in the 60s to about mid 2000, I would have to take my pocket knives out of my blue jeans and put them in my tool bags due to my heavy sweat. Think enough sweat to go through boots on a 100+ day. (A couple of years ago we had 59 in a row...)

When I was just a hand and really busted my behind every day, I had to clean my knives scrupulously during the day because of all the materials they were exposed to in addition to my sweat. I put 3 in 1, chap stick, gear lube, WD40, oil I would see leaking off a machine, anything I could to keep them from rusting in my sweaty pockets.

My previous experiences with stainless had proven to me that it was useless as a knife steel except in rare, unaffordable models. I finally bought a couple of stainless knives as larger work knives around 2000, and I was surprised at what a difference 30+ years make! (Hey... some people take a while to get over things.) They were clipped inside my pocket, so they got as much sweat as everything else did to try them out.

Now I have several stainless traditional patterns and carry them almost exclusively along with some Queen D2. For old time's sake, I take out one of my old CASE knives in carbon in the winter from time to time when I know I won't be sweating through my pockets, but that's about the only time I carry carbon anymore.

I don't miss the extra care one bit. I like a dot of oil on the pivots, a few strokes on the diamond rod and back in the pocket routine quite a bit.

BTW, for the most part, mosquitoes occasionally land on me, then fly right off! I rarely ever get even a single mosquito bite, even when working in heavily infested areas. When I am in full bloom on a really hot day with sweat dripping off my chin and running down my arms, back and legs, they don't even land!

Robert

 

[jackknife]

I usually don't pay much attention to what season it is, rather than to what knife I like and happen to b e carrying at the time. I have carried carbon steel knife through the humid Maryland summers, a great deal of which are spent on some kind of small boat. Sometimes I even spend time with some cousins who live down on the bay, and are Chesapeake watermen. I a lost never have any rust issues on my blades, but then I tend to be obsessive compulsive about wiping them down every boring and night.

Last summer I had my GEC number 15 in my pocket when I went crabbing, and two days later I noticed some rust down in the liners in the blade slot. Came right off with a pipe cleaner with some 3-in-1 oil on it. Left a few dark spots where the steel liners had developed a patina. Had to be first time I ever worried about a patina inside the knife!

This summer I'm carrying a Northfield stockman with 1095 blades, and so far no problemo. We're leaving for Karen's cousins place in the mountains not far off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia for the holiday weakend, so I guess the Northfield will get a workout up there. I'm scheduled for doing thursdays dinner, so my pocket knife will see a lot of kitchen duty, I'll just have to stay in top of it. So far ti's survived the month of JUne fishing, both cutting bait and gutting the fish, and the carbon blades have developed a nice patina. No rust so far. It got a lot of sweat while I was doing some landscaping a few weeks ago, plus slicing open bags of gravel where I was making a patio area by the back door. So far, so good! I wipe off now and then through the day with a bandana. Once a week a drop of mineral oil in the joints.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

I give my knives a quick wipe with oil or sometimes even a quick wax with automotive wax, that keeps the moisture issue at bay.

BM, I love the old Queen Swell Center/Coke Bottle Jack and I always loved the Winterbottom Bone, any chance of seeing the other side?

 

[2Dead]

I'm more likely to carry a stainless knife in the summer but that doesn't mean I put my non-stainless knives away. I was just carrying a GEC #15 in 1095 for the past 3+ weeks only to be switched out with a D2 knife for today (not stainless either but pretty much stainless )

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I carry both, regardless of season. On any given day, I'll have my Schrade 8OT in 1095 at a minimum, and I often carry a 2nd and possibly a 3rd knife. Usually, at least one of those will be a stockman as well. Could either be a Case 6375 CV or a Buck 301 (recent production in 420HC). Lately I've been dropping my stainless Case soddie jr. in the pocket as well.

(My 8OT and the Case '75 in CV have held up better, with much less spotting in humid conditions, after I forced patinas on their blades, BTW.)


David

 

[black mamba]

BM, I love the old Queen Swell Center/Coke Bottle Jack and I always loved the Winterbottom Bone, any chance of seeing the other side?

Here you go, Ted. Not much color left in the "troughs"-- I've seen some of this era that looked like striped skunks they were so dark!

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Patina will help as will wiping the knife dry. On those really hot camp work days where I'll wear a few different shirts due to sweat, I'll tend to carry one of my Alox knives. That being said, I'm thinking about going to a belt holster.... it would be more comfortable in the field and my pockets will be free.