ESEE in the water?

R

River Bear

Joined
Jan 12, 2011
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I have been thinking. "Why not turn an ESEE into a river knife?"

So I throw this out to the forums in hopes of experienced answers. The main reason for the question is rust. Will it rust heavily? These are rivers in CO mainly and saltwater won't be part of the equation.

There are multiple issues with it being a rescue knife but I was wondering about just having it around on multi day trips, constantly getting wet.

-River Bear #944
 
I wouldn't sweat it. 1095 doesn't exactly rust if you look at it wrong. Just keep the blade clean and dry when you can, then lube it up appropriately with anything from mineral oil to rem oil when you can. If the edge gets rusty, hone it up or just baton it through some wood. Seems to work well enough for me. I've taken my 6 out in the rain, batoned through some wet wood, and haven't had any problems, so long as you keep the blade oiled properly. Since I don't do food prep with the 6, I just liberally coat it in rem oil when I get home, but if you do use it for food, most folks recommend either veggie oil or mineral oil.
 
River Bear said:
Nice call on the mineral oil droobies. I would be using it for everything including food prep.
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I'm certainly not the originator of the idea, just one of the many things I've gleaned from these awesome forums from reading them daily. Lots of amazing info on here for both outdoors and in-home use of these great blades. Sounds like mineral oil is the ticket for you. In addition, dry lubricating products like Tuf-Glide and Tuf-Cloth are likely recommended for long-term storage, although I don't think I could ever bring myself to "store" any ESEE blade, they're just too much fun to take out and get dirty!
 
Carbon steel has been man's constant companion in all wilderness conditions for a long time. Fresh water is not a big deal at all. Since these knives come with plasic or kydex sheaths that don't hold moisture and also have a great coating just use it a lot or use tuf cloth and you are good to go.
 
that is how I came to this site...A fellow kayaker had a Izzy as his river knife. I really liked it and the sheath.

Rat Pack #936
 
rbmcneil said:
that is how I came to this site...A fellow kayaker had a Izzy as his river knife. I really liked it and the sheath.

Rat Pack #936
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I have an Izula lashed to my PFD for kayaking. It performs well, but I do dry it and lube it soon after I return to camp or home to prevent any rusting.
 
Might be a stupid idea but what about a wax coating something like bow wax of there alike. Dont know if this would work or not but i might give it a try.
 
or wait until June and pick up a 440c esee4 at blade...
(if they're ready by then)
 
I've taken my Junglas, Izula, and ESEE-4 kayaking on multi day trips. I have had few problems, and any corrosion that I did experience cleaned right up with a little sandpaper in seconds when I got back.

JGON
 
I use canola oil for my esees, I do use them for food prep. I'm in louisiana - its either high humidity, raining or both. No real rust problems, just some spots here and there - easily removed.
 
Yeah, I'd just wait for the 440C ESEE-4 coming up mid-year....

On the other hand - if ESEE decided to design a stainless dive knife with a chisel or blunted tip (for puncture protection), it would be very interesting, and perhaps popular with diving/rafting enthusiasts.
Kind of like the Mantis Mako, but with better design.
 
Mineral oil, thorough drying after getting wet, and don't get youre panties in a knot....If these knives went to shit at the first sign of water most people here would'nt be so enamored with 'em. The coating on the ESEE's is really quite nice too, so if you do have trouble with rust it'll be in the places were the metal is actually showing or also sometimes where the logo's are. Good luck!
rwasham
 
It was never a question of going to shit really. But those who have experience with river knives know they sit for long periods of time in their sheaths. You don't want to pull it out alot and wear down the retention mechanism. So the knife needs to be low maintinance.

The Stainless is a great idea and I'll be waiting just like the rest of the pack in a constant state of anticipation. For now I think I'll be using mine on the river for food prep and general use. Using mineral oil to keep it happy. Good point on the logo/serial number area.

And yes a river rescue knife from ESEE would be amazing. We are only allowed to dream.
 
Strip it, patina it, and apply canola/mineral oil (especially if you need it for food prep). Keep a little vial of the stuff in your pack, and lubricate periodically. As long as you maintain it, it will maintain you (I like that saying, someone quote me one that).
 
I'm down on the Tx/La border..lots of heat, mud and mosquitos. My knives are a Mission MPK in A2 or a Breeden in 01. I've never had rust issues with either and I spend large amounts of time kayaking or playing in/around the water. A little scrubbing with river sand and wiping them with Crisco brand shortening or vegetable oil has worked for years.
 
I don't see any problem river-ratting (no pun intended). I think the main issue for me is just the uncoated edge on my ESEE and that's no big deal if you use it. Even if the coating starts to wear, something old school like 3-in-1 oil on a regular basis is all I use.
 
My 4 lives on me while canoeing. As long as you keep it oiled and don't store it in a wet sheath it'll be fine.
 
I had a custom 440c stainless dive knife with linen micarta handles that I used in the open ocean. The thing would start to get a little surface corrosion while I was still in the water. A little cleaning and polishing would take the surface rust off easily though.

The thing I didn't like was the micarta handle slabs were permanently fixed to the blade, making it impossible to take the knife apart for cleaning.

I still have it and I'm interested to see under the handles, I want to see just how much corrosion has happened from salt water use, then storage for five years and how deep the corrosion goes. I'm assuming it won't be bad since its a modern stainless steel.

If you think about it, there are still a lot of live munitions and mines in the ocean from the second world war. Those were made out of iron and cheap steel and have been in the salt water for 80 years, so I have faith in modern stainless steels.

The other way to go is a rust free metal like Ti, but Ti is a lot softer than steel so you will be sharpening after every time you use it. For me its easier to clean after every use than sharpen.

Spyderco has the H1 "steel that will not rust" which I thought was an oxymoron since steel contains iron and iron is always trying to revert back to iron oxide. Whatever it is, I left an H1 blade in salt water for seven days to see what would happen and didn't see one spec of rust. H1 seems almost as soft as Ti though, it loses its edge fast and is easy to sharpen.

I'd say go for it. The little bit of surface rust that might occur is more irritating than anything and as long as you get a knife you can strip down, you won't have to worry about heavy corrosion because you can open it up and see.
 
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