H1 Stainless Aqua Salt PE

1

14Tango

Joined
May 5, 2007
Messages
108
I'm looking for a gift for my dad and saw the yellow handled PE Aqua Salt and it looks like the perfect knife for him to keep in his boat. I'm very tempted to buy one for myself to evaluate first but my finances won't allow it. My question to anyone the has used a knife with H1 steel is how easy is it to sharpen and will take a razor cutting edge? My dad's a bit traditional when it comes to knives and still sharpens his knives on an Arkansas fine stone and some other sharpening stones he got in Japan. Will a sharpmaker do the job? How does it compare to AUS8, VG10, or S30V (steel I'm more familiar with)? Any information would be appreciated as I've never used this steel yet.
 
Ive heard it tends to roll rather than chip which most seem to prefer.
I dont own any yet so i dont know much more.
 
It sharpens pretty easily, never rusts, and the general consensus of current user claims is that over time will require less and less frequent resharpenings. It cosmetically scratches easily as well but as a boat knife this is moot.

In general, the more he uses it the more likely he will like it.


On edit, I see the OP is from Hawaii. I don't know if you are aware of fellow Hawaiian and knife designer Chad Los Banos. He is the person who wrote the first review I had read on H1. He likes it a lot, and even said he successfully sharpened his blade on a beach rock!
 
Thanks for the input, yes I live out in Hawaii and I do spend a lot of time at the beach and in the forests. The constant moistures is rough on steel and I've always leaned towards stainless over carbon steels because of the rust factor. My dad's current boat knive is an old Case fixed blade that has seen better days but the function of a knife has always been more important to him than the looks. The aqua salt might just satisfy both areas for him. I'm leaning towards the plain edge (my personal preference) but the serrated version might be more useful as a boat knife for rope and such. Does the H1 form a toothy edge? Just wondering as on my budget a $100 dollar knife is on the high side. I want to get dad the best knife I can afford and so far the Aqua salt looks like a winner.
 
I've heard that the fully serrated version keeps it's cutting edge a whole lot longer then the plain edge version, but it'd be a bit more difficult to sharpen if your dad is a traditionalist.
 
Josh K said:
I've heard that the fully serrated version keeps it's cutting edge a whole lot longer then the plain edge version, but it'd be a bit more difficult to sharpen if your dad is a traditionalist.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with that. If he uses just a flat stone it would be hard/impossible to sharpen the serrated edge (as far as I know). If he uses or can use any sort of sharpening rod or a sharp maker serrated is easy.

IMO, H1 makes a toothy edge.
 
Thanks for all of the input. At this point I'm leaning to pick up the PE version, I have a sharpmaker so I could sharpen serrations no problem but my dad is a do it yourselfer and will probably want to sharpen himself. Anyway thanks for the info now I just have to pick it up. I'm sure the Aqua Salt will make a great boat knife.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top