Hinderer "Battle Black" blade finish

[BubsterX1]

I picked up a Hinderer XM-18 with the "battle black" blade finish. It's a brand new knife so there's not a scratch on it and I am trying to decide whether to keep it or resell it. The issue for me is whether the blade is going to look pretty crappy if it gets scratched up. The "working finish" seems to be designed to minimize the visibility of scratches, and I gather that the same objective may be behind the battle black finish (which is sort of a stonewashed DLC).

I was wondering if anyone has a photo of a Hinderer battle black blade that they have put to rugged use, so that I can get a sense of how the finish holds up.

Thanks if you can help.

BubsterX1

 

[abbazaba]

I'd like to see this too. I'd imagine that it cleans up nicely with Flitz, just like DLC.

I just got a new stonewashed DLC Skinny (despite it not being my first choice), and it's been a pleasant surprise. It looks great and wipes clean just like the regular stonewash. We'll see how it holds up.

The Battle Black has been a disappointment to me a few times because the "distressing" wasn't that pronounced and just made the finish look kinda charcoal.

I have one Battle Black still in my possession and it's held up well, but is a small knife that hasn't seen hard use:

 

[whitty]

This is my Battle Black 2 Tone Half Track. This knife has taken more abuse over the past 2 years than any other knife I own. I have dropped it on rocks while taking pictures, accidentally kicked it across gravel, and used it for every tough project I have worked on for quite some time. The finish has held up great. It looks a little beat up in this picture, but when I clean it up, it damn near looks unused. Hope this helps!

https://flic.kr/p/29M84yxhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/59094695@N06/

 

[BubsterX1]

Well, this is actually pretty encouraging. Thanks for posting the photos.

Can I expose my ignorance by directing a further question to abbazaba? I have sharpened knives but have net attempted to polish any, with flitz or anything else. If the guy in the hardware store suggested doing that, I would assume that if I start polishing a DLC blade with something that has some abrasives in it (I assume products like flitz do), then I will be polishing off even more of the DLC finish, which would not be my objective. So, are you just using kind of a light swipe of the blade with a rag and some flitz, or are you really polishing, like my mother does with her silver trays and like I do with my brass shower curtain rod?

 

[Ironbut]

I forget what ZT called it , but my stonewashed black 0801 has held up well. Although I'm usually not a big fan of coated blades, I like this. The Hinderers will probably hold up just as well & even if they do get scratched up, they won't show it nearly as bad as plain black DLC.

 

[sharp_edge]

Blackwash?

 

[abbazaba]

Well, this is actually pretty encouraging. Thanks for posting the photos.

Can I expose my ignorance by directing a further question to abbazaba? I have sharpened knives but have net attempted to polish any, with flitz or anything else. If the guy in the hardware store suggested doing that, I would assume that if I start polishing a DLC blade with something that has some abrasives in it (I assume products like flitz do), then I will be polishing off even more of the DLC finish, which would not be my objective. So, are you just using kind of a light swipe of the blade with a rag and some flitz, or are you really polishing, like my mother does with her silver trays and like I do with my brass shower curtain rod?

I've cleaned up many DLC blades with Flitz. Much of what appears to be scratches in the finish is often other material embedded in the DLC (DLC is reportedly harder to scratch than the steel). It takes a very little effort to remove the marks, and you are not really trying to "polish" the blade. However, it may end up a little smoother than it was before, so you want to try and do it as evenly as possible.

You could probably use another type of cleaner, I just haven't found anything that works as well to remove metal debris from the DLC.

I'm not 100% certain what Hinderer's Battle Black is, especially with his new "Stonewashed DLC" being quite different (shinier, smoother), even though I assumed that's what Battle Black was. Here is a picture DLT sent me comparing the two finishes:

Ironbut, I agreed about the ZT Blackwash finish, which is one of my favorites because it wipes clean easier than DLC, but I do think it might scratch easier. This 0801BW has seen a lot of dumb shit and still looks good IMO.