How to store a fixed blade in your car trunk?

Lord_Balkan

Lord_Balkan

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Aug 25, 2016
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I live in an area where it gets extremely cold in the winter, and extremely hot and humid in the summer. I bought a Lionsteel M4 (m390 steel) with Santos wood handles to keep in my trunk as a part of a survival kit project I am working on (can check out the gear forum for my thread on that). I rubbed the wood handles with mineral oil, and coated the blade with frog lube in a sheath that is treated. I will also store it in a container that will have some kind of dry packs / anti moisture packs in it.

Is there anything I'm missing?
 
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If the sheath is leather I would not store it in the sheath, other then that check it once a month or so.
 
Zip lock bag? Card board sheath instead of leather. Just put it in the leather if you ever need it.
 
As far as I know storing knives in sheaths is only bad if the leather is not veg tanned.
I've got a carbon steel fixed blade that's been it's sheath since the day it was made in around 1968 and there's no rust at all, I'm assuming this sheath is probably veg tanned leather but if you don't know then you might not want to store it in the sheath.
 
Hickory n steel said:
As far as I know storing knives in sheaths is only bad if the leather is not veg tanned.
I've got a carbon steel fixed blade that's been it's sheath since the day it was made in around 1968 and there's no rust at all, I'm assuming this sheath is probably veg tanned leather but if you don't know then you might not want to store it in the sheath.
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Veg tanned or not you don't want to leave it in the sheath in a humid environment. Hell, you don't want to store the sheath itself in a humid environment.

@OP, I'd bring that lionsteel inside and replace it with something like a stainless mora and a cheap fibreglass handled axe or hatchet.
 
jimmyd1982 said:
Veg tanned or not you don't want to leave it in the sheath in a humid environment. Hell, you don't want to store the sheath itself in a humid environment.

@OP, I'd bring that lionsteel inside and replace it with something like a stainless mora and a cheap fibreglass handled axe or hatchet.
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I wouldn't, Because cheap fiberglass handled hatchets are crap. fiberglass handles or any type that's not wood just plain suck in general anyways.
The hatchet is a good suggestion though and I'd go with a 20$ Vaughan / Craftsman hatchet or a council tools hatchet.
Vintage hatchets are better, but to religate one to a kit and never use it just seems wrong.
Replacing the knife with something stainless is also a good idea, but not super necessary if he stores it properly.

Btw I forgot that it's not going to be in a dry place in his house where it wouldn't be a problem, but definitely not a good idea if in damp or humid conditions.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I wouldn't, Because cheap fiberglass handled hatchets are crap. fiberglass handles or any type that's not wood just plain suck in general anyways.
The hatchet is a good suggestion though and I'd go with a 20$ Vaughan / Craftsman hatchet or a council tools hatchet.
Vintage hatchets are better, but to religate one to a kit and never use it just seems wrong.
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Ohhh reeaally?

Fiskars makes one hell of a splitting axe for a great price.


How are vintage hatchets better?
Is there any proof to go along with that opinion or is this some sort of "hipster" thing?
 
Hickory n steel said:
I wouldn't, Because cheap fiberglass handled hatchets are crap. fiberglass handles or any type that's not wood just plain suck in general anyways.
The hatchet is a good suggestion though and I'd go with a 20$ Vaughan / Craftsman hatchet or a council tools hatchet.
Vintage hatchets are better, but to religate one to a kit and never use it just seems wrong.
Replacing the knife with something stainless is also a good idea, but not super necessary if he stores it properly.

Btw I forgot that it's not going to be in a dry place in his house where it wouldn't be a problem, but definitely not a good idea if in damp or humid conditions.
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This is just a misinformed opinion. I have several synthetic and metal handle axes, hawks, and hatchets that have worked fine for decades, just as well if not better than my wood handled ones. That is my opinion gained through personal experience.

When stating an opinion it is important not to present it as fact, especially if you are using put downs by calling someone else's opinion crap or that what they suggest sucks. That's just not respectful discourse.

Lord_Balkan Lord_Balkan Other than what I already suggested above I would seriously consider replacing that M4 blade with leather sheath to something stainless with a synthetic sheath, especially because it sounds like this blade is for longtime storage with infrequent to no use.
 
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You could replace the leather sheath with a Spec-Op sheath and add a good multi-tool to the sheath. If the Frog Lube was applied properly I would not be too concerned with the blade rusting when stored in the manner you plan to use.
 
craytab said:
This is just a misinformed opinion. I have several synthetic and metal handle axes, hawks, and hatchets that have worked fine for decades, just as well if not better than my wood handled ones. That is my opinion gained through personal experience.

When stating an opinion it is important not to present it as fact, especially if you are using put downs by calling someone else's opinion crap or that what they suggest sucks. That's just not respectful discourse.

Lord_Balkan Lord_Balkan Other than what I already suggested above I would seriously consider replacing that M4 blade with leather sheath to something stainless with a synthetic sheath, especially because it sounds like this blade is for longtime storage with infrequent to no use.
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The Lionsteel M4 isn't an M4 blade, it is an M390 blade. I'm not worried about the blade, I'm more worried about the wood handles.
 
Keep it in the sheath.. Take it out a couple times a yr and spray it with Rem Oil.. I have stored my FBs in their sheaths for yrs.. Take them out and spray them with Rem Oil. and no green stuff!!! John
 
I live in the super-humid-7-months-a-year Pacific NW. Not saying this is what everybody should do, I have no idea and not an expert on corrosion protection. ;) Here's the approach I've developed after 17 years of living here, after learning and trying a few different things. This approach has kept my car blades rust free for the last 3 years.

  • Use stainless blades. Typically I use a strong inexpensive fixed blade in a thick, stainless steel that has great stain resistance, like Aus 8, or 420HC, or some varieties of Sandvik stainless. For a while I used a Gerber LMF 2, for example. Because I'm not fond of serrations, now I'm thinking of switching to use Gerber Strongarm blades in my cars. Using stainless really helps. (To be clear, I don't think stainless is strictly necessary and carbon steel should be fine too with proper care. But this is what I do here in our super humid area, and it does make things a little easier and reduce maintenance for me).
  • Coat the blade with CorrosionX once a year. I used to do it a couple times a year with Ballistol or CorrosionX, or other products. For carbon steel tools hanging in my garage, I still need to do it at least 2x a year. But by switching my trunk fixed blades to stainless, they don't need as much maintenance.
  • Keep it in a kydex sheath. Other folks saying leather if certain types, I believe them, but kydex has also worked great for me. I got away from using nylon sheaths, there could be some that would work fine, the ones I used seems to be trapping moisture against the blade and accelerating rust.
 
I waterproof all my leather sheaths with SnowSeal, inside and out (I take them apart and re-stitch them after melting in two or three coats) and have had no problems with rust. That said, my Blackjack Campanion lives in the trunk in a plastic/cordura sheath, its edge well greased. The rest of the blade has some kind of incredibly tough epoxy coating so no corrosion worries there.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I wouldn't, Because cheap fiberglass handled hatchets are crap. fiberglass handles or any type that's not wood just plain suck in general anyways.
The hatchet is a good suggestion though and I'd go with a 20$ Vaughan / Craftsman hatchet or a council tools hatchet.
Vintage hatchets are better, but to religate one to a kit and never use it just seems wrong.
Replacing the knife with something stainless is also a good idea, but not super necessary if he stores it properly.

Btw I forgot that it's not going to be in a dry place in his house where it wouldn't be a problem, but definitely not a good idea if in damp or humid conditions.
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Fiberglass handles work fine. It's not my preferred handle material but for a hatchet that is being thrown in the trunk and likely forgotten about until there's an emergency it is the ideal choice.
 
If you just take it out once in awhile and keep a light coat of oil on it the blade shouldn't give you much problem the steel with frog lube should be good ... the wood ... the humidity will affect it and it will be more affected if you have temperature swings ... that will stress the wood expanding and shrinking ... any natural material like wood, antler, bone, etc ... is affected by weather changes and gets stressed eventually ... you might look into having some after market scales made for it if you're set on this knife for your emergency kit ... something like micarta or some "non natural" material.
 
Lord_Balkan said:
The Lionsteel M4 isn't an M4 blade, it is an M390 blade. I'm not worried about the blade, I'm more worried about the wood handles.
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Oh, I did not realize that. Rust should be an issue then if you use frog lube on the blade and the sheath is treated. I am no expert on wood handles as I prefer G10, Micarta, or even FRN over any non-synthetic. Seems wood expands and contracts. That is not really a problem as it would do so in the truck of your car or not. Only thing to really worry about would be if it cracks. I'm not sure how common that is. Hopefully some one else can comment on how to prevent such things. This is one of the reason I prefer other materials.

Here is another thought. For my various go bags I use less expensive knives. My reasoning is that these knives will likely never be used and hopefully never see the light of day except when reorganizing the bags. Why spend that much coin on a knife you will never use? That is not to say go so cheap as to be ineffective. You still want to spend enough to get a durable blade and a good sheath. That M4 looks like a fine knife. It would be a shame to not use it unless you have a duplicate or something. Anyway, that is just my reasoning on go bag knives.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
you might look into having some after market scales made for it if you're set on this knife for your emergency kit ... something like micarta or some "non natural" material.
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They do have a G10 version. If the OP isn't dead set on wood he might sell this one and get the G10 version...
 
I might pick up a Lionsteel T5 and use that instead, I really don't like G10 handles. I prefer Micarta or wood. Though a 5" might be overkill.

t5-mi_1.jpg
 
If it were me, it would depend on how often I would tend to go through the stuff stored in the trunk. If it is a fairly regular thing, monthly, I would store the knife in the leather sheath. If it's more like 6 months or a year, I'd keep the knife in a sealed zip lock bag after it has been wiped down with something like oil probably wrapped in a piece of an old tea shirt that has the same oil on it.

I like the T5. On the size, I think it works real well for a survival blade. It mostly depends on what you're comfortable using . My standard outdoor blade (day hikes, woods roaming, etc.) is a fixed blade with a 5.5" blade paired usually with a SAK. Sometimes I might carry a different folder.
 
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