INFI and corrosion resistance?

T

Torm

Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
1,235
Hello everyone,

I'm interested in hearing your opinions on INFI's corrosion resistance. I recently ordered a TGLB in competition grade but am wondering whether that may have been a bad idea given that I live in British Columbia. To say its damp and rainy here would be an understatement for much of the year. So what are your thoughts? Is INFI likely to hold up as well as, say, 5160 in this environment? Or better?
 
If you worry about corrosion you shouldn't have gotten a competition finish. Coated blade would suit u better.
Although infi with proper maintenance should never rust.
 
I would not have gotten a comp finish as its the most rust prone and double cut might be second.

INFI isnt as rust agressive as a true carbon steel but it can and will rust just like many mild stainless steels.

A coated knife will be the best bet especially since the handle is coated and that should keep worries off of the knife behind the choil since the edge is still uncoated and when the coating wears down it may see some rust risk in areas.

I feel the coated knives once worn have a very custom look and the remaining finish is still protective.
 
Like any tool..............take care of it, clean it, oil it, wax it...whatever.

After each use, I clean my guns, knives, axes...........I live in the humid south and rust is common.

I have a CF TGLB......I love and use it......no rust issues:D
 
I haven't had any problems with rust on my Double Cut or satin INFI. I don't have any CF blades, but like Georgecatl said, with a small amount of preventative maintenance, you will be fine, even in the Fraser Valley and Sunshine Coast. I have had my INFI all over BC with no indication of corrosion thus far. If you're ever up the Prince George way, send me a PM
 
A stronger rust inhibitor like tuff glide you may find beneficial as the competition grade finish isn't as resistant as satin.
 
I submerge this one in salt water constantly. Wash it in tap water and it has zero rust issues. I apply a little oil from time to time. Since that pic, I've replaced the carbon steel grip screws with stainless.

IMG_0310.jpg


Still, Comp and Double Cut are more stain prone because the steel has more little bitty divits that allow water to sit into them. That being said, INFI is FAR more stain resistant than any of the carbon steels. It is more stain resistant than D2 or CPM3V.

Would you be better with a coated blade? It depends on your application. If it's a chopper... go coated. If you plan on using it for meat prep or skinning I advise against the coating since it does tend to hang up a bit on meat and collect fatty tissue in the coating. One other option is to sand down the coating to a smoother finish. This will make your coating less durable, but still provide some additional protection while minimizing the problems of the rough texture. If you don't like the coating, paint stripper removes it asap with no ill effects to the knife.

Busse will happily change your order if you wish, just shoot them an email or call and talk to them.

.
 
Flitz makes gun and knife wax. Mine should be here after the new year, I'll let you know how it works :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the comments and advice everyone. If INFI is more corrosion resistant than the carbon steels, as a few of you said, then it should do fine where I live.
 
Infi is far more resistant to corrosion than the simple carbon steels.

I have weird sweat - it's like alien blood. I can leave my fingerprint in freshly polished brass with just a few second's touch - ten minutes later and my fingerprint is nicely highlighted in verdigris. O1 steel rusts like mad in my hand and even A2 rusts quickly on exposed tangs. I also live in the North West of England, where it has rained now for the last six days non-stop, and that's normal. So, I'm sensitive to steel that rusts easily...

The only time I have ever seen rust on my infi is a little cluster of almost microscopic rust spots on a satin knife that had sat in the drawer for a few months. I've used both satin and coated and never seen any rust on my users, even when I left my HH covered in wet Welsh mud for over a month in its sheath.

If I'm putting a knife away for a while, I do tend to wipe it over with tuf-cloth first, but I don't do that often and I don't think my HH (main user) has seen the tuf cloth in a few years!

I think of my infi as almost stainless. That said, I've never had a competition finish and I've read that it rusts quite readily due to the surface (non)finish. I would not buy that myself.
 
I use many of mine in and around salt water rinse the mud/clam/fish guts off in the briny, tap water or bottled water later, no staining a green scrubbie couldnt take off.
I wet formed a leather sheath around a nice custom, piled stuff on top for weight, promptly forgot. When i sobered up a year or so later i found, in a nice tight sheath, pristine.
 
I haven't had a problem with my double cut infi here, but my sr101 tends to lightly rust if its its been used hard and put away wet...
 
Info should be much better much much better at rust resistance than 5160
 
Bare INFI is pretty darned rust resistant. I don't really do any maintenance on mine, and never oil it. I take it on multi day canoe trips, and have been swimming with them many times! Lake water, river water, and even pool water (both on purpose, and when I jumped into the pool fully dressed to save a little girl who was drowning). The GW was wet in the sheath for the rest of the day, no rust. My phone did not fare so well!



As others have said, the Comp finish is a rougher finish. They occasionally have surface rust issues. The good part is that if your's has this issue, just hit it with scotch brite, and when the infi underneath is exposed, it should not rust again. (the Decarb layer gets left occasionally on comp finishes). They have been good about getting it off most of the recent Comp finishes. If I had one that rusted, I would knock the rust off, and not worry.



Naked Infi is many many many times more rust resistant than 5160...........(Many Times).
 
I have 3 satin beauties and I never oil them, I live in Florida so its not the driest place either. Never had any rust. Just my 2 cents. Although Comp finish is a little more prone.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Bare INFI is pretty darned rust resistant. I don't really do any maintenance on mine, and never oil it. I take it on multi day canoe trips, and have been swimming with them many times! Lake water, river water, and even pool water (both on purpose, and when I jumped into the pool fully dressed to save a little girl who was drowning). The GW was wet in the sheath for the rest of the day, no rust. My phone did not fare so well!



As others have said, the Comp finish is a rougher finish. They occasionally have surface rust issues. The good part is that if your's has this issue, just hit it with scotch brite, and when the infi underneath is exposed, it should not rust again. (the Decarb layer gets left occasionally on comp finishes). They have been good about getting it off most of the recent Comp finishes. If I had one that rusted, I would knock the rust off, and not worry.



Naked Infi is many many many times more rust resistant than 5160...........(Many Times).
Click to expand...


Yes, but I think it is important to point out that infi is many times more rust resistant. Not sure you're post captured that point clearly... :D

.
 
I tend to carry a knife while doing yard work. My sweat is pretty corrosive. I had a blued ruger 22/45 that I touched the oiled barrel with my fingers not even sweating that I know of. The barrel then had my fingerprints permanently scribed into it's surface.

A few weeks ago I carried acpm-m4 bladed benchmade in my pocket while mowing the lawn (Houston). The blade was coated but the edge rusted. I have also carried a ss5 le in INFI in a cheap sheath in the same pocket without any issues.
 
Last edited:
Infi's rust resistance depends very much on surface finish. The early comp finish blades basically had the decarb from heat treating left on, that paper thin skin of decarbed infi was extremely prone to rusting. Once that's cut off as it is on doublecut and satin finish blades Infi is more rust resistant than most of the "high performance" stainless steels like 154cm/s30v/etc. When you mirror polish it, well I've never heard of mirror polished infi rusting. Coated blades often have the decarb left on underneath, it acts as an excellent "primer" that the coatings adhere to well, and rust isn't an issue because the coating protects it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top