Maintaining blades in higher humidity areas

R

RedLynx

Joined
Aug 5, 2011
Messages
11,445
Hi guys,

Might be spending quite a bit of time in near future in areas with much higher humidity than I get here...

My question is, for those of you in places like Oregon or Florida or Louisiana where humidity is quite high, do you find that has any bearing on how fast your blade gets wear and tear? If you're working/using it out during the day in humidity, does it need any extra work, or not really? I need to read up on how various climates may affect knives.

Carbon needs extra care, I know.
 
At day's end, clean and dry the blade. Apply a very light coat of oil. Mineral oil if the blade is to be used in food preparation. Otherwise, light machine oil or gun oil work quite well. And again, a LIGHT coat.
 
Obviously, rust is the main issue. However, oxidization works faster than you'd expect, but to a level you can't see. The edges, for example, will seem to dull after a while of not being used, but it's really just oxidization and it'll rub off the second you use it. It's a good idea to pick up some tug-cloth to keep rust at bay, but you're good in any case.
 
If you don't feel like hiking an oily rag around, get the new stuff (stainless). Stellite (Talonite) or Titanium is even more corrosion resistant.
 
Form a patina (natural or forced) on your carbon blades. This will prevent rusting. It still has the potential or is proned to rusting, but the patina will protect it and unless you neglect your blade and put it up wet, it shouldn't rust. Mineral oil is a must as well.
 
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