Marine environment deployment cheap knife options

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David Valdez

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So here’s the deal. I will be going on a deployment to a salt water environment for nearly a year. I am wanting opinions on a knife to compare against what I have now (custom Benchmade g10 mini grip with 20CV Steel or a ZT 0450 s35vn steel)

Here are the requirements:

Must be under $50

Blade length 2.75” - 3.00” ( I like small knives)

I will be using this for edc 24/7. So that includes being in a boat, warm weather, BBQing on the beach, fishing and use for every day small tasks. This won’t be a hard core use knife. I consider the two knives I have, the Benchmade mini and ZT 0450 both good smallish medium prices knives that should do what I need while I’m gone. I just want to see how a $50 knife can hold up.
I will be carrying and using the knives the same amount and sharpening them as needed throughout the year.


Thanks for any input and let me know what you think would be the best choice.
 
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Another vote for Spyderco in H1 steel. If the price is a fixed variable for your experiment I would try to snag anything used from the Salt series. The Dragonfly may be a tad too small with your specs but it'd be interesting to see how it performs against the others and If you like smaller knives it may come out the winner!
 
Barman1 said:
Scrape together another 30-40 bucks and grab a Spyderco Salt with H1 steel.
There are other steel options that are similarly corrosion resistant but are way out of your range.
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Yeah I am definitely aware of how good that H1 steel is for salt water. It’s not about the money. I just want to see if there is a cheap knife that can handle a year being around salt water and regular everyday use. I will never just dunk it in the ocean. And if it does get wet I’ll rinse with water.
Thanks for your reply!
 
The mini grip will take it just fine. All you have to do is take care of it.

My biggest bout of salt water vs. knife was back when I worked on the docks. Salt water, sand, grit, rain, sweat... day in and day out. For years.

The knife I used was a Benchmade 970, the BM version of the Emerson CQC7. Steel was ATS-34,

There were times that I'd leave it wet in my coveralls pocket over the weekend without so much as wiping it off. Only corrosion issues I ever had on the knife was with the torx screws that held the G-10 slabs on. At times I would wipe down the blade, but for some reason it never occurred to me to brush the beach sand out of the screws.

After that knife, I carried a Kershaw Blackout and gave it the same punishment. It lasted just fine as well.

I don't see the need for some sort of impervious material. Normal, adequate care will keep your knife plenty serviceable for this amount of time.
 
Well I got a rat 2 and a dozier. Both well under $50. Not sure which one I’ll use as an edc yet. I’m going to be switching daily between the mini grip g10 in 20cv and the rat or dozier. I will use them for any edc tasks that I encounter and see how they hold up in Caribbean weather for a year. Cleaning them and sharpening as needed. Thanks for the replies
 
Velitrius said:
The mini grip will take it just fine. All you have to do is take care of it.
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True - my first decent knife was a benchmade grip in D2.
A few years back I had a sailboat in Sausalito. Long story short, knife clip caught on a lifeline while at dock, into the San Fran bay it went. Tide was high when the knife went kaplunk. I waited till the next day when the tide ran out, grabbed my shop magnet 'broom' and pulled it out of the water.

I sprayed it with wd40 and left it to sit on the dock while we finished out work. At home i gave it a proper cleaning. In short, no major rust blooms, it was overnight in salt water and mud, no problems. Still use it regularly.

Glad to hear you got your knives sorted out. Use common sense with those new knives of yours and they'll be fine around salt water.
 
You should purchase one of Cold Steel's budget ($10-$30) knives with the German 4116 stainless steel. There should be dozens of different options. There are many larger knives that could be used to process fish. The Krup steel is supposed to be "nearly rust-proof". I would love to see how it fares in a real wet/salty environment, for a prolonged period of time.

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Buy a knife that's very rust resistant like H1, or lc200n.

Otherwise steels that are resistant to rust like m390, 20cv, 204p, s35vn, s30v are great but in a salt water environment be sure to clean and dried after salt water interactions. Oil will help also.

All these steels vary in cost from knife to knife. Most of the higher end steels are pricey. I would suggest H1. It's some what affordable and won't rust at all, comes in a few designs from spyderco.
 
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Buck Bantam in your size range. BBW or BLW.

Lots of handle designs to choose from. 420hc has good rust resistence
Made in USA

Kabar Dozier is another great choice.
Esee Zancudo or Ontario RAT 2 are also solid choices.

Shoot, buy one of each at about $20/ea and tell us which one you like the best when you get back!?
 
strategy9 said:
Buck Bantam in your size range. BBW or BLW.

Lots of handle designs to choose from. 420hc has good rust resistence
Made in USA

Kabar Dozier is another great choice.
Esee Zancudo or Ontario RAT 2 are also solid choices.

Shoot, buy one of each at about $20/ea and tell us which one you like the best when you get back!?
Click to expand...
 
Ontario knives, Utilitac by Joe Pardue. Great knife for around $20 last I saw!
 
Why not just try a SAK or two? I don't believe they are prone to rust any more than any other "cheap" stainless steel.
 
Check out the Civivi knives in either 9Cr18Mov or 14C28N. They are among the best-made knives in this price range. Actions and blade geometry tend to be good. They do an excellent heat treatment on their 9Cr18Mov. It's a solid step up from steels like AUS-8 or 4116 and a great alternative to Chinese D2. Besides decent edge retention, both 9Cr18Mov and 14C28N are very stainless.
 
Get a stainless Mora and if you're afraid of dropping it, get a spare. You very well might end up under $50 anyway.
It won't rust if you just maintain it in any way (which is easy to do, since it's not a folder).
It might even not rust if you don't maintain it at all.

They even make one that floats nowadays:

303213_101_MORAKNIV_FLOATING%20KNIFE.png
 
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