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Uggghhhhhh!!!!!!!! For the first time all year, it's been exceptionally hot in Upstate New York. The last 3 days have been beastly, temperatures reaching as high as 95 degrees yesterday afternoon, and humid. My wife and I haven't gotten around to putting the air conditioner in the bedroom window yet, so we've just been leaving the windows open and turning on some fans.
Well, I always have a few choice traditional pocketknives on my nightstand. I grab one every morning, and put it in my pocket. The rest of my knives live in a storage room upstairs, safe and sound. The windows are always closed upstairs, and the door is kept shut.
Anyway, I go to grab a knife from my nightstand last night, a pristine Case CV sowbelly stockman, to cut up some cardboard for recycling. I open the big sheepsfoot, and stare at a giant nasty orange patch of rust. Two blades now have deeply pitted spots on them, after buffing them out.
To make matters worse, all 3 of the carbon steel knives on my nightstand were effected. The Sowbelly got it the worst, but my Soda Scout and Esky Zulu also had large orange rust spots, and those two already had a heavy patina going on them.
The three remaining knives on my dresser, My Boker 440C camp knife, my Camillus 440A C4 saw scout, and me Remington 440A Trailhand were not even remotely effected.
I am now officially sick of carbon steel. I really love old traditional pocketknives, and I love the edge I can get on 1095 with just an Arkansas stone. I also adore the look of a blade with a nice dark patina. But it just isn't worth it, for knives that I actually plan on using. This exact same thing happened to me last year also, and three of four GEC's were forever pitted. I went camping last summer, spent a rainy two days in a tent, and couldn't keep up with the rust forming on my Texas Camp Knife.
I've never liked Case's soft Tru-Sharp all that much, so Case is now pretty much eliminated from my purchasing decisions altogether, other than the occasional model with upgraded steel.
I'm also done with 99% of the GEC knives that are manufactured. I love GEC with all my heart. I really do. But I just can't stomach the heartache of not being able to use their knives for even a few summer days without ruining them. I have no interest in buying them, just to forever store them in dark dry room. That's not me.
So where does this leave me in the traditional knife world? I'm not totally sure. I only really collect American-made pocketknives, and there isn't much made in America anymore, that is of decent quality and features stainless steel.
Maybe Queen's D2 will surprise me, and not be effected like my carbon steel knives were. It's hard to say. Maybe I'll toss a D2 "test knife" in my bedroom for a couple days, and see what happens. But I'm not sure that I like the idea of buying Queens from the Internet, where I can't handle them first. And they aren't sold in stores locally.
I have a feeling that I'll be saving a whole lot of money from here on. I have a GEC #66 preorder still outstanding, and I'll pick up the Bladeforums knife this year, but I think that's it for me, in the world of carbon steel. I'm done with it. I'm sick of carbon steel and all of its issues. There's a good reason why stainless was invented.
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