Recommendation? Outdoor test: In a humid environment, which kind of steel really doesn't rust?

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Ive heard really mixed things about AEBL rust resistance depending who you ask and the HT.

XHP is suppose to rust pretty easy.

my wife's 154cm rusted a little after working it in the garden and not cleaning it up.

Magnacut will prob rust if it comes from Bark River 🤣

I guess it depends on application/environment, heat treat and even hrc
 
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knarfeng said:
I live within 5 miles of the ocean. Lots of humidity. None of my stainless steel knives have corrosion issues.
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Same here. I live on a river, about 10 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The only knives that my wife and I own are stainless CS models, both fixed blade and folders, including a CS Master Hunter. They have been used for everything from kitchen food prep to hunting, fishing and EDC in humid weather; have been exposed to blood, salt water, dishwashers and sweat. Not a speck of rust on any of them. I have heard that the Spyderco "Salt" models are well-respected for their resistance to corrosion as well. I have absolutely no experience with them, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment on their performance.
 
I’ve jumped in the ocean, swam at the beach, gone fishing, used to live 150 yards from ocean, etc., with my QC Vanax in my shorts and no rust. My salts haven’t been in the ocean, but have visited the beach and are in my pocket during runs or hikes. No issues there either. I sweat a little during long runs.

Been caught in the rain while riding with the same knives, nothing, but I’ve had other steels on me in the same circumstances without issue.

Just rinse and dry at end of day.
 
Danke42 said:
If only there was a new kid on the block stainless super steel that everyone talked about constantly. Oh well.
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Rostfrie?🤔

I've had no problem with H1 and H2, but being that Spyderco is doing their Salt line out of Magnacut, I would say thats a safe bet. I've got a SHF with a full titanium body and Magnacut blade that has been in a pretty sweaty pocket without a hint of rust
 
I have a copper leak in CM154 It was my kayak knife mosty used in salt water and it never rusted. I rinsed each time I used it. Fast forward the blade cracked and I sent it in for a blade replacement. I got back my leak with a new spring and blade but no markings on the blade. I head to the beach that weekend, I take the leak I think I cut some bait with it. I cleaned it and rinsed it when I got home. In the morning there were several rust spots. Now it rusts if I look at picture of the beach. hmmmmm.
 
I had a cold steel in 1.4116, a buck in 420hc, a marbles in 440 and the cheapest stainless mora.

I used them as my salt bag knives during the winter over the past few years. They stay wet. They get salty. I clean them here and there. Rinse them off often.

The mora and the buck don't have a spec of rust on them.

The cold steel got surface rust all the time. Cleaned up easily enough but it still rusted. If left alone it would get bad I'm sure

The marbles is just rusty.

So, in my opinion with corrosion resistance, I'm going with the Buck in their everyday 420hc


As far as regular old humidity goes... I can't imagine any kind of stainless having a problem
 
My personal experiences have shown me the best corrosion resistance from LC200N, H1, and believe it or not a no name stainless steel from a $20 Canadian Tire knife that I reground. It was probably a 440 a or b. And when I ground it thin, it was still tough, and kept cutting longer than you might expect. Non scientific, purely anecdotal experience.
 
SharpBits said:
So, 7.5 or higher on Larrin's chart as posted by Synov seems to be a safe bet for little to no corrosion.
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That's been my experience too. In the summer, it is often above 80 degrees and 80% humidity, sometimes 90 degrees and 90% humidity. We don't usually get up to 100 degrees but 100% humidity happens. That's what gets me. I sweat. Sweat doesn't want to evaporate. While I can usually stay ahead with care, cleaning, and oiling; prolonged outdoor time and especially while active; I have to ask the question of "why" when higher corrosion resistance will do it for me.

7.5 is the magic number for me on Larrin's chart there. Yeah, blade finishes can make a difference but in general, that's where the safe zone starts. So long as I'm not leaving a blade actively dirty or gunked up, it's all good starting at 7.5.
 
RickHuf said:
I used them as my salt bag knives during the winter over the past few years. They stay wet. They get salty. I clean them here and there. Rinse them off often.
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Real world salt spray chamber conditions.
 
I live in a very hot and humid part of South America, and travel a bit for work (and fun) which sometimes takes me to even more corrosive environments. So far, everything I've used other than Salt series Spydercos has rusted (by this I mean a couple of spots, nothing mayor). On an active summer day an S30V folder will get some tiny dots just by being in my pocket.

For rust to be a real issue you've got to leave something laying around and not even whipe it down for a long time. We use machetes all the time, those are probably 1050 and they don't rot away.
 
This ATS-55 Dyad survived 15 winters working in a high salt environment, working in a salt storage shed, maintaining a brine production station and repairing brine sprayers on snow and ice removal equipment. It had regular almost daily dunkings in 80% brine solution every winter. Cleaned at the end of the day with fresh water, not a speck of rust.....

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