Pacific Northwest Rust Prevention

D

DIYknife

Joined
Sep 1, 2014
Messages
52
Hi everybody,

I live in the Pacific Northwest and we get a lot of rain. I've started noticing rust spots and general discoloration on my knife, particularly my stripped G.I. Tanto. I'm wondering if anybody has tips on prevention, and I'd be especially interested in tips from people who live in the PNW.

Thanks!
 
I'm in the tropics most of the year - lots of rain, sea air and sweat. Average temp is 85 F and 83 inches of rain. I rinse and dry my knives when coming in from the field. I use mineral or baby oil and a leave a thin film. Anything that is stored for a few weeks or more gets a wax coating. The carbon steel blades discolor - sometimes immediately. Vegetation will instantly leave black marks.
 
Where in the PNW? Inland or on the coast? I'm in WA state and we have a peninsula so humid it's classified as a rain forest, the pugent sound area, and my own area is classed as a desert.

But it doesn't really matter, the best things you can do are to wipe down the blade frequently. Keeping it not only dry but clean is important, especially in coastal areas where there is a lot of saltwater that will get on it. Even in my "desert" climate if I leave a blade in the sheath for too long and didn't wipe it down well, it will form slightly rust spots.

Like adnj said the third and most foolproof precaution is just oiling the blade up. If you don't need a foodsafe blade there are some commercial options that last longer and save you from having to reapply them, but basically anything that prevents the surface metal from contacting oxygen will work. Guys over on the ESEE forum like to use chapstick because it's cheap, food safe and handy to apply.
 
Oregon. Keep it dry and use it. Patina is your friend and protects the steel. Most of my knives are o1 or 1095..... it's not like they are going to rust away.
 
If it has a leather sheath warming it and applying SnoSeal inside and out will keep the acids present from tanning at bay.The sheath on my Randall mod 26 would rust the blade when stored in the sheath until I treated it as above.And simply wiping the blade dry before sheathing goes a long way in keeping rust away.
 
Mineral oil is a cheap, effective, and food safe way to prevent rust.
 
I have a "stainless" Cold Steel Double Agent II that I take swimming in the Gulf of Mexico a few times a week. "Ideally" it gets rinsed with fresh water at the end of every day, dried, then liberally oiled. I leave it oily when I resheath it. If I don't use it, the oil coat tends to stay on. It is a lot of maintenance though.

I'm putting a tomato juice/OJ patina on it as we speak, I'll let you know how that holds up.

I put all the details here:
http://tokeepandbear.blogspot.com/2014/07/outfitting-cold-steel-double-agent-ii.html
 
Patina is really kicking my butt. I thought 3 hours would do it. nope, not even close.
added lemon and salt and warmed it some more, let's see if that gets me goin.
 
I live in the middle of the Pacific. Surrounded and impregnated with salty air 24/7. Having clammy hand never help my carbon steel alloy toys.

I used to have rusting issues with my firearms, airguns and carbon steel knife blades. Required high maintenance with messy oiling/grease coating for rust prevention. Then the dreaded clean up before each use.

Then, I started to use Metalophilic. Once treated and allow to air cured, touching/using will not leave any finger prints on touched surface. Other then the exception of bore clean with guns/airguns, there is no more need to wipe down, just put it away after having fun. Dry and mess free. Even my sheathed '70 vintage custom Randall, where the brass rivets tarnished to have an waxy/green coating has no effect on the Randall's carbon steel blade.

Whether Metalophilic is food safe is never a problem, I don't eat with my guns or use my knife collection to prep food.
 
I use a product called "Ballistol" which was developed for the German army. It is a mix of olealic acid and Pharmaceutical grade mineral oil.

It is very safe, goes on the blade with a Qtip, you can use the blade for food prep after the Ballistol dries and is fairly inexpensive.

The olealic acid very slightly etches the blade so the mineral oil can bond with the steel. After about 2 hours the oil dries and you wipe off the residue with a paper towel and you are protected from rust.

I live in the Pacific Northwest near the coast. After applying the Ballistol my knives (no matter what steel is used) simply do not rust.

As there tag line says "ballistol says it all!!

laur
 
I live in the rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula, about a mile and a half upstream from the strait. I can keep simple carbon blades free of rust, but it takes effort along the lines that others have suggested. With stainless steels showing such incredible performance, I've moved in that direction. Just makes life easier. But I still use some non-stainless steels, mostly 10V, M4 and 3V. M4 will pit if I'm not careful. My Military M4 likes to take on a patina, which I don't like. I sand it off and re-oil it on a somewhat regular basis. Otherwise, I like to EDC either M390 or Elmax.
 
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