Review of Teflon Grease and Teflon Plus range from Finish Line.
Firstly I would like to say that I am reviewing this product for a few reasons. The Finish Line range is available in both the UK and the States. It can be bought at any good bike shop like Halfords. These products are Teflon based. I often hear about products such as Miltech and CRK Grease, and I ask myself, where can I get such products? Well the answer is not locally, easily or cheaply. So I wanted to find a reasonable and obtainable lube that worked reasonably well.
I normally use Tuf Glide on my blades. After a few months use with it I have found it does work well on most blades. Since getting my Classic Sebi I have noticed it was not working very well. I think it is something to do with the washers. Anyway I tried a Silicone grease and Tuf Glide combo. This worked on most of my knives in the past. I noticed that after a few weeks the TG and Grease were breaking down, and failing to perform as well. The silicone was clumping and the TG was not doing the job with the Sebi.
Anyhow, the Premium Grease is a med viscosity white synthetic grease containing Teflon. It is claimed that it will not run or break down (clumping as I call it) when hot or cold. Even under very high pressure it will hold together. This product is designed for use in bike chains and piston suspensions. The need to resist dirt and water is important on a bike chain as it is in a pocketknife. I am tired of cleaning pocket lint from a pivot and handle. I have not noticed any more or less problems with this product compared to any other lube. In fact it seems fine. The product is claimed to work 100% fine even underwater and will not allow water to break it down, it is also claimed to resist dirt and mud, staying cleaner than oil. I have to say I have not noticed this one way or the other. One thing of import, this product is non-toxic, this is important, very important. I am sure you can work out why. The grease does in fact provide good lubrication, I have noticed how smooth it makes even tight knives feel.
The grease is easy to use and stays put. You get a lot for little money, far more than I will use in years. The Teflon Plus product is rather more interesting. It comes in a pressurised container with a little straw. Think of it as like WD-40 or GT-85. However there is a huge difference here. Products such as WD-40 and Gt-85 are synthetic oil that lubricate and stay wet or leave a slight film of protection. GT-85 also uses Teflon. TP does not work quite like this; in fact, while it squirts into tight spots as a liquid, it is a dry protectorant. By this, I mean the finished product is a light grease which is Teflon rich. This has many advantages. The first being it offers a lot more protection than an oil or similar fluid. Secondly when you use the pressurised product, you flush out the debris and replace it with a more viscose product than WD-40 for example. This lets you get right to the impossible spots inside the pivot, without the need to strip a knife. This is great for Spyderco knives with a rivet, and blades that have poor Torx screws (my D2 KaBar folder, cannot open it, thread lost on screw), or if you are feeling lazy and just want to give it a quick blast. Thus the product cleans, protects and stays where is should.
I have tested the two products hand in hand and have found the TP to be a real winner, two or three applications really gives you a very smooth action on a knife, the dry film Teflon seems to stay put. The Grease product seems fine for what it is, it certainly does the job and I think works very well with the TP product.
I have sprayed a little TP on a bit of metal and watched it dry. I think an alcohol-based carrier is used to keep it in a liquid form. When it dries Teflon grease is left behind. Moving it with my finger suggest it is a light grease and is not as thick as the Premium Grease product. I do not see this as a problem, however.
As a final note, I have used both products on the following-
BM 710 M2
BM 800 M2
Spyderco Mil CPM-440V
Spyderco Endura ATS-55
KA-BAR D2 Extreem Folder D2
Chris Reeve Large Classic Sebenza 2000
I have found they are all a little smoother than before, the Sebi much more so.
Any comments or questions are very welcome.
Hope it helps!
W.A.
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