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Salt I vs Pacific Salt Black

S

steelcity

Joined
Apr 23, 2014
Messages
34
I find myself in need of a new knife. Working at a commercial fish house I find my PM2 coming in contact with salt either from saltwater at the dock area or myself sweating when offloading fish. I noticed some light surface rust on my PM2 so I'm looking at the Salt I and the Pacific Salt Black. I prefer the satin finish of the Salt I but I like the length of the Pacific Salt Black (3" vs 3.8"). How does H1 steel sharpen up and does the black carbonitride finish on the Pacific Black hinder sharpening? Does Spyderco make the Pacific Salt in the satin finish and I'm not seeing it?

Thanks
 
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Also is there another knife I should look at that has high rust resistance with a different steel?
 
http://www.bladehq.com/item--Spyderco-Pacific-Salt-H-1-Knife--8214

Here' the Pacific Salt in satin finish.

And from my experience, PE H1 sharpens up extremely easily, it reminds me of AUS-8 or even AUS-6 in that regards. Will take a super keen edge extremely easily but will also lose it's sharpness quickly as well. SE H1 is an entirely different beast, and will hold it's edge much longer. Sal has stated that serrated H1 has an HRC of around 65~ I believe because H1 is work-hardened so when the serrations are ground on, science happens and the serrations harden more than PE. This does make them harder to sharpen.
 
Get a plain finish blade.

I have the salt1 and Pac salt in satin, plain edge.

Blade length is the only difference.
They sharpen fairly easy and edge holding is decent.

As for rust. NEVER been a problem.
Both have gone from pool water to the pacific sometimes on
the same day without a rinse.

No rust.
 
I have a Salt1 serrated with a satin finish and a Pacific Salt with a black plain edge. They do make the Pacific with a satin finish, which I would recommend, since the frn rubs the black coating off the blade pretty quickly in a couple of spots.
H1 sharpens easily, and the serrated edge will stay sharp a long time (I've never actually had to sharpen my serrated Salt, so I'm not too sure how it sharpens, but I've heard it's also not bad as far as serrated edges go). I'm not usually too keen on Serrated edges, but Spyderco's salt lineup offers some of the best serrated edges out there.
If you work in a commercial fish house, this is probably the best steel for you.
 
I also have the Salt blackout which I purchased, primarily, because I wanted something a little different. My coating has held-up fairly well under use, but I have gotten a couple of shiny spots in a few areas. It's an excellent knife whichever finish you decide on. You can't go wrong either way IMHO.
 
Thanks guys, I picked up a satin plain edge Pacific to try out. I'll have to get a clip for it from Casey when he gets his next batch in.
 
I'm also looking into getting one of these for fishing and while I'm a fan of plain edge blades, I feel like I'd be doing myself a disservice when they're the same price and with the serrated version I can get around ~65 HRC at the edge due to the work hardening process. I think the plain edge is somewhere around 57 HRC from what I've read. I don't own any full serrated knives though so I guess it's about time anyway, but I feel like the Serrated H1 is a much better blade steel (I know it's the same steel but...) due to being exceptionally harder. Sure it'll be harder to sharpen but serrated blades are harder anyway so I'd rather have to do it less often. Maybe I'm wrong but I look at the specs and feel like the plain edge H1's should be cheaper. Granted I've never used either so I'm speaking out of pure speculation.
 
steelcity said:
Thanks guys, I picked up a satin plain edge Pacific to try out. I'll have to get a clip for it from Casey when he gets his next batch in.
Click to expand...

The salt use a different style clip
 
ak585479 said:
I'm also looking into getting one of these for fishing and while I'm a fan of plain edge blades, I feel like I'd be doing myself a disservice when they're the same price and with the serrated version I can get around ~65 HRC at the edge due to the work hardening process. I think the plain edge is somewhere around 57 HRC from what I've read. I don't own any full serrated knives though so I guess it's about time anyway, but I feel like the Serrated H1 is a much better blade steel (I know it's the same steel but...) due to being exceptionally harder. Sure it'll be harder to sharpen but serrated blades are harder anyway so I'd rather have to do it less often. Maybe I'm wrong but I look at the specs and feel like the plain edge H1's should be cheaper. Granted I've never used either so I'm speaking out of pure speculation.
Click to expand...

Hi AK, I think you are looking at it about right. The salts are by far my most used folders. I have a lot of them and ALL of them are serrated except for one. I completely relate to how you said you almost view se and pe H1 as different steels. I kind of just look at the salts as my go to platform for serrated edges. If I want a plain edge I typically look outside of the salt line.
 
Surfingringo said:
Hi AK, I think you are looking at it about right. The salts are by far my most used folders. I have a lot of them and ALL of them are serrated except for one. I completely relate to how you said you almost view se and pe H1 as different steels. I kind of just look at the salts as my go to platform for serrated edges. If I want a plain edge I typically look outside of the salt line.
Click to expand...
"If I want a plain edge I'll go outside the Salt line"
My thoughts exactly :). And the way I see it a fishing/boating knife definitely has many many tasks where a serrated edge of any type would outperform a plain edge so with how amazing the serrated H1 is I just have to go with the serrated. Leaning towards the Pacific Salt. Like that a lot :)

Thanks SG
 
The only serrated knife I own is a Salt 1. I've had PE salts, including the Pacific Salt and though I love the performance of the steel around salt water, the PE versions are soft enough to be annoying, at least the way I use knives. My Salt 1 is my travel, snorkeling and scuba diving knife. It rarely needs sharpening and has never rusted in spite of getting virtually no maintenance whatsoever around marine environments. I mainly prefer the Salt 1 over the Pacific because it is slightly lighter and more compact, which helps if you keep it clipped in your swim shorts or other lightweight clothing.
 
I thought the black-bladed version of the Pacific Salt only came in PE?

In any case, I love my SE Pacifics. I also have a couple of SE Salt 1's and Tasmans. Salts are much better in SE, and of the lot, my all-around favorite is the Pacific, in regular satin finish. And I prefer the handles to be black, although I own some yellows as well. If I were going diving, I'd take a yellow one.

As far as PE, I'm thinking of getting a VG-10 FFG Endura 4. IMO, that might be the ideal EDC partner to my regular SE Pacific Salt. I use my Pacific for all manner of things, though there are times I'd prefer a PE. In such a case, a FFG is probably best. Though I wouldn't take the Endura into the ocean with me.

Jim
 
I personally went with the Salt I. The H1 sharpened up great on the WE and surprisingly has held the edge well. Highly recommended.
 
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