Salt/Surf fishing knife suggestions

J

John Sawtooth

Joined
Mar 22, 2011
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3
Friends, I have been shopping, and comparing, and shopping some more. I turn to the experts here for suggestions.

A family member is moving to the beach. We will begin surf fishing together. Much salt spray, bait cutting, waist carry for hours. I need a good knife.

Q1 : Will heavy and regular use of a protectant coating/lube such as a Sentry Marine Tuf-Cloth protect stainless or ordinary (quality) steels from horrible corrosion ? What about brass bolsters ? If it's a partial protection, how easy is it going to be to live with and maintain the knife over a few years ?

Q2: Suggestions for a knife ? I have medium sized hands. I'd like about a 4 to 4.5 inch blade. I'd like a drop point, or if a clip point one with a deeper profile than my beloved Buck 110. I'd like a rounded edge with a nice sweep for cutting squid and baitfish with nice long sweeping cuts.

I do not prefer fixed over folders. In an emergency, I will be reaching for a club, not my knife (Wahoo, 'Cuda, teeth, etc).

I've already identified some nice choices, but I'd like to learn what you might choose for the above tasks.

Many thanks for good advice - I've browsed some threads with wonderful depth of knowledge.
 
I'll let others with more knowledge of steels and their use around salt water to talk about it but salt water and knives immediately makes me think of H-1 steel.

I took a quick look and didn't really see anything stick out but take a look here and see if anything picks your fancy: link
 
Look into the Spyderco H1 knives. Most are refereed to as the Salt series. I have several and am very please.
 
I don't know what you mean by your blade description, but everything else sounds like rhe Spyderco Pacific Salt.
 
In case you're wondering about the steel, H1 has most of the carbon replaced with inert nitrogen, so it won't corrode. People have left Salts in jars of vinegar for weeks with no change. The steel is ductile, so you can bend the blade 90 degrees, but it can be very hard at the edge. It's work-hardened, so sharpening it will give it a hardness of about 64 RC on the edge. Also, serrated versions will be hardened more. So while plain edge H1 holds an edge worse than VG-10 plain edge, the serrated edges for both steels hold an edge for about the same amount of time.
 
Tsujigiri said:
It's work-hardened, so sharpening it will give it a hardness of about 64 RC on the edge. Also, serrated versions will be hardened more.
Click to expand...

Now that's an interesting piece of information. What's the theory behind that?
 
Why not a cheap Mora?

Won't rust out if you give it a freshwater wash occasionally, rugged, and doesn't break the bank if you lose it overboard.

If you want a real spiffy fishing knife, the Spyderco Salt is purpose built for this sort of work.
 
aznpos531 said:
Now that's an interesting piece of information. What's the theory behind that?
Click to expand...

The theory is the same as for any work hardening. It has to do with pinning crystal lattice dislocations by repeated deformation of the material. H1 cannot be heat treated to harden it, so work hardening is the method that remains. The serrated edge gets "worked" more during grinding than the plain edge, so it gets harder. Serrated H1 holds an edge longer than most other steels; it is very impressive.
 
Bill1170 said:
The theory is the same as for any work hardening. It has to do with pinning crystal lattice dislocations by repeated deformation of the material. H1 cannot be heat treated to harden it, so work hardening is the method that remains. The serrated edge gets "worked" more during grinding than the plain edge, so it gets harder. Serrated H1 holds an edge longer than most other steels; it is very impressive.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! :)
It sure explains why almost all H-1 knives come serrated. I assume that not being able to heat treat H-1 is because of the nitrogen content?
 
aznpos531 said:
Now that's an interesting piece of information. What's the theory behind that?
Click to expand...

Behind the serrated edges lasting longer? A serrated edge is basically a long blade crammed into a short blade; the length of the edge is much longer than the length of the blade. So when you use the blade for various tasks, the wear is distributed over more blade length than it would be for a plain edge, and the blade takes a longer time to get dull. For H-1, you'd be working the edge more because there's more of it.
 
I use a stainless steel Mora for salt and fresh water fishing and it doesn't rust at all.
And their cost is minimal so I always carry 2 in my tackle box.
 
Frost's Swedish Army Knife
swak.gif

It's what I use... and I have a couple of knives :rolleyes:
saltySwak.jpg

This is the total amount of rust/corrosion after a week on my surf belt fishing every morning and evening with no care.
WD40 and 000 steel wool took care of that in moments.
If you can care for your rod and reel, you can care for a knife in a saltwater environment*.
Once I put a slight secondary micro bevel on it, the knife is all I want.

On the belt
M2010GearDrying.jpg


And the gratuitous fish pic :D
M2010Fish2.jpg


*If you are new to the marine/salt water environment, you will find it beneficial to rinse your gear after each trip down to the waters edge.
I'll hose off my rod and reel each time.
Some use a spray bottle of water kept in the vehicle.
Either way, salt water will ruin gear.
I left the knife untouched as an experiment... This was in October in NYS, so the cold may have kept the rust to a minimum.
 
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The second part of your first question, "what about Brass bolsters"? For the record Brass is a non ferrous metal (contains no Fe iron) so it does not rust. In fact Propellers, Props, Screws, or Wheels, for tugs, ships, etc, are made of Brass for this reason.
 
aznpos531 said:
Thanks for the info! :)
It sure explains why almost all H-1 knives come serrated. I assume that not being able to heat treat H-1 is because of the nitrogen content?
Click to expand...

Yes, the nitrogen is the reason. It replaces carbon but behaves differently.
 
Thanx.
As far as striped bass go, it's not a big one.
But I finally had someone with a camera around :)

John, I boat fished for years with a Schrade (carbon steel) sharp finger.
Used it for bait and cleaning fish, cutting line and what ever else.
A wipe on the pants leg or rag as I used it and a fresh water wash down followed by a squirt of WD40 and it was fine.
Gray with patina but fine.
Once it got a talcum powder fine coating of orange rust and that was when I left it uncleaned for a day or two.
That also cleaned up fine with some 000-0000 steel and WD40.

Which knives are you looking at?
I'd recommend fixed over folder because that darned sand gets everywhere
Pick a decent stainless and I don't think you'll have much to worry about.
The SwAK above is less than $20, you won't be out much if you give it a chance.

:)
 
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