Saltwater Fixed Blade, What are my options?

T

Tokolosh

Joined
May 23, 2011
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3
So I'm looking for a saltwater fixed blade to use in all sorts of water activities like diving (free and scuba), surfing, sailing, fishing and swimming. Additionally i would like to be able to baton some firewood with it, nothing like a fire and some grilled fish to make a day complete :thumbup:.

I don't care about a little surface rust as long as i can brush it off and no pitting occurs. No problem if i need to rinse it off with fresh water or oil once a day. Blade length 3~6 inches. Salt water proof sheath with superb retention that i can attach to my forearm and or calf.

Plain or combo edge, drop point, no swedge or double edge or malarkey such as rope cutter etc. Good handle materials: micarta, g10, thermorun etc.

Basically i am looking for fallkniven F1 or ESEE 4 that will hold up in salt water and has a sheath that will retain the knife even in heavy surf.

I've been looking around and the old style benchmade water knife seems to be closest i could find. But it is out of production and quite frankly not that close to what i want.

PS. Not interested in titanium dive knives or the spyderco caspian salt.
 
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The fallkniven F1 should be good for that stuff, as it is made from VG-10 and 420J stainless steels (both contain more than 15% Chromium, so they are nice SS blades!)

The ESEE-3, being a 1095 Carbon blade, if it loses the coating, will rust quickly!!

As for the best rust-resistant steels out there, you can also check out knives made out of:
- 440C. Very classical knife steel, very corrosion-resistant
- Bohler N690 (Cobalt SS steel with 17% Cr). Benchmade and Spyderco make knives out of it. Extrema Ratio makes every knife out of it, and they are all very good "working tools". Also Fallkniven now makes the PHK in N690 laminated.
- Bohler M380 (it has got a whopping 20% Cr in it). Benchmade and Spyderco make knives out of it.

The best, anyway IMHO is still TITANIUM alloy (any grade).
 
Find a Spyderco aqua salt on the secondary market or from a dealer who still has a few in stock. It sounds like exactly what you're looking for.
 
Why not a real dive knife. UK makes the the 5" Blue Tang in Hydralloy, and should be about right for your needs. Very solid knife! I've got a smaller Fusilier about 12 years old made out of their older SS. A little silicone spray and it never has rusted.
 
troller said:
The best, anyway IMHO is still TITANIUM alloy (any grade).
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No way. H1 is a much better material for a knife blade IMHO. And still won't rust ever.

Like they said above, you can still find Spyderco Aqua Salt knives at plenty of online retailers, that would be your best bet.

Spyderco-FB23PBK-rw-14143-25508.jpg
 
troller said:
The fallkniven F1 should be good for that stuff, as it is made from VG-10 and 420J stainless steels (both contain more than 15% Chromium, so they are nice SS blades!)

The ESEE-3, being a 1095 Carbon blade, if it loses the coating, will rust quickly!!

As for the best rust-resistant steels out there, you can also check out knives made out of:
- 440C. Very classical knife steel, very corrosion-resistant
- Bohler N690 (Cobalt SS steel with 17% Cr). Benchmade and Spyderco make knives out of it. Extrema Ratio makes every knife out of it, and they are all very good "working tools". Also Fallkniven now makes the PHK in N690 laminated.
- Bohler M380 (it has got a whopping 20% Cr in it). Benchmade and Spyderco make knives out of it.

The best, anyway IMHO is still TITANIUM alloy (any grade).
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I disagree. Titanium is just to soft for knife steel. I've handled just about every dive knife made from Ti. Not impressed.

I vote for any of the Spyderco Salt series fixed or otherwise.

Here's how mine ride.

503247064_photobucket_55173_.jpg
 
You have several options, but all of them are compromises, of course.
My choice for general purposes would probably be a carson U2 Dive knife, if i had a huge budget. They are r5are and although 440C is a surprisingly good steel, and surprisingly rust resistant, it isn't ideal
For high corrosion environments B titanium can be a n excellent choice, and all sorts of knives are around, but titanium, even with carbide reinforcement of the edge, is somewhat soft so it isn't a chopper.
The same is true for more exotic materials like stellite 6k and talonite. When i canoe or kayak my pfd knife, which i also wear as a neck knife, is a custom blackwood in stellite. Again, they hold a working edge forever, are almost rust proof, nonmagnetic and have unmatched "lubricity". But they aren't choppers and can easily roll an edge. The Benchmade h2 stuff is fairly good but I haven't used mine enough to really say.
But if you are able to clean your knife regularly, Infi hold up surprisingly well to rust, and it is a superb chopper, of course.
My solution has always been to have two knives: a smaller pfd/necker for the water ( for me, in stellite) and personal and a larger blade tucked on deck or on the pack ( and for me that's usually a Busse )
Some people prefer a folder, and a fantastic one, if you can find it, is the old Benchmade partially serrated tanto folder. And a sharpener.
 
Beta TI blades hold up well and r the only choice for true corrosion resistance. Sorry but H1 can and does rust, look it up here. A guy who works doing reef clean up and restoration and dives every day triEd spydercos in H1 and they rusted out he went to mission mpf 3 and no rust. It's here on this forum search it if u want
 
MikeC said:
Beta TI blades hold up well and r the only choice for true corrosion resistance. Sorry but H1 can and does rust, look it up here. A guy who works doing reef clean up and restoration and dives every day triEd spydercos in H1 and they rusted out he went to mission mpf 3 and no rust. It's here on this forum search it if u want
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This is not the H1 steel rusting. I think you may want to re-read the thread.

Sal Glesser said:
Hi Scotchleaf,

It is not the H1 that has rusted. It is the material that was used to blacken the lazer etching of the logo for H1. Have no concern. It will go away. The H1 logo will probably no longer be black.

We're trying to figure out a way to avoid it, but to date, no solutions. The etching solution is the problem, not the H1.

Sorry if we caused you any concern.

sal
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http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/567958-My-Spyderco-Salt-H1-RUSTED!



A knife's primary function is to cut well. Ti does not. H1 does.
 
Any Spyderco salt works great. I use a Pacific Salt myself (folder), but if you want a fixed blade I would go with the Aqua Salt or Caspian Salt.
 
HJK said:
But if you are able to clean your knife regularly, Infi hold up surprisingly well to rust, and it is a superb chopper, of course.
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Hmm if my Busse BATAC will work that would be great, as i said rinsing it off at the end of the day would be no problem hell i could use a battle mistress and not need any lead to dive ;) j/k
 
Tokolosh said:
Hmm if my Busse BATAC will work that would be great, as i said rinsing it off at the end of the day would be no problem hell i could use a battle mistress and not need any lead to dive ;) j/k
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Grab a Sentry Solutions Marine Tuf Cloth and give it a shot. The cloth leaves a dry film of protection that would likely last all day even in the water. I use it on my firearms and carbon steel knives with much success.

You may want two BM's so that it doesn't screw up your trim :)
 
syntaxerrorsix said:
This is not the H1 steel rusting. I think you may want to re-read the thread.



http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/567958-My-Spyderco-Salt-H1-RUSTED!



A knife's primary function is to cut well. Ti does not. H1 does.
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My titanium knives cut just fine and I don't need to go back Snd re read the u referenced because that is nit the thread I wad referring to whatsoever. Nice job if assuming and then drawing an erroneous conclusion Snd then speaking with such confidence and authority both of which were false. Well done, I'm going to s funeral and yes I'll be carrying a knife. When I get back I'll search for the thread I was actually talking about and not the one u assumed I was talking about.
 
MikeC said:
My titanium knives cut just fine and I don't need to go back Snd re read the u referenced because that is nit the thread I wad referring to whatsoever. Nice job if assuming and then drawing an erroneous conclusion Snd then speaking with such confidence and authority both of which were false. Well done, I'm going to s funeral and yes I'll be carrying a knife. When I get back I'll search for the thread I was actually talking about and not the one u assumed I was talking about.
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The point of my post that you obviously missed is that Sal Glesser of Spyderco stated that H1 in fact cannot rust and that it was in fact due to the laser etching material. I'll take the manufacturers word and my experience over a thread that may or may not be produced written by someone that may or may not have had a rust proof knife "rust out."

I'm not questioning your experience with your Ti knives, just stating the fact that Ti is poor blade material and is too soft for real/constant work. That's not conjecture. Ti knives are designed to be corrision resistant first. As a diver I need my knives to be durable and sharp first because it may be the difference between cutting your self free or running out of gas at depth.

Bottom line is H1 doesn't rust and it is a superior blade steel for it's intended purpose over Ti in my opinion.
 
I don't know how good they are but most of if not all of Sig Sauer's knives are Italy made and usually have N690 steel to boot.
 
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