some questions about Gerber finishes and 440A stainless

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brendan1911

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Sep 27, 2012
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well i'm new to this forum, so hello everyone :D my question is pretty simple, and i'm sure someone here knows the answer, but i don't.

i work on an oyster boat, and carrying a knife on deck is (to me, not all the workers) a necessity. while it's not as risky as the deadliest catch, God forbid you get your leg caught on a a rope tied to a heavy sinking object, you'd better hope you have a knife. and we use 100lb blocks of concrete as anchors for buoys. so i always carry a knife, since there are plenty of other uses.

i recently bought a Gerber Big Rock knife, partially serrated. the blade is made of 440A stainless. i'd prefer a high carbon steel, preferably not even stainless, but in a saltwater environment it'll be ruined in days. my question is, what's different about the 440A Gerber uses? i have many knives with 440A, and they are all shiny. the two Gerber's i own are both a duller, more flat color. they seem to rust more easily and hold an edge better, so is it simply a higher carbon content while remaining within 440A specs? or is it some kind of finish?

by the way, just as advise, this knife is great, but the sheath is china-made garbage.the first thing i did was buy a custom kydex sheath made by ExtremeEdgeCustoms and it is great. i don't work for them and i'm not associated with them, but i feel like i should say something good about them since i believe it's a small company
 
Welcome aboard (no pun intended., lol) to the forum. I think it rusts faster due to it having a bead blast finish (duller appearance as you say) and it holding an edge better could be just that Gerber does a "better" heat treat than other chinese crap knives. The serrations may also help. You should look at the Spyderco Salt series for a folding knife. Definitely more $ but much better quality.
 
just curious, but what's the bead blast finish? is it like sandblasting? and yeah i know, Gerber makes pretty good quality knives, most of what i use is Gerber or Kabar. i've heard a lot of good about spyderco before, i just always stuck with ones i know i liked. but i was also looking for a pointed, fixed blade knife. and one with at least a partially straight blade. although most people think a serrated edge is best for rope, a SHARP (cannot stress the need for it to be sharp) straight edge is much more effective, and produces a cleaner cut. not to mention that they're much easier to sharpen. i'd been dead set on the Boye cobalt series, but once i saw the price, i just couldn't do it.

. also i meant to ask in my original post, but what do you think is best to sharpen knives like this? i have all my ka-bars (1095 cro-van) sharp enough to shave hair off of my arm, but i can't seem to get the Gerber that sharp. i know it'll never hold an edge like 1095, but it should be able to reach the same level of sharpness right? i usually just use a smiths double sided stone, course on one side and fine on the other. for whatever reason, this doesn't seem to be working as well
 
Spyderco Salt series or any of their knives in H1. H1 literally cannot rust because its not "steel". And it gets plenty sharp. If you want SHARP you should start with a Spyderco.

KA-Bar is a good brand, but Gerber is nowhere near as good as it was 10-15 years ago.
 
i know, i've done research on spyderco. Boye uses cobalt, which also cannot rust. it's just that there's so many things besides rust (dropping it in the water, having one of my not-so-great coworkers steal it etc.) that could happen to it, that i can't see using a $200 knife. it isn't gonna be a throwaway knife, but i'm not expecting it to last forever. and i always rinse my knife off with fresh water at the end of the day, so the rust should be able to be dealt with
 
I know this probably won't help but if you find a decent knife that fits what you like you could have it duracoated. From everything I've read duracoat will stand up to a harsh environment. I don't know if anyone has ever done it but a good carbon steel knife with a duracoat finish would be perfect in my opinion.
 
Beyond the finish itself which can impact look (and corrosion resistance), the heat treatment of the steel makes all the difference in the world. With 440 steels, there is a lot of variability. With 440A, it can be the absolute worst steel on the planet or a reasonably decent steel for an entry steel.


brendan1911 said:
i know, i've done research on spyderco. Boye uses cobalt, which also cannot rust. it's just that there's so many things besides rust (dropping it in the water, having one of my not-so-great coworkers steal it etc.) that could happen to it, that i can't see using a $200 knife. it isn't gonna be a throwaway knife, but i'm not expecting it to last forever. and i always rinse my knife off with fresh water at the end of the day, so the rust should be able to be dealt with
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As I am sure you have seen first hand, 440A does not hold an edge very well. For your application, the nitrogen-based, work-hardened steel like H1 is probably the best candidate for your application. H1 folders can be found for as cheap as $40-50 and the Aqua Salt (like $75 IIRC) is IMO a fantastic design for oysters. H1 steel, especially in a serrated edge, can get VERY hard with intense usage and sharpening. I have read accounts where people who use the crap out of H1 knives and see Rockwell Hardness figures exceeding 64 at the cutting edge! So with H1, your usage may be a great suit and give you the performance closer to what you hoped for with a carbon knife.

Spyderco's biggest hit with marine users though, has been a few models that are low-cost, high-strength, and fully-serrated. Like their 4 inch Utility Knife called the K05 (like $16-20) in MBS-26 steel was hugely popular. I believe Spyderco intends to resume production on that one within a few months. These things slice aggressively for a very long time, and they can be beaten on really hard. In a steel as good as MBS-26 and on an American-made knife, it was the value of the century! Down the road if you ever want a cheaper knife that is well-made and can be beaten on, it's a very attractive performer.
 
The big rock is bead blasted which makes it suceptible to corrosion more easier than say a polished knife. I would reccoemnd you look at the spyderco salt serries you can get full serrations, wont rust and good quality. More specifically either a pacific salt(endura size),salt 1(delica size), atlantic salt(great for if you leg gets tangles and you wont stab yourself), or maybe and rescue assist or the rescue line in general. Dont remember off the top of my head if they have a varriant in h1 steel or not but the rescues are great because they have a "lip" above the opening hole to your thumb wont go past it and so you have a more likely chance of getting the knife open.
 
I have a good solution that is cheap. So far, I have been very happy with the Benchmade Lone Wolf Mini Landslide, which I bought for salt water use as I did not want to lose an expensive knife. There is a larger one called the Landslide, too. They come with partial serrations, or not. The N680 steel is very corrosion resistant and these knives are far cheaper than the Spyderco (good knives that they are). N680 is Benchmade's salt water steel, currently. These knives sell for around $37.
 
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