I agree that there has been a little bit of thread drift but I read that drift differently to you. If one wanted to be terse I suppose any mention of capitalizing on foreknowledge and selecting something that doesn't behave like that is off topic. That said, if good amount of avoiding a potential survival being a survival situation is preparedness based on foreknowledge it isn't that far wide of the mark no matter what kit we are considering.
The other aspect of drift I really can't get with. If we are equally terse here the question is simply; “rust happens with these, that's a shit thing, what can we do to slow it down?”. Whilst there is certainly truth in the comments that assert one could still get use from that a well corroded knife regardless, to me that misses the point entirely. Of course that is true. If my boots start to degrade I'm still going to get an environmental advantage right down to the point where there is little left but the soles tied to my feet with string. Same kind of mentality means the sensible person is going to exploit the properties of things regardless of how pristine they are. No doubt about that whatsoever. Every post tantamount to the you can still get some use from that rusty knife in extreme circumstances accords with that. If I'd said it I'd call it an exercise in stating the obvious. The thing is though, beyond all that malarky, a fundamental question exists – bit of kit X, in this case a knife, is going to degrade, what can I do to retard that? To my mind that is a good question as it involves taking some kind of control of the situation. I believe that mentality, the what can I do about it, and the taking control, the mastery, is central to increasing the likeliness of a positive outcome. The responses that go something like “don't worry about it, it's the least of your problems”, yada yada are all very passive behaviors to me. I just can skate with that. I may well be able to get useful life from all sorts of bits of kit at any point up 'till I drive it into the ground, but meantime I'll be exerting a bunch of effort into maximizing the item's optimal life. It's about having control and a positive mental attitude. Carpe Noctem.
Wow, that post was a bit of a difficult read. Although, after re-reading it, I think I get the gist of what you are saying.
I'm just saying that,
IMO, if you find yourself in a long term survival situation, there will be a long list of priorities you will have in order for you to stay alive, then secondly to maintain some kind of comfort, at the bottom of which is worrying about keeping your knife oiled. Building shelter, finding/purifying water, and finding food will require a good deal of time and energy, of which the later will likely be in short supply.
Again,
IMO, caring for your knife, other than sharpening it, would be a waste of precious resources, especially in the first days/weeks of surviving. I understand your point about having control and a positive mental attitude, but I just think there will be plenty of things that you will need to control that are of much higher priority than some orange spots on your knife.
It just seems there is a good deal of people who think that a carbon steel knife that is not oiled immediately after use, will turn into an unrecognizable, unusable pile of rust in short order. My posts are simply trying to dispel that myth. Of course, if you decide to carry a stainless steel knife to completely avoid rust or the worry of it, then that's great, and your choice to make, but IMO off topic, if only slightly, of what the OP is worried about.
Not that it's a terrible sin to go OT, I do it myself all the time, I just wanted to try and remind everyone of the original question. It seems sometimes people start replying to the replies of others, like we are doing now, and it soon becomes a debate between SS vs. Carbon, and the OP only gets 2 or 3 replies directed at his question when many of the other posters would have great thoughts on the topic if they weren't distracted by the rabbit trails. So, my second post was just an attempt to redirect the thread, as I am interested to hear more thoughts on the topic, even if my mind is already made up. But, I digress.
Not sure what your are trying to say in your first paragraph, it seems perhaps you had a problem with me capitalizing a few words? If so, it was only to emphasize a word which, IMO, is the key word that defines the topic. Otherwise, without that one word, the topic becomes much broader (or is it "more broad?").
Dang, why in the heck did you have to go and make me make a long winded post. I hate having to articulate what I'm trying to say with more than 3 sentences...
Sorry OP for the big giant post that has nothing to do with your original question. I've said everything I have to say, I'll quit polluting your thread now, lol.
Besides, I know you love carbon 'cause of that GB mini you have (I'm jealous), but can you imagine how much it would cost if it were made of stainless 
a fallkniven f1 is the same price as a rat 3 and less than a rat 4 and in my experience,holds an edge longer,wont have problems with rust,is just as easy to sharpen and due to more sophisticated design(i.e. lamination) is much stronger.
