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Survival/Tactical blade suggestions?
- Thread starter ImANinja
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2003
- Messages
- 20,207
Coating 1095 leaves unprotected the most critical part of the blade and the part most prone to damage from rust - the edge. Why this reality is ignored in praising coated blades is one of life's little mysteries.
If corrosion is a criterial, you should select a steel that corrodes less - AKA "stainless."
As for me, I have no problem using 1095 and the like, but I'm not in coastal Washington and the like.
If corrosion is a criterial, you should select a steel that corrodes less - AKA "stainless."
As for me, I have no problem using 1095 and the like, but I'm not in coastal Washington and the like.
I imagine it's because the bevel is also the part that's going to sharpened frequently and so a coating would only last until the first touch-up. The bevel will always be exposed steel, even patinas can be polished off.
My suggestion - go shopping. Go to the websites of Sog, Kershaw, Buck, Gerber, Cold Steel, Mora, Kabar, Boker, Emerson, etc, etc. Read the descriptions, look at the pictures. Consider knives with steels that are at least 420HC, 440B, AUS8, 12C27 or 8CR13Mov or better. If you come across a steel or feature you don't know about, Google it.
There are plenty of knives I could recommend, but looking at the Surefire Echo (which isn't stainless) my tastes aren't your tastes. so the best thing you can do is find another knife from a quality company that looks good to you. THEN ask questions about those models and make an educated buying decision based on what you get for the money.
Ultimately, you are looking for something that seems nice to you, and trying avoid junk. Follow my very basic advice, avoid the BudK catalog and you'll end up with an acceptable knife.
There are plenty of knives I could recommend, but looking at the Surefire Echo (which isn't stainless) my tastes aren't your tastes. so the best thing you can do is find another knife from a quality company that looks good to you. THEN ask questions about those models and make an educated buying decision based on what you get for the money.
Ultimately, you are looking for something that seems nice to you, and trying avoid junk. Follow my very basic advice, avoid the BudK catalog and you'll end up with an acceptable knife.
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
- Messages
- 747
Here's my $.02: 1095 takes a wicked edge, resharpens easily and has been a standard for hard use cutlery since WWII. In anything short of a saltwater environment, a little coating of chapstick will protect it from rust. If someone thinks that applying a little chapstick every now and then is too much trouble, then they are probably too lazy to hump a ruck very far and this whole discussion is pointless.
Here's what I think:
There's nothing really wrong with stainless, there's lots of knives made of stainless, so why can't someone inquire about a stainless knife without a bunch of people popping up to declare that anyone who doesn't want a knife made of 19th century 1095 is lazy?
There's nothing really wrong with stainless, there's lots of knives made of stainless, so why can't someone inquire about a stainless knife without a bunch of people popping up to declare that anyone who doesn't want a knife made of 19th century 1095 is lazy?
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2003
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- 20,207
Thank you for your opinion.
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2003
- Messages
- 20,207
Ever backpacked in Washington - the state - west if the mountains? >100" of precip a year. Some areas >130" a year (4 x Norwich). Some areas > 200 days a year with measurable precip. Very green. Your pants leg will likely be wet.
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2014
- Messages
- 127
This whole "1095" rusting thing is always amusing 
. Anyways, why hasn't anyone suggested the BlackJack TacOps 6? 1095 triple tempered convex ground blade, with the same no-nonsense warranty. The price is comparable to the ESEE 6 and sometimes less expensive at some places. Don't get me wrong, I really like ESEE knives. They are one of my favorite companies, however I feel the BlackJack is a superior knife to the ESEE 6. I know it's performance is far superior. Plus the TacOps Sparks a ferro rod nicely out of the box.
. Anyways, why hasn't anyone suggested the BlackJack TacOps 6? 1095 triple tempered convex ground blade, with the same no-nonsense warranty. The price is comparable to the ESEE 6 and sometimes less expensive at some places. Don't get me wrong, I really like ESEE knives. They are one of my favorite companies, however I feel the BlackJack is a superior knife to the ESEE 6. I know it's performance is far superior. Plus the TacOps Sparks a ferro rod nicely out of the box.
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2003
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- 20,207
Any sharp. hard edge will scrape sparks from a ferro rod - even glass. (Glass is, of course, highly resistant to rust.)
[Some of us are easily amused. Probably explains live politicians.]
[Some of us are easily amused. Probably explains live politicians.]
Here's a nice option I forgot about. This knife brings bang for the buck and is wonderfully versatile and rugged. A friend had it for a year- just got her back and did a quick dirty strip job and put on micarta scales. Lot of knife for $100 including the scales.
(with custom rig by the 710)
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2014
- Messages
- 162
While this is true, there is still something to be said for having 99% of your blade protected. As it is, i can remove surface rust on the edge with a few swipes on the sharpening stones, and thus its back to new. I feel like the rust issue is probably a bit overplayed.
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2003
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- 20,207
"Posted"? Here? How did you do that?
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2003
- Messages
- 20,207
Something could be said for coatings if you were cutting with that 99%. Alas, you cut with the edge. The rest is largely cosmetic and so largely irrelevant in a survival situation. "Overplayed" as you say. A marketing ploy.
If I made a snap judgement, I would agree with you. But I live in Southern California, where there's very little rain and low humidity all year round. I could even use my knife around saltwater and as long as I dry it enough it won't rust.
But I know guys in Houston, Florida, and Portland that have to worry about rust as a constant maintenance thing.
It's just more want rather than needs. Icing on the cake. Some of us like to be aware of how far bare bones can really bring you, I'm part of that. Alas, people are different and it took me a while to come to terms that some people would rather not deal with maintenance.
I found that out when my Uncle jumped from android to iphone because he was tired of all the manual tweaking and just wanted a phone that is apologetically setup to work, even if it's only in Apple's style.