Wet Weather and Carbon Steel Outdoors Knives?

redsquid2

redsquid2

Красивы Поросенок
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
3,076
I have the impression that some people here on BF use carbon steels/tool steels for outdoor knives. I carry a carbon steel puukko sometimes on canoeing weekends.

I am just talking about smaller knives, not choppers or machetes.

I personally love A2; I love the way it takes a wicked edge and holds it, but I am afraid to really take it into the back country for extended periods. I "grew up" on stainless: had a Buck 112 and that was about the only knife I carried for about 15 years. Since I used stainless for so long, I am afraid to take A2 or O1 or Krupp or whatever, into the back country with that kind of weather in the forecast.

The last time I went camping, on the second day, we started walking the trail around 9AM. It rained HARD, starting about 10:00 in the morning, and going past midnight. It was so difficult to keep anything dry; water dripping off of my jacket sleeves, and my fingers. There was only room for so many people under the dining fly. I am just about ready to give up on anything non-stainless.

Even though I am 52 years old, I go out on the trail or on the river regardless of rain, just to prove how badass I am. :D

Damp weather like that, it doesn't take long til everything in my mess kit gets wet.

If you go out in rain, with a carbon steel blade, how do you deal with moisture? Do you feel that the steel you use offers you some advantage? Is it worth it?
 
Last edited:
I think it's a performance vs. protection thing. I love tool steels especially m4 which is the best performer I have. I also think that ease of field sharpening comes into play. However, there are excellent steels out today that perform very well and are better suited for extreme weather. My advice is to try one out to see if it better suits your outdoor needs so use don't have to worry about corrosion,
 
I've just learned to accept the rust on carbon steel. When I go camping, I take my carbon steel fixed blades for their toughness and ease of sharpening. I oil them ahead of time, but if it rains, it's not going to help that much. There's not much sense in fretting about the knives, so I just basically let them rust until I get home. I might get some pitting, but it's nothing a little elbow grease and some Flitz won't fix.

Of course, this is all with cheap to mid priced knives - Mora, KaBar, ESEE, Cold Steel, etc. I don't have any super expensive or fancy carbon steel knives. I don't think I could bring myself to let them rust if I did, and thus they'd probably stay at home anyway.
 
I carry a rat 3 with 1095 carbon steel (and coating stripped off of it). I carry it in a leather sheath, and I get wet just about every day from irrigation heads and rain. I also get the knife soaked with irrigation heads and mud. Its a beater knife but it will hold a working edge after root pruning multiple 7 gallon shrub root balls. It works great for me, and I almost never have rust issues. The only thing I do is dry it off as much as possible before sheathing it. When you use a knife constantly it doesn't have near as much opportunity to rust.

Since I use it so often, I think the working edge it keeps definitely outweighs the chance of a little rust.
 
redsquid2 said:
I have the impression that some people here on BF use carbon steels/tool steels for outdoor knives. I carry a carbon steel puukko sometimes on canoeing weekends.

I am just talking about smaller knives, not choppers or machetes.

The last time I went camping, on the second day, we started walking the trail around 9AM. It rained HARD, starting about 10:00 in the morning, and going past midnight. It was so difficult to keep anything dry; water dripping off of my jacket sleeves, and my fingers. There was only room for so many people under the dining fly. I am just about ready to give up on anything non-stainless.

Even though I am 52 years old, I do camp in the rain. I go out on the trail or on the river regardless of rain, just to prove how badass I am. :D

Damp weather like that, it doesn't take long til everything in my mess kit is wet. I carry it in my pack, but if I pull it out in the rain, it isn't long before everything in it gets wet.

If you go out in rain, with a carbon steel blade, how do you deal with moisture? Do you feel that the steel you use offers you some advantage? Is it worth it?

I personally love A2; I love the way it takes a wicked edge and holds it, but I am afraid to really take it into the back country for extended periods. I "grew up" on stainless: had a Buck 112 and that was about the only knife I carried for about 15 years. Since I used stainless for so long, I am afraid to take A2 or O1 or Krupp or whatever, into the back country with that kind of weather in the forecast.
Click to expand...

Once something like A2 patinas it's not bad at all. :)
 
I'll fully accept the little bit of extra maintenance for a carbon blade. I don't feel that they are leaps and bounds better than stainless I just happen to like ESEE, Becker, and others that use mostly carbon steel. However, stainless or carbon I'll never own a knife that can't be fully disassembled to clean. Rust can hide under permanently fixed scales and can't be taken care of properly.
 
If you're using a carbon steel blade daily, no worry. Just wipe it off and put it away dry. One of the rest-preventive cloths will help prevent rust, or just wipe it down with a rag with a bit of Vaseline worked in. One thing that will cause rust is a leather sheath if it gets soaked. I treat all my leather sheathes with SnowSeal, two or three coats melted in with a heat gun or hair dryer (I take them apart and treat the inside, too, then restitch). Even after several days of rain/damp, the sheathes won't absorb moisture.
 
I use Burt's Beeswax on my knife edges when I know it's going to be wet/damp out. It sheds water really well and really keeps my 1095 stuff from rusting. It also stays on longer than most of the oils I have used.
 
I prefer carbon and tool steels because of their superior edge retention. But, before I dedicate a carbon blade to my kit, I'll typically soak the blade in distilled white vinegar to force a patina on the steel. Here's an example (Bravo-1 in A-2) that has been so treated and has done quite well in the wet (and even snowy) weather:

 
Carry a tube of chapstick. It is small, acts as a great moisture barrier, comes with its own carrying case, food safe, and should you need some due to exposure, you have it.

One other option is to polish the blade. The smoother the surface, the less areas like pitting and dings that water can be trapped in thus causing rust and patina. This is my BK2. I still beat the crap out of it and it looks fine, just a wipe down and I'm good to go. At camp I don't have to worry about this rusting anywhere near as quickly as a bk14/15.


For the most part, I prefer carbon steels.
 
Last edited:
Rust is usually not too much of a problem unless you leave your knife wet for several days. I keep my knife as dry as I can, but in the occasional situation that some rust does come up, I'll just wipe it off when I get home. Patina definitely helps a lot too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top