I am actually sort of inclined to believe that modern protective oils (REMoil, mineral oils, silicone based oils) are going to be able to protect a blade better with longer times between applications then natural or "time tested" stuff. Then again that's just me.
I use CLP for absolutely everything, including khukuris, and it works fine. It does
not help prevent or remove sap staining any more than mineral oil, in my experience (it's not any worse, either; sap is just plain a pain), but is perfectly adequate for storage. And very convenient to use the same dirty rag to oil all my guns, knives, and swords. The only time I ever have rust problems is with parkerizing. I
hate parkerizing!
Also, CLP is about the only gun "cleaner" I'd ever use on a khukuri, and many knives. Most cleaners have copper solvents, which will slowly destroy brass bolsters, butts, etc. I'd also avoid anything with teflon, like Rem-oil, or anything else that it's supposed to deposit stuff (slow buildup of teflon on your handle, anyone?). CLP is basically an excellent protectant, good lubricant, and poor cleaner. But for me, that makes it the perfect all-arounder, especially since it's thinner than 3-in-1.
So I guess my suggestion is a scotch-brite pad stored in a small puddle of CLP in a ziplock, though I forget what color pad would be most appropriate for a hard-use khuk that gets polished daily.
----------
I think a lot of those choji oils are now 99% mineral oil and 1% clove. I believe the original "samurai blade oil" was choji made with camelia oil. So technically everyone is right.
Mineral oil has a fairly long history, though I can't think of when it was first used in Japan. But IIRC, the reason for the clove is that mineral oil isn't toxic, but it is a laxative. The clove smell would prevent a Samurai's wife from accidentally using the mineral oil for cooking. Feeding your husband right before a battle or something, with fried food that's not only a mild laxative, but that has way fewer calories than normal (since it's indigestible, and doesn't provide any calories) would be pretty bad!
Camellia oil, on the other hand, is an excellent fry-oil with a very high smoke point and distinctive mild flavor (pretty important in Hunan cooking, I think, no idea about Japanese food). It kind of combines the best elements of olive oil (very thin and healthy) and palm oil (high smoke point so you can get stuff
really crispy). Anyway, in a household where the samurai preferred that for his swords, husband and wife would probably both be dipping into the same pot of oil, especially since it's very easy to smell the difference between virgin oil and used cooking oil. That's my guess, anyway.
