What steels are the best for saltwater

T

thenamelessone

Joined
May 2, 2006
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I know that h-1 and x-15 are great steels to have around salt water, I am wondering how the other steels like vg-10, s30v, ats-55 and 440 hold up in salt water.
 
Those steels need protection and maintenance around/in salt water.
If you're using them every day on a boat, for example.

Marine Tuf-Cloth is recommended.
 
In my experience VG-10 and 440C hold up better than S30v. I don't have too much experience with ATS-55. All of these steels will rust rather quickly with exposure to salt water (within 1 day) if you don't take care of them. H-1 or the like is necessary if you're going to using your knife around salt water and don't want to spend time on maintenance. Wiping them down and using some protectant is definitely recommended.
 
How about Boye Dendritic Cobalt?

As far as my experiences with steels go, VG10 is about as good as it gets, short of the above named, corrosion proof steels, like H-1. I wouldn't ever go with ATS-55 for a salt water knife!

Regards,
3G
 
Well, I'd recommend the low-carbon knives you can get almost anywhere. If you care for the knife, use oil and treat your knife like a gun, you'll be fine with just about any stainless or coated blades. Your better steels have more edge retention, but less resistance to salt and water. Nearly all diving knives are made from very cheesy steels.
 
Its not steel, but titanium

If you want something rust-proof get yourself something from Mission knives.

From fixed blade to folders. They are a bit pricy but imo worth it.
 
Talonite, Stellite 6K, dendretic Cobalt and Beta-Titanium are not steels, though are highly resistant to corrosion. Aside from H1, the low alloy steels are much more resistant to corrosion than the high carbon ones, 440A is much stronger at resisting corrosion than 440C for example. It is very difficult to get significant corrosion on 420J2.

-Cliff
 
I carry my SOG Seal 2000 on the boat and fishing all the time. After a full day on/in the water, and not being able to clean it for several hours, it has never shown a hint of corrosion. It has a powdercoated AUS-6 blade.
 
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