I was just looking online for instances where a ceramic line cutter failed or broke in use, I didn’t actually find a single instance where they were bested by a metal blade.
I know the classic charm of rusting steel is hard to part with, but could the guys touting the unreliability and fragile nature of ceramic blades please post a link to anything that supports this?
The only stuff I could find was about how feakin’ awesome ceramics are. I know this is the internet and stuff and opinions do not require data and all, but saying it is a bad idea or unsafe you need to give me something other than an opinion.
@Vicko
@Zef
Ceramic blades are pretty freakin' awesome until they chipor dull and can't be repaired....or repaired easily. Ceramic blades have hardness pretty close to the hardness of diamonds...they hold an edge for a good while, but are brittle. I have had ceramic kitchen knives so have first hand experience with this. It typically costs a lot of money to have a ceramic blade sharpened because of the material is unforgiving and one needs serious diamond files to do the sharpening. It is much cheaper to sharpen a metal blade. The brittleness of ceramic blades make them susceptible to cracking if dropped on a hard surface....so think about that if you toss your ceramic line cutter to your dive buddy prior to or after a dive, and also when tossing gear into your car post dive.
Yes, ceramic blades don't rust. Yes ceramic blades can retain an edge longer than a steel blade under similar use, but a ceramic blade chips much more readily and that chip can act as a stress riser that causes continued damage....this is not an issue with a steel blade.
If ceramic blades are what floats your boat then thats great...no worries on my part...I just wanted to add that one should be aware that ceramic blades have tendency to chip...that may not be factor that you need/want to consider but if you have to cut metal fishing line or netting that has the potential to cause some issues....though shears are much more suited for that type of entanglement hazard.
One other thing...just checked the cost on DGX...a pair of ceramic replacement blades are twice the cost of their metal cousins. They are not too expensive in the big picture of things but they are still more expensive.
Buy what suits your needs and your fancy.
-Z