Rusted after FIRST dive!!!

[Green_Manelishi]

Coat in petroleum jelly before each dive and when storing... works for both my knifes.. both are 420 SS

Petroleum jelly?

 

[doole]

All great suggestions. OTOH I bought a pretty good quality titanium and am able to forget about it utterly and totally (so far, at least.) I think it's the answer - I love stuff that looks after itself.

Next week I'll give a test in salt water. (Cozumel - yay!!) Sorry, I just had to say that. With the wind chill, it was -45 here today.

 

[ElectricZombie]

For anyone who is interested, this should help you understand the many factors involved in knife blade steel.

http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqsteel.shtml

http://www.spyderco.com/education/s...9+PM&mscssid=FB4GNG95XBNB8L2ABPB8E2UHWAU54EC0

http://www.spyderco.com/education/s...1+PM&mscssid=FB4GNG95XBNB8L2ABPB8E2UHWAU54EC0



Dive knives on the whole are junk. I collect knives and 300/400 series stainless steel is something to avoid. (Except 440C, that's a good steel) You can sometimes get decent performance out of lower grade 400 series steel, but it takes a good heat treatment.

Selecting a good dive knife involves tradeoffs. High carbon content = better edge holding but also means less corrosion resistance. You really have to do your homework on this topic because there are a lot of steels out there.

My solution was to make my own dive knife. I simply bought a Victorinox (The company that makes Swiss army knives) serrated paring knife and cut the blade down to suit my needs.
http://www.swiss-knife.com/asp/detail.asp?lan=EN&code=5.0631&shop=SK
I'm not sure what type of steel it's made of, but this knife has yet to rust despite neglect. The steel holds a great edge and is easy to sharpen. It will also out cut any commercial dive knife on the market.

 

[Zippsy]

Petroleum jelly?

Which, of course, should NEVER be mixed with petroleum peanut butter http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/PE/petroleum_jelly.html

 

[Green_Manelishi]

Which, of course, should NEVER be mixed with petroleum peanut butter http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/PE/petroleum_jelly.html

Nor, I think, should it be mixed with rubber or latex.

 

[Abyssdiver]

To reduce the chance of rust you can purchase a product called Corro-stop ( I'm pretty close to the correct spelling of the product ) Its sold by OMS and if you soak your metal products in it for say 24 hours it really does stop rust from starting.. We used to soak all of our dive gear in a plastic tub after diving in salt water and all I can say it really does work!!!!

Dive Safe Randy