H1 is supposed to never rust, so a handle wouldn't be an issue there. N680 (used in my Benchmade 112) is supposed to be "very rust resistant" (though not as well as the H1) and also holds a good edge (better than H1). (source)
so hard to find the perfect knife
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H1 is supposed to never rust, so a handle wouldn't be an issue there. N680 (used in my Benchmade 112) is supposed to be "very rust resistant" (though not as well as the H1) and also holds a good edge (better than H1). (source)
Bison Ravi
Contributor
The model I have is 110 H20 wich is almost the same (tought it was the same as first) and uses the same steel. I did rinse it but didn't dry the inside of the sheath before storing it.
I used a scotch brite to remove most of the rust, but the edge of the handle and underneath is hard to reach.
It rust pretty much where the water accumulated. I won't have access to my gear for the next couple of weeks at least, or I would have sent a picture. But there's not much to see really, except some rusty spots on the blade and on the edge of the handle.
I didn't contact Benchmade. I too like the handle, but would prefer if it was removeable, screwed in place.
As for the sheath i didn't use the malice I just passed 2 tie-wraps trough the sheath.
Closest I found to the shape I want in h3 is the spyderco enuff sheepfoot salt, but it's not as nice. One day I might make mine out of titanium. I don't care if it doesn't hold an edge for years, as I would only use it for emergencies.
TheRealScubaSteve
Contributor
I used to spray my knives and shears down with silicone in an aerosol can. It worked very well and even beaded the water right off after rinsing. If you're worried about rust, that may be the ticket.
Thanks for following up, Bison Ravi! I've oiled my 112 and will just try to take care of it and hope for the best.
Finally got to my gear. The malice clips worked well to mount it horizontally on 2" webbing, but ultimately I decided vertical is better for my setup. I need to pick up some black zip ties to try to make that work.
In other news, I made a trip to a fabric store and bought some lengths of 2" and 1/2" webbing and a bit of velcro. I folded the 2" to make a simple sheath for my 5.5" shears. The 1/2" is for a small strap that goes through the shears handle and attaches with velcro since I wasn't satisfied with just a friction fit. It's 5 layers of webbing in places, so not too easy to sew. I brought it to a shoemaker and it'll be ready on Wednesday! I'm excited to see how it turns out. It should be very nice, small, and unobtrusive.
The sheath has a loop of 2" webbing that will go around my 2" webbing belt. What might I do to prevent the sheath from sliding back and forth on my belt?
Finally got to my gear. The malice clips worked well to mount it horizontally on 2" webbing, but ultimately I decided vertical is better for my setup. I need to pick up some black zip ties to try to make that work.
In other news, I made a trip to a fabric store and bought some lengths of 2" and 1/2" webbing and a bit of velcro. I folded the 2" to make a simple sheath for my 5.5" shears. The 1/2" is for a small strap that goes through the shears handle and attaches with velcro since I wasn't satisfied with just a friction fit. It's 5 layers of webbing in places, so not too easy to sew. I brought it to a shoemaker and it'll be ready on Wednesday! I'm excited to see how it turns out. It should be very nice, small, and unobtrusive.
The sheath has a loop of 2" webbing that will go around my 2" webbing belt. What might I do to prevent the sheath from sliding back and forth on my belt?
To wrap up my cutting device adventure, here's how I ended up mounting the knife:
It's just 2 zip ties and a triglide to keep it from sliding. It's quite tight with just the zips, but it still slid during some dives without the triglide. It's at an angle to compensate for the Ghost waist straps being at an angle, this way it doesn't hit my stomach when I bend over. I've been rinsing, drying, and oiling the Benchmade 112 and there are no signs up rust yet.
Here's how the sheath for the shears turned out:
I like it, it's small, doesn't get in the way, and keeps the shears secure. It cost about $3 for webbing and $20 for the shoemaker to sew her up.
It's just 2 zip ties and a triglide to keep it from sliding. It's quite tight with just the zips, but it still slid during some dives without the triglide. It's at an angle to compensate for the Ghost waist straps being at an angle, this way it doesn't hit my stomach when I bend over. I've been rinsing, drying, and oiling the Benchmade 112 and there are no signs up rust yet.
Here's how the sheath for the shears turned out:
I like it, it's small, doesn't get in the way, and keeps the shears secure. It cost about $3 for webbing and $20 for the shoemaker to sew her up.
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Bison Ravi
Contributor
Here are the pics of the rusted blade. I didn't rinse the knife perfectly every time, but still I dodn't expect this. Nothing else on my gear has ever rusted except for a nut I used to hold my wing that was supposedly stainless but wasn't. So that a knife marketed as almost rustproof actually rusts easily was pretty unexpected.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Thanks for the pics.
I've now done 14 dives with my setup above, all in salt water. 7 were shore dives near home, I usually do 2-3 dives with 45-60 minutes between them, get a bite to eat (maybe 60 minutes), then get home and rinse everything and let the knives dry outside the sheath. 7 were boat dives, where I (poorly) rinse everything on the boat, then the knives have to wait in the sheath until I get home (1+ hours) to do a proper rinse and dry outside the sheath.
Unfortunately, the Benchmades (1 for me, 1 for the wifey) do rust. It's usually pretty minimal and can be wiped off with a paper towel. By minimal I mean a light red tinge on a small area, not a rust spot like in the pics above. This was true even after doing 3 shore dive where the knives were coated with mineral oil before hand. For the boat dives I never oiled the knives again, not even between diving days (ain't nobody got time for dat). I did get a couple tiny spots (spots a fraction of the size as the pic above) that required a lot more paper towel scrubbing. I can see how if I didn't get that off pretty quickly that it might turn into bigger spots like in Bison Ravi's pics. Also, like Bison Ravi has mentioned, a little rust happens where the blade goes into the rubber handle. I manage to wipe it pretty good, but it's pretty much impossible to clean that area perfectly.
I still like the knife, I think they are the perfect size and shape, the sheath and locking mechanism are great. The blade material seems to be very sharp, I just wish it didn't rust, like the Spyderco H1 steel. It's too bad the Spydercos look so weird to me. I could get over the rubber handle being difficult to clean if I knew the steel would never rust.
---------- Post added November 8th, 2015 at 01:55 AM ----------
These pics are after 14 dives. For the most part, there's no rust:
Along the handle is hard to clean:
More pics and higher resolution:
Benchmade 112 H2O rust - Album on Imgur
As you can see, the small amount of rust I was mostly able to wipe off. I wasn't able to clean as well where the blade goes into the rubber handle. There is some small amount of rust there, though some of that is rust that has been wiped off the blade and stuck to the handle. There is also a little bit of salt accumulated there. It's just really hard to clean that area!
I've now done 14 dives with my setup above, all in salt water. 7 were shore dives near home, I usually do 2-3 dives with 45-60 minutes between them, get a bite to eat (maybe 60 minutes), then get home and rinse everything and let the knives dry outside the sheath. 7 were boat dives, where I (poorly) rinse everything on the boat, then the knives have to wait in the sheath until I get home (1+ hours) to do a proper rinse and dry outside the sheath.
Unfortunately, the Benchmades (1 for me, 1 for the wifey) do rust. It's usually pretty minimal and can be wiped off with a paper towel. By minimal I mean a light red tinge on a small area, not a rust spot like in the pics above. This was true even after doing 3 shore dive where the knives were coated with mineral oil before hand. For the boat dives I never oiled the knives again, not even between diving days (ain't nobody got time for dat). I did get a couple tiny spots (spots a fraction of the size as the pic above) that required a lot more paper towel scrubbing. I can see how if I didn't get that off pretty quickly that it might turn into bigger spots like in Bison Ravi's pics. Also, like Bison Ravi has mentioned, a little rust happens where the blade goes into the rubber handle. I manage to wipe it pretty good, but it's pretty much impossible to clean that area perfectly.
I still like the knife, I think they are the perfect size and shape, the sheath and locking mechanism are great. The blade material seems to be very sharp, I just wish it didn't rust, like the Spyderco H1 steel. It's too bad the Spydercos look so weird to me. I could get over the rubber handle being difficult to clean if I knew the steel would never rust.
---------- Post added November 8th, 2015 at 01:55 AM ----------
These pics are after 14 dives. For the most part, there's no rust:
Along the handle is hard to clean:
More pics and higher resolution:
Benchmade 112 H2O rust - Album on Imgur
As you can see, the small amount of rust I was mostly able to wipe off. I wasn't able to clean as well where the blade goes into the rubber handle. There is some small amount of rust there, though some of that is rust that has been wiped off the blade and stuck to the handle. There is also a little bit of salt accumulated there. It's just really hard to clean that area!
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jsarche
Registered
Thanks for the follow up photos and information! I'm on the market for a good dive knife and am really leaning toward the 112, and your posts, photos and PM have been really helpful. Seems to me Benchmade came up with a really great blade configuration in a very good alloy, but messed up with the handle. It may be comfortable to use, but it erases any ability to fully rinse, clean and oil the blade. Kind of a big weakness, I think. Too bad. I'm wondering what the tang looks like - whether it would work to cut the handle material away and replace it with a paracord wrap or something else as a preventive measure.
Thanks again for posting.
No problem. 
I imagine water would get through paracord very easily, you'd have to unwrap it every time to clean. I expect water can't penetrate very far under the rubber. Rust that accumulates there doesn't look nice, but also doesn't hurt the knife's usage. I know, I know, I'd also prefer a knife that doesn't rust at all, but the 112 has a better profile than anything else.
I think the real failure is the alloy, the N680 isn't rust proof. Ignoring the rust around the handle, I shouldn't have to wipe rust off the blade, even if it's minimal (sorry, I don't have a pic of that). I've read H1 steel resists rust better. Benchmade also uses X15TN in some of their knives, though I don't know how it compares.
I imagine water would get through paracord very easily, you'd have to unwrap it every time to clean. I expect water can't penetrate very far under the rubber. Rust that accumulates there doesn't look nice, but also doesn't hurt the knife's usage. I know, I know, I'd also prefer a knife that doesn't rust at all, but the 112 has a better profile than anything else.
I think the real failure is the alloy, the N680 isn't rust proof. Ignoring the rust around the handle, I shouldn't have to wipe rust off the blade, even if it's minimal (sorry, I don't have a pic of that). I've read H1 steel resists rust better. Benchmade also uses X15TN in some of their knives, though I don't know how it compares.
jsarche
Registered
Another I am considering is the Spyderco Salt Assist. The blade profile on it (aside from the weird-looking thumb hole) looks great. But for me, it's got a couple of big drawbacks: First, no line cutter. Second, it's a folding knife. I'd probably have a lanyard on it (or any other knife) to go around my wrist during use, but I can imagine fumbling a folder pretty easily, especially if I've been underwater for any length of time or if it's at all chilly -- and if I'm at the point where I have to use my knife, I'm guessing I'm probably not going to be in a position to dive a whole lot deeper to try to retrieve it.
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