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How tuff is the Marine Tuf-cloth?
- Thread starter Joe Kidd
- Start date
I don't know what specific numbers you have in mind, but I live in the jungles of northern Thailand. The norm is very high humidity and very hot! There are a couple of months of winter (December and January) when the humidity doesn't go above 70% and the temps hover around 90°, but the rest of the year it's really, really hot and wet!
The only protection I use for my blades is Sentry Solutions "Marine Tuf-cloth." My EDC get wiped down with it, and although it gets wet just about every day from the rains, the steel is in perfect shape. I'm an avid competitive Fencer, fence three times a week, and if I don't wipe my weapons down with a Tuf-cloth they will rust up in a week. If they rust up, they tend to break while fighting, and I haven't broken a blade in the past three years.
I have four Tuf-cloths that I keep in my various equipment bags and drawers. I've been keeping one of my cloths going for at least 7-8 years, just re-wetting it with mineral spirits. It doesn't seem to be any less effective than a brand new (less than 6 months old) cloth. The instructions state that we can either add mineral spirits to re-wet the cloth (which rejuvenates the Tuf-glide solution that has dried,) or refresh the cloth with an application of more Tuf-glide.
Marine Tuf-cloth works for me, and it works under the severe atmospheric conditions of jungle living.
Hi Joe, found some tests for you. Fred. Rowe posted this on one of the talks about Tuf glide.
http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667
This guy did a test on 46 different products. Marine TG was'nt tested but rather the regular one.
Get some coffee, you'll need it.
I have all three of the top ones and am experimenting with them in both lubricant and rust preventive modes. Each have different applications. Great tests everyone.
http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667
This guy did a test on 46 different products. Marine TG was'nt tested but rather the regular one.
Get some coffee, you'll need it.
I have all three of the top ones and am experimenting with them in both lubricant and rust preventive modes. Each have different applications. Great tests everyone.
I have to wonder about the silicone grease permitting rust on board 1...
As a scuba diver, I carry two dive knives. The only thing that stops them from rusting is silicone grease. This is with repeated submersion in salt water, several times a day, for several days over the course of a dive trip. For me, nothing else keeps them rust free, not even the Marine Tuf-cloth that I use for effective dry-land protection. Is there a difference in silicone greases? The one I use is the same stuff I use for the O-rings in my underwater camera housing, generic silicone grease sold in little plastic pots in every dive shop just for that purpose. In 20 years of diving, I've never had a spec of rust on my dive knives.
So why doesn't the silicone grease in this test work?
As a scuba diver, I carry two dive knives. The only thing that stops them from rusting is silicone grease. This is with repeated submersion in salt water, several times a day, for several days over the course of a dive trip. For me, nothing else keeps them rust free, not even the Marine Tuf-cloth that I use for effective dry-land protection. Is there a difference in silicone greases? The one I use is the same stuff I use for the O-rings in my underwater camera housing, generic silicone grease sold in little plastic pots in every dive shop just for that purpose. In 20 years of diving, I've never had a spec of rust on my dive knives.
So why doesn't the silicone grease in this test work?
Hi Stitch, I was on the Internet today checking out the silicone question. The different makers formulate their product with different additives for specific applications. It sounds like the one you use is an outstanding rust preventer. What brand is it and how can I get some? Obviously the test we saw didn't use what you do.
We hope you and yours are ok over there?
Don
We hope you and yours are ok over there?
Don
Thanks, Don, we're all fine. We are an 11-hour drive north of Bangkok, although we get our share up here too. Media doesn't report it but there are bombings almost daily in Thailand, but mostly in the southern Provinces.
As for the silicone, the stuff I buy is basically unbranded... It often has the name of the dive shop on it. I find it on the counters next to the cash register in dive shops. It's usually in a fishbowl-sort of display for quick grabbing 'impulse buying' while paying for other stuff. It usually comes in the little round pill-box containers, the sort that might be found in drug stores holding a pair of foam ear plugs. Thick, quite like Vaseline. I've probably bought (and lost) a dozen over the years, and pick one up at what ever dive shop is located where we happen to be diving... from Borneo to Key West!
It's NOT something I'd use on 'user' knives as it's waaay to greasy feeling. But the only time I take my dive knives out of their sheathes is if we are trapped by pieces of drift nets that get caught on the reefs we are diving and might be blocking a 'swim-through' that we need to exit. There are a LOT of torn-off sections of netting that are just floating in the sea, especially where we usually dive. At least once or twice a year we find that we need to cut our way out, and that's the only reason we even carry dive knives. Well... that and sharks... Yeah, sharks. When we encounter an aggressive one and need to get away, we can use the dive knives to cut the Achilles Tendon of our dive buddies so they can't swim away as fast as we do.
Stitchawl
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2011
- Messages
- 5,681
Thanks, Don, we're all fine. We are an 11-hour drive north of Bangkok, although we get our share up here too. Media doesn't report it but there are bombings almost daily in Thailand, but mostly in the southern Provinces.
As for the silicone, the stuff I buy is basically unbranded... It often has the name of the dive shop on it. I find it on the counters next to the cash register in dive shops. It's usually in a fishbowl-sort of display for quick grabbing 'impulse buying' while paying for other stuff. It usually comes in the little round pill-box containers, the sort that might be found in drug stores holding a pair of foam ear plugs. Thick, quite like Vaseline. I've probably bought (and lost) a dozen over the years, and pick one up at what ever dive shop is located where we happen to be diving... from Borneo to Key West!
It's NOT something I'd use on 'user' knives as it's waaay to greasy feeling. But the only time I take my dive knives out of their sheathes is if we are trapped by pieces of drift nets that get caught on the reefs we are diving and might be blocking a 'swim-through' that we need to exit. There are a LOT of torn-off sections of netting that are just floating in the sea, especially where we usually dive. At least once or twice a year we find that we need to cut our way out, and that's the only reason we even carry dive knives. Well... that and sharks... Yeah, sharks. When we encounter an aggressive one and need to get away, we can use the dive knives to cut the Achilles Tendon of our dive buddies so they can't swim away as fast as we do.
Stitchawl
Maybe it has to do with how thick it is being applied... Maybe in the test he put it on and wiped it off just leaving a thin layer left? Interesting...
I'm sure that has a LOT to do with the outcome of those tests. When I use Marine Tuf-cloth on my knives and fencing weapons, I use a very wet cloth, rubbed well onto the blades and allowed to dry. Then I wipe down the blades with a clean paper towel or tissue to remove any excess. This leaves a good protective layer bonding to the steel but without any oily or greasy feel to it. (It won't even mark a white fencing uniform when rubbed across it.) More than enough protection for my needs. I can use the knives repeatedly without worry, even for cutting wet things such as apples, and abrasive things such as cardboard, and there is no rusting at all a week later.
But with my dive knives being repeatedly submerged in salt water, when I apply the silicone grease with my finger-tip you can feel and SEE the coating on the blade. If I use the knife while underwater on the first dive, but the time I get back to land after a couple of dives, you can see rust already beginning to form along the edge bevel. Just the act of making a few cuts through cordage is enough to remove sufficient quantities of the silicone to leave the metal susceptible to rusting.
Stitchawl
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2012
- Messages
- 4,437
I found it to be bloody horrible. I got it thinking I could use it to stop passive spotting on my bead blasted knives. After putting on a nice thick coating, it started spotting in about 3 days. I swear it started spotting faster than doing nothing. Regular TufCloth or FrogLube cloths will do a much less terrible job.
Hi, I think the problem may be that because the Marine Tuf glide has particulate matter in it and it is settling in those areas. Yes it is not pretty stuff. The color is amberish and spotty indeed. If you want clear and clean use WD-40 Specialist Long Term Corrosion Inhibitor. It won't dry but stays a clear film. It was also one of the top 3 long term rust and corrosion preventers along with Frog Lube which is spotty however.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Getting right down to it, why even bother to use WD-40 at all? It's only mineral oil and Stoddard Solvent as a carrier.
If you like the results you get with it, just use plain mineral oil. For my own use, I don't care for the oily feel that results with any oil. Putting on a coating of Marine Tuf-cloth, letting it dry, then wiping the blade with a clean paper towel or cloth does it for me. The blade feels clean and dry, doesn't leave anything to rub off, but is completely protected from rusting.
The residue issue is a critical one for me, as I use the protectorant on my fencing blades. We all wear white uniforms and they will immediately show up anything that comes in contact with them if it can rub off, showing up a long streaks. Fencers who use stuff like that aren't appreciated.
If you like the results you get with it, just use plain mineral oil. For my own use, I don't care for the oily feel that results with any oil. Putting on a coating of Marine Tuf-cloth, letting it dry, then wiping the blade with a clean paper towel or cloth does it for me. The blade feels clean and dry, doesn't leave anything to rub off, but is completely protected from rusting.
The residue issue is a critical one for me, as I use the protectorant on my fencing blades. We all wear white uniforms and they will immediately show up anything that comes in contact with them if it can rub off, showing up a long streaks. Fencers who use stuff like that aren't appreciated.
I agree, after using Marine Tuf glide/Tuf cloth and seeing how well it works without being oily who would want all that lint and other contaminates to collect? Its one thing to put something away in storage, or even sheathed. But where you need it to be stain free and/or for edc pocket carry its another matter entirely. The instructions for WD-40 Specialist Corrosion Inhibitor (a different product than WD-40) say to spray it on, nothing about wiping it off. Frog Lube says to apply then wipe clean. Obviously there is no one size that fits all so we are using different products that fit the intended use with the least possible compromises. That is why we "split hairs" over our findings here with everyone so we can speed up the discovery process, so keep experimenting everyone and keep the data coming.