Most stainless steel?

philwar

philwar

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Mar 27, 2009
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Now that summer has finally arrived in Holland, I find myself edc'ing folders on the strap of my shorts, against my skin. It sweats. Other than the obvious alloys (which don't come in the folders I prefer to carry) what steels are the most corrosion resistant? Or is there really not much of a difference between (for example) S30V, 154CM, VG-10, VG-1, AUS8, 440C, 20CV, CTS-XHP? I know not to carry the Gayle Bradley... :D
 
A Spyderco Salt (take your pick) is perfect for IWB/summer carry.
 
Honestly, if you don't cut food with your knife using a rust inhibiting oil like CLP would likely allow you to carry any steel that you wanted.
 
H1 is rustproof, but not very widespread among knife manufactureres other than Spyderco.

The next best thing is X15-TN steel, which is practically rustproof and has better edge retention that H1. X15 handled a 96 hour Q-fog/salt spray test with a absolute minimum of rust.

440C is a very rust resistant steel, especially when polished, but as you can see on this image, X15-TN blows it out of the water.

7636566598_afb539afa2_b.jpg

X15 on the left, 440C on the right.
Source: Aubert & Duval metals http://www.aubertduval.com/uploads/tx_obladydownload/Brochure_X15TN.pdf

X15 is used on the Griptilian 551 H20:

7604370966_1bdb9a9a00_z.jpg
 
Planterz said:
A Spyderco Salt (take your pick) is perfect for IWB/summer carry.
Click to expand...

A very good advice indeed. Not only the blade is made out of H1 (which simply doesn't rust) but it has a simple construction, with few moving parts, which allow easy maintenance. The knives are lightweight yet strong and the ergonomy and cutting power is there (but hey, it's a Spyderco after all).
 
The spyderedge (serrated) apparently works really well with H1 as cutting the serrations work hardens the steel.
I have a Plain Edge Salt II and am a little disappointed with the edge retention.
Still, any excuse to get the diamond stones out, eh?
 
Spyderco isn't the only game in town...Boye's sailing knife has a blade of dendritic cobalt which can not rust. I've had mine for years and it's been fully immersed in saltwater many times and I've never seen a spot of rust. Its hardware is titanium and 304 stainless.
Here's mine:
DSCN1346.jpg
 
If you're looking for something higher end with incredible stain resistance, ELMAX needs to be recommended. With the crazy Chromium content, you get crazy stain resistance and great edge retention (a step above S30V evidently).
 
CTS-XHP would be my first choice for edge-retention and ease of sharpening in a semi-stainless steel, but it's not going to be 100% rust-proof (especially against the unknown factors of sweat from various individuals with various PH-levels).

I want to say that VG-10 is more rust-resistant, but still not at what I would consider rust-proof. H1 and X15 are fairly proven.
 
I'd carry no different knife than ever and just accept the rust spots. The nice weather won't even last this week so how badly could your knife corrode?
 
hardheart said:
Why is that, it isn't a cobalt alloy and is mostly iron with carbon added as an alloying element. Seems like it is an austenitic steel, but still steel.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's steel. People just forget that only most of the carbon was replaced with nitrogen.
 
I have used knives in 440C for saltwater fishing, and never had a problem with them. I'd expect good performance from VG10, 154CM or S30V. If you are concerned, consider a laminated blade with outer layers of 420J2. Fallkniven has some knives like this. The center core is either SPGS, CoS, or VG10, with an outer layer of softer stainless steel. Spyderco also does something like this with the Caly 3 CF.
 
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