glass beads all the way... if you are going to sandblast at all! I have used a bunch of different media over time and I find they all have their plusses and minuses, however even with stainless rust can be a major issue with sandblasting... especially with coarse media. The examples I'm going to use are both 440c Ht at 59 and the difference in rust is noticeable with coarse media. I used to use the sandblast finish done with glass and carried a knife at work for 3 years without issues and I never really cared for it at all, that being the case I had made a knife for a guy with the same steel, same heat treat and his rusted after a few weeks in the jungle, which surprised me, being 440c but it happens and I found the biggest contributor to rust was the rougher finish from the media I used in the sandblaster. So to summarize, the finer the finish on a knife, the better the knife can discard water from it's surface and the less chance it has to rust, conversely the rougher the steel is, the more small pockets that tiny drops of water can adhere to and cause the rusting issue. All that to say, if you're going to sandblast, first finish the knife to at least 400 grit and remove all major scratches as they are also spots for water to lay, and anything above 400 grit will show up in a glass bead finish, and with glass it will leave a matte shine that is really quite attractive and limits the shine if that's what you're worried about while still shedding water and retaining its stainless properties. just my 2 cents
