Stone wash or black?

[TheMightyGoat]

I prefer the looks of black, but is there any downside to the coating? I heard a while ago that one type of coating... I can't grasp the name right now... can have some forgotten downsides to it... bleh, I guess I'm being kind of vague. Anyway, is there any reason why I shouldn't get black coating or is it only a matter of preferred looks?

 

[Danbo]

There might be exceptions now, but every single black coated knife I have ever owned has had some of the coating wear or flake off.

 

[Roadrunner]

He took the words right out of my mouth. Unless you're getting it as a collector's item, it will get scratched and show lots of wear.

 

[PhoulPlae]

There are many different black coatings. Some are just to kill reflection, some protect against corrosion, and some of the newer coatings are harder than the steel itself. For example, Boron Carbide is supposedly one of the hardest man made materials and cannot be scratched off unless you physically remove some of the metal or use very hard diamond or ceramic.

See this post:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=258351

 

[TheMightyGoat]

Originally posted by PhoulPlae
There are many different black coatings. Some are just to kill reflection, some protect against corrosion, and some of the newer coatings are harder than the steel itself. For example, Boron Carbide is supposedly one of the hardest man made materials and cannot be scratched off unless you physically remove some of the metal or use very hard diamond or ceramic.

See this post:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=258351

So if I got a knife with a Boron Carbide coated blade, it would be unlikely to get scratched up and all that?

 

[Jack142]

Boron coating looks cool when its clean.
But touch it and it looks BAD. It holds every fingerprint.

 

[bcc]

I have a MT SOCOM Elite with a stonewash blade, and the stonewash blade covers up scratches and scuffs well. I also have a MT SOCOM M/A (10/98) with a black blade, and it has visible scratches on it. I carry and use both of them, and like both of them a lot, so it's really just a matter of personal preference about scratches on the blade.
Bruce Chang