Knife for the Salt

[tippit]

One of my passions is fly fishing especially salt water...stripers, blues, albies, etc.  Now that I'm in SC for the winter and spring, I had to get a Southern boat for fishing the estuaries of Charleston & Beaufort, SC.  I'm trying to figure out Redfish in the grass flats with an 18' Panga Marine skiff.  

Part of the fun with a new boat is getting it rigged just the way you want it.  Now you have to have a nice knife on board.  Normally that blade would be stainless steel as I've refused to make any of my fishing buddies a knife that is going to rust away.  But I decided to see if a high carbon steel blade could actually hold up to the salt water environment.  Of course you need to clean it Every time it goes on the water.  So this isn't so much about the knife as it is about whether any high carbon blade can hold up to the salt.  I'll keep ya'll posted...tippit

     

[snakewood3]

Beautiful knife and familar chart. The waters east of Beaufort around Hunting Island are quite bountiful. Don't forget to stop in Frogmore for some stew.

[Tique]

Jeff, looks like it will do the job. I really like the design.

[tippit]

The knife is more of a camp blade which should work well for tasks on the boat...but I'm more interested in how much rusting will happen. Stainless steel is a no brainer for salt...but I don't work with SS.

[CKeth]

Cord seems like a poor grip material since it will absorb saltwater and hold it on the steel. I have a hammer with a great plastidip handle. It was dipped once, some sand tossed on it wet, and then dipped a second time when the first coat dried.

[amar911]

I've stayed on Kiawah Island before. Nice place -- and nice knife too, Jeff. Good luck on dealing with the corrosion. There are some products that could help substantially in preventing the corrosion with regular application following every use, but I'm afraid that knife is going to rust, especially in the area of the paracord. I would lay up a fiberglass handle that completely enclosed the tang if I were performing the experiment. Better yet, I'd buy a stainless steel knife. I'll be watching for the results and hoping my predictions are incorrect. I sure hate the idea of that pretty knife getting all rusty.

Allan

[tippit]

The knife is a simple forged one.  The para-cord is on cause it is easy and fast to change.  This is just an experiment to see if washing, cleaning, and waxing each time on the water will keep it in decent shape.  

I'm not concerned if it gets destroyed.  Heck most of us destroy a blade just to see how well it was forged in the first place. I wouldn't expect anyone buying a nice hand forged high carbon steel blade to use it in these conditions. Yes I do have cheap SS knives that I use in salt....but they aren't mine.

Just trying to see what happens to one of my throw away blades on my boat    Even if it gets all rusty, it can be cleaned up & sent to St Judes next year with a warning "Don't use for Salt Water Fishing"    

[awbowman]

You still haven't headed north?  Looks like somebody is starting to enjoy the south!

[tippit]

Fred,
Molly will be going back the third week of May...But I may stay til the first of July.  Need to learn how to fish/hunt these Redfish     Heck I gotta use this boat and test my knife to the salt!

 

[Scott Teaschner]

Nice boat and a cool knife. It was good talking to you Jeff the other day! Maybe when I am rich and famous I can afford to visit you and do some fishing!
Scott

[tomsm44]

One of these days I hope to be able to build a knife that nice and call it a throw away.  Just curious, have you ever considered a spray on oven cured finish?  I've seen several ceramic or Teflon based coatings sold for guns that are supposed to be extremely tough.  I think the oven cure time and temp for some of them are pretty close to a typical tempering cycle. May be able to combine the two processes into one step.  I haven't tried it on any of my knives yet, but I've been kicking it around.  Still might not hold up to the salt, but it'd be worth trying.

Keep em coming
Matt Toms

[FerretWYO]

That's awesome. One day I hope to own one of your knives.  You have a real eye for them.

[D.Ellis]

I think for salt water use, with carbon steel, a narrow tang would be the easiest to maintain. You'd only have to worry about the blade itself since the tang would be fully enclosed within the handle material.
I like your blade very much. I have no love for the paracord wrapped handle, but that's just me.
Nice looking boat. I wish we had more bowfishing opportunities up here. Think they'd put me in jail for arrowing a king salmon?  :eek:    :D  
Probably.
Darcy

[Roughcountry]

Jeff
I was a diver when in the navy. our navy issue dive knives were a standard camilus combat knife. Leather handle and high carbon steel.Our solution for the leather was a coat of clear apoxey glue, the blade we used a product called silaclad. One teaspoon added to boiling water and stick the blade in.
It worked like a charm. only the edge would rust where we touched them up on a stone. We touched them up often enough that the edge never pitted.

We could keep these blades way sharper than any of the stainless dive knives offered at the time.

Nice boat and blade. RS

[kbetts]

You're living in one of my favorite places.  I visit Hilton Head at least once every year or two and depending on if I'm going to Ray's, maybe more.  I told my wife that when I retire I'm going to need two things.......shallow saltwater fish to catch and hogs to hunt.  The low country will work just fine.

Nice knife btw.

[Brock]

great looking knife.....I love living on the marsh flats chasing reds and gator trout in my canoe...but everything that gets wet corrodes if not built for it and rinsed well afterwards.