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[Request] Knife-buying advice
(lemmy.zip)
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this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024
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You could always get one of those prepaid debit cards and load it with as close to the total purchase price as possible. Then if some sketchy site rips you off or sells your credit card data to the Russians, or whatever, the most you can possibly be out is the piddling sum you had on that card.
The advice I'll give you for a camp knife that others have not already covered is to keep it clean. That's not to say wipe it off after every single cut, but when you're done using it or you get home from the woods or whatever, remember to grab a paper towel and some WD-40 or whatever your libation of choice is and get all the tree sap and other crud off of the blade. Despite them all being called "stainless," no stainless steel is truly rust proof and being exposed to moisture and especially acidic organic crap can corrode, discolor, or eventually pit your blade. This is especially important if the thing is going to live at the bottom of your backpack the rest of the time and never see the light of day otherwise.
Part and parcel of owning a knife is to git gud at sharpening, which is an inevitable task you'll eventually have to undertake. It may surprise you to learn that I'm not one of those leather-ivy-cap-and-beard-wax motherfuckers who absolutely insists that every single knife must be sharpened freehand on an exotic oilstone and if you don't make the lifelong investment to learn to do the same perfectly everything you do is automatically invalid. Rather the opposite. I pretty much always use some kind of guided sharpening jig even if it is just a wedge block on a stone because A) I have a lot of knives to cover and who has the time, and B) I generally can't be arsed anyway.
For the purpose of an inexpensive and highly versatile little sharpening doohickey that's easy for a newbie to figure out without fucking things up too badly, I always recommend the Work Sharp Field Sharpener, one of which lives in my laptop bag full time. It's 20 degree wedges result in a 40 degree overall edge angle which I think is pretty close to optimal for a knife made of not terribly fancy steel that will be used for utilitarian purposes.
The debit card was the plan, although tbh I’m just as worried about my data being stolen as I would be for a card. If I start getting spammed after ordering this I’m signing their helpdesk email up for the nastiest porn shit I can find 😭
So after use I clean it and then apply mineral oil for storage, got it. Stupid question: is it safe to clean with hot water and dish soap for food-related stuff? Like I can use WD40 to get sap off, but afterwards do I just clean it like a kitchen knife or are there special considerations to make?
I’m buying this knife because of your recommendation(slash approving writeup of it), so the sharpener you recommend is an easy buy too (especially cuz @southsamurai suggested the same one).
Thank you so much for - in chronological order - doing your really awesome writeups that got me into this c/, experimenting with cheap/knockoff knives and posting your findings, being willing to answer noob questions, and finally for your specific advice here. I really appreciate you for it!
You can wash with soap and water, sure. Bear in mind that this will probably remove any lubricant in the pivots in addition to any oils on the blade which are acting as corrosion inhibitors.
440C steel, which is what that knife is made out of, is corrosion resistant all on its own but not magically so. You don't have to go crazy with or about the re-oiling, but it's not a bad idea. Mineral oil is generally food safe. Mineral oil itself will also remove a pretty decent variety of crud that may be stuck to your blade.
I don't usually use any of my folders for food prep so I clean them with naptha (!) and oil them with the same synthetic silicone oil I use on my airguns, 3D printer, etc., etc.
Awesome thank you again!