Storing knives

[wsdstan]

I know some of you, as I do, have a few knives in your gear.  Probably a mix of production and custom.  Like Moras to masterpieces like Sarge and Crash make. 

The other day I was looking at some classifieds in an outdoor site and a fellow posted an ISO for a particular custom makers knife.  In his post he stressed that the knife had to have been stored away from the sheath. 

In my experience there are probably some carbon steel knives that would benefit from that but I have Randall's and Pumas and McCarter's, and others that are stored in sheaths for years with no issues unless they are microscopic in which case they are not issues.

So, my question is how do you store your knives?  Out of the sheath, oiled, wrapped in special paper, or what?

[wolfy]

I just store mine in their respective leather sheathes.  Most of my knives are carbon/non-stainless steel of one kind or another, but I'm no metallurgist, so I'm not real sure exactly which steels they are made from.

I've never had a problem with rust on any of them.....except for the carbone Opinel that I carry every day.  Sweat (not so much since I retired), wet conditions, etc. that farmers encounter under everyday conditions can cause a bit of rust to develop.  Since I use it on an everyday basis, I can see rust starting and get rid of it right away before it etches the blade too badly.  The Carbone Opinels that are in storage are just stored naked....no rust ever seems to develop on them.

I make 'sheathes' for some of our lesser used kitchen knives out of corrugated cardboard and duct tape to keep the edges protected from damage and to keep anyone from cutting themselves.  Most of them are stainless, but a few are carbon steel.....never a problem with rust on them, either.  I suppose if I lived in Florida I'd have to do something different for rust prevention, but I don't live in Florida.  I live in Nebraska where apparently the rust problem on knives is NOT TOO BAD.

[crashdive123]

As long as the sheat is dry, I store them in the sheath. 

[wsdstan]

Good. I think this guy who posted the ISO is being pretty anal about the condition of the knife he is looking for.  Most of us would have just said "no rust" or something like that.

I made a few sheaths out of milk cartons once.  Used them to store some old butcher knives and a few Green Rivers I picked up.  They were already well used and rusty so I never gave it a thought.

[madmaxine]

 All of my custom knives are high carbon.  I think the Crashblades I have are all from old saw blades so it's anybody's guess how high they are.  But they don't need alot, just a little olive oil now and then. They live in their sheaths.
 My good ole Old Hickories will rust overnight in FL so they get oiled more and live in a cloth rollup. 
 My Opinels are dedicated food knives and get used enough that I don't really think about it.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

The good stuff is in the safe in a number of felt lined boxes, pouches, and rolls, lightly oiled (not enough to see).  There are very few that I keep in their (leather) sheaths.  I used to keep them in sheaths until one day I found rampant ver de gris.  Everything came out of the sheaths then. Years ago I started removing all leather slings on rifles (they grow that white mold) before going in the safe. 

Working knives like the Crashblade on my belt and the filet knife I will hopefully use tomorrow stay in their sheaths.  I don't have many that have synthetic sheaths.

Alan

[Sarge]

I store most every knife I own in its sheath. Like Crash said ... as long as the sheath is dry. I have some early knives I made - carbon steel, stored in their sheaths, in my damp basement, in the humid Tennessee Valley - and I don?t see a lot of rust. I?ve pulled knives out of mildewed sheaths with the brass guards turned green and no rust on the blade. Leave a carbon blade in progress wrapped in tape a few days and it?ll rust. Go figure. Guess it can?t hurt to store them separately but might not hurt the knife to live in its sheath.

Nice pic, Stan!

[wsdstan]

I hoped you would see it Sarge.  Thanks.

I used that picture on a post in 24 Hour Campfire that was asking what knives you were taking to the field this year.

[Dabberty]

This topic is a good reminder of me having to clean up my mancave a bit.
For a long time I wanted to get rid of some knives, but it is not so easy.
Below is a pic with all my knives, except a couple that I either sold or gave away.

The ones with the green dots I use, and these are stored in their sheaths on a shelf in the mancave.
The others are the ones that I store in a box on a shelf lower.
The top row is what I made, from left to right, my first knife till my last knife, it is nice to see the progress, and therefore also very hard to get rid of all the ones I do not use.
Bottom row are all the commercial knives I bought. Left the first one, right the last one. Again hard to do them away since the old ones do have a lot of sentimental value.
But those sentimental value's are doing nothing when they are for years in a box.

D*mn this is hard. I have them laid out like this for 2 days already, and still was not strong enough to get rid of the ones without the green dots.

[wsdstan]

I can see why it is difficult.  I see the two you made a while back and I think you commented that these two were all you would need.

I am the same way.  I have about the same number when we count in the folding knives and cannot give any of them up easily.  For instance I have a Bark River Fox River knife that I purchased used and have never taken it anywhere.  I sharpened it a bit and put it back in the box. 

I did give my son four or five a few years ago though so there is hope.

[crashdive123]

This topic is a good reminder of me having to clean up my mancave a bit.
For a long time I wanted to get rid of some knives, but it is not so easy.
Below is a pic with all my knives, except a couple that I either sold or gave away.

The ones with the green dots I use, and these are stored in their sheaths on a shelf in the mancave.
The others are the ones that I store in a box on a shelf lower.
The top row is what I made, from left to right, my first knife till my last knife, it is nice to see the progress, and therefore also very hard to get rid of all the ones I do not use.
Bottom row are all the commercial knives I bought. Left the first one, right the last one. Again hard to do them away since the old ones do have a lot of sentimental value.
But those sentimental value's are doing nothing when they are for years in a box.

D*mn this is hard. I have them laid out like this for 2 days already, and still was not strong enough to get rid of the ones without the green dots.

I can't imagine having so few knives.

I'll get a picture of a few of mine.