I agree with you concerning the stainless property in a hunting and fishing knife. My 20-cv mule is probably my favorite because I can completely neglect it without worry. However, if one religiously takes care of their equipment, it isn't a problem. I regularly go fishing with either a k390 delica or a rex-45 military (and I regularly wade out into fresh water). I definitely wouldn't do this in saltwater! If the knife gets dunked, I'll dry the knife as best as I can and then oil the blade with a bit of oil / grease from my nose. The knife will get a proper cleaning and oiling once I get home. As I understand it, rex-45 has worse corrosion resistance than maxamet and I haven't seen any corrosion yet. Please correct me if I'm wrong on its corrosion resistance. I also have friends who use inexpensive 1095 tool-steel knives for both hunting and fishing without problems. Still, you're right about one thing. If cleaning and oiling a knife isn't a priority, any tool-steel isn't appropriate for hunting or fishing.BornIn1500 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 6:31 amFor hunting and fishing, being stainless should be an even higher priority than in the kitchen. At least you can quickly clean a knife in a kitchen. In outdoor environments, that won't happen. Z-max is far from an ideal hunting and fishing knife. I think people are really reaching to justify buying this z-max.
Pro tip: vasaline has a higher viscosity than oil alone and will tend to cling to the blade and stop pin a little better than oil, especially when taking an unavoidable ride into water. For my tool-steel mules, I apply car-wax to the handle and let it dry before attaching the scales. Seems to be working fine.
