Nothing like finding a knife you lost.

[not_the_sharpest]

Finding anything you lost is a great feeling, but finding a knife, that you love, that you thought you lost is amazing.
I actually had this happen to me twice in a short amount of time.

The one I was upset about was the DLT exclusive, purple PM2 with uncoated CruWear blade. I ended up laying this one down in a place I don't frequent, ended up finding it a couple months later. So pumped it's back in my pocket.

The other was a factory second Maxamet Native. I started carrying this one when I misplaced the PM2. I never loved this knife, but given it was a second, I wasn't worried if I lost this one. I lost it while putting salt out to cattle. I was pretty sure I knew where it was, but just couldn't find it...until I moved cattle back through the same area and was putting salt out again. BAM, there it was waiting for me to bring it home, a little worse for wear.

[Jeb]

That is great. It's a little rough but would be easy enough to clean up. You want help cleaning it up let me know, I can help with that, I got most every tool a person should have lol...

[Scandi Grind]

Being as Maxamet is not stainless, I'd say it looks to have survived the ordeal rather well, although I imagine it would like a nice re-sharpening now.

[not_the_sharpest]

That is great. It's a little rough but would be easy enough to clean up. You want help cleaning it up let me know, I can help with that, I got most every tool a person should have lol...

I took it apart and cleaned all the manure off it and dried it out. Cleaned the blade with WD-40 and some steel wool. I just wanted to get the surface rust off and did not attack it harder than that. I assume the patina is there to stay unless I really go at it with something more aggressive?

Being as Maxamet is not stainless, I'd say it looks to have survived the ordeal rather well, although I imagine it would like a nice re-sharpening now.

I did try to resharpen it, but that Maxamet is brittle and it had some chips in the blade that I didn't fully get out.

[Jeb]

Using the steel wool is really not such a good thing, it will leave steel residue from the steel wool, behind on the blade and promote more rusting and much quicker.

If nothing else use something like comet, your wd40 and scotchbrite pad, no water. I'm not a big fan of wd40 either but if that is what you have, it's better than water... I find the Blaster line of products easy enough to get and it works really well.

You know all the manure is corrosive as about anything too, it's truly amazing to me in the environment you found that maxamet blade is not alot worse lol...

If it would have been mine and would have been lucky enough to find it, I would have found it stuck in the sidewall of one of the load range E tires on my truck tire lol...

[not_the_sharpest]

If it would have been mine and would have been lucky enough to find it, I would have found it stuck in the sidewall of one of the load range E tires on my truck tire lol...

That is usually my luck as well.

Using the steel wool is really not such a good thing, it will leave steel residue from the steel wool, behind on the blade and promote more rusting and much quicker.

If nothing else use something like comet, your wd40 and scotchbrite pad, no water. I'm not a big fan of wd40 either but if that is what you have, it's better than water... I find the Blaster line of products easy enough to get and it works really well.

Now that you mention it, I may have used a red scotchbrite pad. I have both, but don't remember exactly, this was a while back, but I'll keep that in mind for the future.

[SpeedHoles]

Always satisfying!
Fortunately I can say I haven't lost many, and the last one that did disappear, I cannot confirm if it was lost by me or stolen. Either way, it's gone.

[attila]

Cool story, and glad you found it!!!

I had something similar but less extreme happen with one of mine just over 4 years ago while splitting firewood. My K390 Urban fell into the wood chips and snow without me realizing it. I found it a couple of months later:

[kennethsime]

I've lost quite a few, but hit a new milestone a few weeks ago when my wife lost her first Spyderco, a VG-10 Dragonfly I had scale-swapped for her (really for me, but she got her favorite color so call it a win-win).

Trying to make the most of the opportunity, I surprised her with a replacement. Her other favorite is the Benchmade Bugout (great taste, I know), and I wanted to get her something a little more comparable from Spyderco. It was either going to be a Para 3 LW or a Native 5 Lightweight, and she picked a backlock so N5 it was.

I don't know why it feels like a replacement knife doesn't cost count against the knife budget - it should.

Glad you found your knife!

[SpeedHoles]

Cool story, and glad you found it!!!

I had something similar but less extreme happen with one of mine just over 4 years ago while splitting wood firewood. My K390 Urban fell into the wood chips and snow without me realizing it. I found it a couple of months later:

C71087BB-A773-4FCF-B42D-861EC5787EF9.jpeg2187F342-92DC-4335-A7FE-FC1D29638DC1.jpegEA4EE974-1344-4A5E-A3F3-A6CAEB17FFE2.jpegCDC1022F-FEC1-403A-BDFE-B8CA580A680A.jpeg0DCC70DE-6CFB-4B86-B252-FB0AC407F018.jpegC3037F14-E8CE-4C0F-BC45-C8B8D17F7E78.jpeg

Wow, that's crazy clean for K390!

[Jeb]

I'm with SpeedH on how frigging clean that K390 is. Heck mine get way worse than that in my pocket from carrying it. I ain't kidding either, my K390 gets really bad in the hot summer just carrying them.

That lay there in chips and snow for a few months and didn't get any worse than that is really amazing...

[benben]

Losing a knife for four or five months, (a Wegner Jr.) and then later finding it is exactly what got me started down this rabbit hole of a forum back in 2011.

I knew nothing about this forum, collaborations, knives being discontinued, I just knew I loved that knife! I had already carried that knife for well over a decade, so I thought I’d just Google it or pop over to Spyderco’s site and order me another…..wrong!! What do you mean it’s discontinued? It’s not a car part!

Anyway, thankfully I found it, and 40+ Spyderco’s later…..but yeah, losing that one made me sick for a good while! Glad you found yours!

[Evil D]

It was a lost knife that ultimately lead me to Spyderco, so in a weird sort of way I'm really thankful to have lost that knife, it has paid off far greater than the value of that knife (which was an assisted opening Buck Rush).