hi, i am new to carbon steel fixed blade knives, i.e. Ranger RD7, with 5160 steel, great knife but i'm concerned about corrosion. i know keeping the blade clean and wiped with flim of oil will help, but what about the pommel, will sweat or moisture seep between the handles and tang. also what is best for this area oil or maybe a little teflon grease. will either one of these hurt the micarta handles? thanks for your help!

Just get some balistol or other gun oil and put a light coat on. You will develop a patina on exposed carbon steel, pomel and all. The parts you handle will get a patina faster, but this will inhibit major rust. Leave that discoloration from handling it alone and just keep it cleaned and lightly oiled.

well, after getting my ranger rd i saw how easy the black coating comes off. it flaked off almost immediately. maybe i'm crazy but i decided to get rid of black coating. i then used navel jelly to develop a nice patina. i hope i did the right thing. anyway other than that, it looks to be a really good knife. i'm wondering if oil will hurt the micart handles. thanks for your help.

Light gun oil won't hurt them. Don't soak them in diesel fuel though ;)

I know micarta isn't good with petroleum, but I've never seen balistol hurt it, nor have I heard of it.

Wax is a better corrosion inhibitor than oil. Think about it this way: When water gets on oil, the oil floats and the water comes in contact with the blade. Wax is too solid and (usually) too dense to float.

Take a look at your car springs. They are (or at least used to be) routinely made of 5160. They do get some surface rust, but even in pretty severe service they don't pit very much. With reasonable care, a 5160 blade should hold up very nicely.

As far as paint is concerned, several around KNet have had good luck with Durocoat. It's an epoxy resin paint. Surface prep makes all the difference in the world as to how well it sticks.

I own alot of RAT /RC knives and I use them and after use ,I wipe them down with Rem-oil ,and after a few uses I will remove the scales and wipe Rem-oil as well,it does not hurt the micarta handles and keeps them from rusting. TTD