The Great Outdoors Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who love being outdoors enjoying nature and wilderness, and learning about the required skills and equipment. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Actually I've placed my knife besides my quiver. It's in a leather scabbard and a dry room at common room temperature (17°C - 23°C).
Is there anything else to consider?
My intention aren't any safety reasons (feel free to mention related facts anyway). Just how to store it to keep it sharp and not to harm the material.
If your putting it away for a long period of time I like to coat the blade in oil. The oil will repel any moisture and stop it rusting. Overtime the oil will evaporate, if you use quite a thick oil (or grease) it will last longer. You'll still likely want to give it a quick sharpen (as well as a polish and clean) when you first use it.
Oil the knife, then leave it alone until you are prepping your outing. Oil doesn't evaporate, it dries. When it's dried, it has the same and perhaps even better protective properties than fresh oil. It just makes you feel better to see the shiny fresh oil, but unless you wiped it away, it's still there and has dried.
When you are prepping for your outing, you want to hone your knife with a honing steel. Knife sharpening is for knives that are too dull to be honed (which means the edge is damaged), a knife that can be honed sharp should not be sharpened because sharpening reduces the life of the knife.
An excellent thing to use to protect a knife blade for storage is microcrystalline wax ( a common brand name is Renaissance Wax). This is a refined petroleum wax which is less prone to oxidation than plant based oils or waxes.
The issue with oils drying is that they oxidise as they dry which can make them acidic. potentially hastening corrosion and can form a sticky film which can attract dirt and bacteria.
Having said that for short term storage one oil or wax is as good as any other.
If nothing else is to hand then rubbing the blade with a candle will protect it well.
