Ontario Knives Moteng Paring Knife Wood/Silver 7070TC

These knives are awesome...BUT...they are 1095 carbon steel, not stainless. 1095 is gteat steel, but it requires more TLC than a stainless blade, as carbon steel is extremely susceptible to rust.In my opinion the easiest way to protect a carbon steel blade from rust is to force a patina. Like seasoning a cast iron pan, the patina layer will help seal the carbon steel away from moisture to prevent rusting. An also like cast iron...the more you use the knife, the more the patina will be reinforced.There are several ways to force a patina. Here are the two easiest IMO.The easiest first. Just plunge the entire blade into a raw potato and leave it there for 15 minutes. The entire blade that is not in the handle must be in contact with the potato. Pull it out. The entire blade should be dark grey to black. If not, put it back through the potato in a new spot and try again. Two times should do it. Cafefully wash the knife with hot soapy water and dry completely.The downside of this method is the tang of the knife (the part under the handle) is not protected.The method I use is to fill a quart mason jar with a 50/50 mix of water and 5% cider vinegar. Submerge the paring knife point down in the jar so that only the is touching the jar and the entire blade INCLUDING that which is under the handle is below the surface. Leave it submerged for at least 1 hour. The entire blade should be dark grey to black. If not, carefully wipe down and return to jar for another hour.The downside of this method is it may darken the handle.Needless to say, you will not be returning this knife after this process...but...this would naturally occur over the course of weeks anyway...but during those weeks, you are giving the shiny silver parts an oportunity to rust if you are not absolutely diligent in completely drying the knife.Included are some pics of the knife I received today.P.S. - don't take my wors for this...research "force a patina on 1095".

To those looking at the bad reviews, most of those people do not understand this knife. This is not a stainless steel knife. It is a reactive carbon steel knife. It will rust if you do not care for it properly. Not only that, it will get a patina discoloration from different kinds of foods. The wood handle is very rough. It does not com sharpened very well. It needs sanding and finishing and a good run over a proper sharpening stone. Anyway, at this price you are getting some great metal and it sharpens well. It is a great knife for the price and if you put some effort into it you can have a really neat knife.

I've really been wanting some good carbon steel knives as I'm not a fan of stainless steel. I'd heard about old hickory and decided to give it a try, so far I've been very happy with my knives and I'm planning on getting more. This paring knife is the perfect size for little kitchen chores. I can put a razor edge on the carbon steel and it will hold it for a good long time, something I never even really bothered with on stainless knives since it's a losing battle anyway. The rosewood handle is comfortable, and the fit and finish overall is good. Not perfect, but good. The styling is classic and attractive. With a little oil and some sanding the handles were improved. Of course, wash and dry the blade by hand after each use and they'll stay rust-free. At this price, they're simple, quality tools that you won't be afraid to use every time you're in the kitchen. I highly recommend these for people who enjoy caring for, and using, good sharp tools!

The wife was looking for a good paring knife. This looked good. It is not good. Rusted the first time used and never used again. It now resides in a dark recess in the drawer never to be heard from again. We dont have the heart to throw it away

I know a lot of people now days (you young ones) would not rate Old Hickory knives as 5 stars more than likely but I was raised up on them and still have a lot of them and love them very much. I love straight up carbon steel that is a good decent carbon steel. And these have been around a LONG time and take a wicked arse edge and just work like the "tool" that they are suppose to be. You must dry them immediately after washing because pure carbon steel blade items can rust on you by just looking at them wrong :-) But all in all they are quite effective knives still to this day and I've never had one let me down. Still American Made too. These are easy to sharpen and maintain with just a good quality honing steel. You can make these extremely sharp very fast and Old Hickory blades will cut through whatever you put in front of them. I own a lot of top end Zwilling's and Wusthof's also but I will NEVER get rid of my old Hickory. The fancy named ones would go before any of my Old Hickory's will.