Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Olive oil for knife blade?

Im up north hunting, killed a deer and forgot my dam knife oil. I have my knife all cleaned up but no oil, can I use olive oil? IIRC I heard that oilve oil is good stuff to use on high carbon steel.

Yes or no?

yes it won't hurt it.

It does go rancid in the heat of summer, I have has better results with rice oil.
Easiest to carry in one of the small plastic eye-drop bottles which dispense a single drop at a time.

IT will work, I like food grade mineral oil best.

I think he has Olive oil on hand and nothing esle. I don't think he is looking for a substitute to use. Is Olive oil the best? No. Is it what you have avalable to use right now and will it work? Yes.

correct, just a bandaid for now guys till I get home.

Wash it with soap and hot water, then dry throughly, making sure you have all the forign matter off the blade. Keep the blade dry, and you shouldn't have any problems even without oil.

You said high carbon? It is High Carbon/High Chrome or just high carbon? HC/HC will have some stain resistance.

Sure, but it might attract insects unless it's cold outside. Another good oil for knives that might contact food items (like venison) is mineral oil. Right on the bottles they tell you how many tablespoons full to consume for various medical purposes, so it's by no means toxic in small amounts.

TG, most oil isn't toxic in small amounts.

Try some WD-40 or Break Free on your next salad. I know, I know, not really oil.

I used to fly radial powered, open cockpit airplanes quite a bit... I've consumed more than my fair share of motor oil and I'm still kicking...

Just think how much smarter you'd be had you not done so.

Here is what Ed Fowler says about taking care of your knives in the absence of oil..

Care of these knives is simple; the sheep horn in your handle has been carefully processed and aged in my drying sheds. The environment you live in will be different than mine; the sheep horn may shrink even more. All you need to do is apply a little natural oil to the handle, extra virgin olive oil or lanolin or Tree Wax or any natural wax that does not contain silicone is good enough. You can even use the natural oil many of us have behind our ears or on the side of your nose. Just rub your finger behind your ear and rub it on the handle. If you use the knife a lot the horn will absorb enough oil from your hands.

Any oil will keep rust from the blade, many times I simply apply the oil from the side of my nose or from behind my ear just like I suggested for the handle. Any brass polish will work on the guard. When the edge needs touching up, a few strokes on a smooth steel will bring the edge back to life. When you need to use a stone, I recommend a Norton Fine India stone. Again it will only take a few strokes to bring the edge back to an efficient cutting instrument

personally, I'd just wipe the knife clean, and not worry about the oil. Nothing bad is going to happen to the steel in a day or so.

If you ever need a small amount of oil to "get by",just get it off the dipstick of your truck,lawn mower,chain saw,etc...goodluck!

+1 great recommendation.

I like the behind the ear trick.

Yep. Hadn't occurred to me. Of course you wouldn't want to process meat (or any sort of food) with that stuff on there, but wood processing, rope cutting, etc. would be no problem.

Give a wipe on your pants and it will be a non issue.