deadend:
Ti knives IMO are far superior to SS knives for saltwater use. To hold an edge the stainless alloy must have a certain amount of carbon in it's structure. The carbon is what causes corrosion to form on the knife relatively quickly if not properly rinsed and oiled. Ti does not corrode. I have purposely not rinsed my Wenoka ti knife to test this and it looks the same as it did the first time I used it. Why would brass be a problem? I have all sorts of cheap hardware store brass snaps as well as more expensive dive-shop variety snaps and I cannot tell a diff. in corrosion.
Titanium ALLOY as a material for Knife manufacture has a hardness of 50 Rc. Not great if we are discussing the main use of knives, having a very sharp edge.
The Seals have been using such knives for a while, but NOT becuase they are sharper, or even less corrosive, but rather because they are safer when working around magnetic-detonated mines. The 50 rc rating would be on a *HIGH* quality product, and all titanium alloy is not equal.
SS holds up just fine for recreational diving Salt water applications. The blade is easier to sharpen, and can be sharpend to a finer edge. A sharp edge may not be that important to the diver which is why Titanium has passed as an alternative for the diver.
Sure SS will show some signs of corrosion vs. Titanium, no argument there. Titanium is the king of non corrosive metal materials. So if it's important that the knife LOOKS pretty after many uses, then by all means, pay extra for Titanium. If you are looking for the best knife, then titanium is NOT the choice dispite all the HYPE.
And that is the bottom line, HYPE. Titanium is awesome for some applications. The amount of time a Dive Knife spends in the water does NOT justify the cost of Titanium IMO, and it is not a great material for making a knife unless one needs the properties of titanium as the Seals did.
Titanium PVD coatings are becomming more common in knife making, but that is a different subject.
Ron