To coat or not to coat?

[shesulsa]

Do you prefer a coated blade or uncoated and why?

While coating looks purty, I don't care for coating because to me it looks cheap and I'm not really convinced that it does anything to protect the blade that a good coat of oil can't.

Am I wrong on that?

And what is your opinion/preference?

 

[KenpoTex]

I think some knives look cool with the coating. However, many times, the coating is not very durable and will fade or wear-off with time leaving the knife looking crappy. The only knife I've had with a coating that did not wear was one of the old Camillus CUDA's that had a baked-on layer of titanium. That was a sweet knife.
If I found a knife that I really liked, the fact that it had a coating wouldn't keep me from buying it, however, I'd prefer that they didn't have one. If a non-reflective finish is desired you can get one that's bead-blasted.

 

[SFC JeffJ]

Like Kenpotex said, some coatings are good, most aren't. SOG does a really nice one. I'll go out on a limb here and say it's ALMOST a nessecity if you live or work in a high corrosion area, i.e. tropical rainforrest, near sal****er, ect. Not that people for thousands of years didn't have a good coating, but it makes life a lot easier.

 

[terryl965]

I prefer not to coat I believe it takes away from the knive.
Terry