Bare steel vs coated bars in a wet country

[MWM]

I'm setting up a home gym and deciding on a bar to purchase.

The bar will be in a region with 83% average humidity, ~70 mm average annual rainfall, ~10 celsius (50F) average temperature with typical annual highs and lows of 20 and 2 celsius (68F and 35F).

How quickly is a bare steel bar likely to rust in this kind of climate, and is there anything I can do to mitigate rust buildup? Would keeping the bar in a canvas barbell bag help, or is it better to leave a bare steel bar exposed to the air? Is a spray bottle of rust remover/dissolver and and old rag once a month a reasonable expectation, or am I going to have to be submerging the thing in vinegar and scraping it painstakingly for an hour with a wire brush every week?

In this sort of environment, would I save myself a lot of time and headaches if I bought a stainless steel or zinc coated bar?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Is the bar in your back yard? Can you not keep it inside?

[MWM]

I'm just looking for some input to work out how much of a commitment bar maintenance is going to be if I opt for bare steel vs (e.g.) stainless steel. I am not in dry and sunny North Texas where it sounds like rust is less of a problem.

I understand the advantage of bare steel bars but if I'm going to buy one bar to last me a lifetime, then it's worth spending some time obsessing over smaller details which might end up making a big difference in the long run.

My understanding of bare steel bar maintenance is as follows:

1. Bare steel bars oxidise in two ways. There is a slow-onset 'gun blue' patina and a quick-onset red/brown rust. The gun blue patina is not only harmless but desirable because it functions as a protective coating against red rust. The red rust is to be actively avoided where possible because it eats away at the bar and causes pitting.

2. Harsh cleaning methods like naval jelly/rust dissolver will remove both the red rust and the patina, throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

3. Several sources recommend keeping red rust at bay with periodic application of 3-in-One oil (or warm soapy water) across the entire bar followed by vigorous brushing with a brass/steel brush. A steel brush can blunt the knurling if used aggressively. This needs to be done more regularly the more wet, humid, and hot the climate is.

4. If you oil your bar, you will inevitably leave some oil on the bar no matter how much you try to dry it off with rags or paper towels. It sounds silly to deliberately compromise one's grip on the bar in this way, but those who advocate for this seem to consider it a necessary evil. The oil will eventually evaporate (but by that time you might be due another coating). Warm soapy water might achieve the same results but I expect you'd have to be very careful not to let it get into the bushings.

5. Chalk, sweat, and other bodily grime will attract moisture and encourage rust if left to build up in the knurling, so should be cleared out regularly with a plastic/nylon brush.

6. I guess that keeping the bar in a canvas barbell carry bag might help, but might also slow the rate at which the patina forms.

7. Stainless steel bars rust far less easily than bare steel bars, and don't come with the downsides of a zinc coating filling in and attenuating the knurl. However when they do eventually rust, it is far more difficult to get the rust off them.

My problem is that having never owned a barbell before, I have no idea how much work actually goes into keeping them rust-free, nor what the most efficient means of doing so is. Any perspective and advice on bare steel maintenance would be much appreciated.

[Jason Donaldson]

For what it's worth, I reside in a more humid climate than North Texas, though lower than yours, and with a much broader temperature range. I have the SS bar, which is bare steel. Across the year, I periodically brush out the chalk with a plastic brush and wipe it down with a very light amount of 3-in-1 oil on a rag. I oil the bushings with a few drops of the same oil. On the rare occasions I've spotted rust formation, a brass brush was sufficient. In fact, I don't know why I'd ever expect to use a steel brush for it.

Now, given the different environments, this may be the most relevant thing I can tell you: I've never had even the slightest issue with grip from the oil, even the very next day after wiping it down. And I have the stubby "Vietnamese sausage" fingers, too. Granted, the knurling on this bar is exceptionally good.

Even if you ended up running a plastic brush over your bar after every workout, and a brass brush and an oiled rag over every week or two, it seems like it would be less hassle than taking it in and out of a canvas bag every time - and I'm not sure if that kind of storage would really keep out ambient moisture, would it?

A note about zinc: The Strength Company uses zinc coating on all of their bars except their cerakote model. I can't see Maj. Broggi doing that if it made the knurl suck. I have their EZ curl bar, which has a black zinc coating, and the knurl on that is plenty good.

That said, if you're looking for permission to buy a stainless steel bar, it's not like anyone's really stopping you.

Rip, this brings a question to my mind: Would bottle bluing work on a bare steel barbell? I'm assuming that someone intentionally getting a bare steel bar wouldn't likely want to use that, but this thread has me curious. Or would that rapidly build the same dismissive reputation for barbells that I've always heard of it having for firearms? Why don't we see industrially blued barbells for sale? Or was that a thing in the years before coatings like cerakote became cheaper?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't know, Jason. Old bars generally oxidize to blue, as mentioned earlier, but I've never heard of a bottle blue job being applied to a bar.

[MWM]

For what it's worth, I reside in a more humid climate than North Texas, though lower than yours, and with a much broader temperature range. I have the SS bar, which is bare steel. Across the year, I periodically brush out the chalk with a plastic brush and wipe it down with a very light amount of 3-in-1 oil on a rag. I oil the bushings with a few drops of the same oil. On the rare occasions I've spotted rust formation, a brass brush was sufficient. In fact, I don't know why I'd ever expect to use a steel brush for it.

Now, given the different environments, this may be the most relevant thing I can tell you: I've never had even the slightest issue with grip from the oil, even the very next day after wiping it down. And I have the stubby "Vietnamese sausage" fingers, too. Granted, the knurling on this bar is exceptionally good.

Thanks Jason.

Rip, a quick search reveals a few forum posts from many moons ago in which you recommend a fast-evaporating agent like mineral spirit (white spirit), naptha, or kerosene for bar maintenance - agents which presumably do the same sort job as 3-in-One oil but which have no lubricating effect. Would these do the job of lifting off red rust while leaving the patina alone if used regularly?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't know, because I maintenance the gym bars only when they need it, and they never do.