I think your going to find that in around salt water any stainless hard enough to hold a decent edge is going to develop rust without extra protection. Generally any stainless that has enough carbon and/or a low enough percentage of nickel to hold an edge will not be entirely unsullied by salt water without some preservative. Some individuals may have additional problems if their sweat and skin oils are more corrosive than most.
A trick is to clean the knife really well, to coat it with a generous coat of the rust preventative you like and to heat the knife a bit to get it to soak into the grain of the metal. Warm it a bit but keep the heat below about 150F, roughly the point it starts to becomes uncomfortable to touch. Doing this a blow drier on high works well. Down here in Florida I have often just let it sit on the dash with the truck in full sun on a summer day.
Of the preservatives that I like:
Marine TUF-cloth by Sentry Solutions works really well. This is what I would go with if I had to choose just one. The regular TUF-cloth almost as well. Combine with TUF-glide for the tight spots for complete protection. IMO it works best if the knife is cleaned well, applied generously and baked in. Every time you retreat it last a little longer. Baked in and reapplied regularly for a few times and it is both foolproof and as good a rust preventative as I know. Bonus is that it is dry and won't attract or hold dust or dirt.
Ballistol. Old, an adaptation of the gun oil used by Germany in WW2, but it still works well. Like most of these compounds it works best if baked in and gets better as reapplied. Ballistol is one of the few preservatives that can be applied wet, even around salt water, and it will still control rust. I quickly wiped down my hand tools after each use with it. For a knife a few drops every couple of days rubbed in and wiped dry after truing the edge on a steel. Down side is it has a decided fishy smell for a short time after you apply it and it can attract dust. I haven't been able to find a local supplier and my last can was used up some time ago. I keep meaning find a supplier and buy more.
DuPont "performance dry multi-use lubricant" Picked it up at the local hardware store as a stopgap until i could get more Ballistol. Once it dries dust and sand don't stick. Probably a bit less effective against rust around salt water but it was all I had and I reapplied it every few days on my Leatherman, smear on a good amount and work it around with an old toothbrush, with no rust. After a couple of weeks it seemed to last longer. A good product.
TC-11. At least as good as the Ballistol but lighter and thinner. A friend turned me on to it, last I checked it was available at ace hardware. It has worked well on tools in the rain and around a chemical plant. I originally got it for my tap and die set where you don't want a heavy oil or wax but have to have good protection because everything is high carbon steel. Mostly used it on micrometers, calipers, taps and other precision tools and keep it in that kit but it should work on anything.
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