I do what RAS does....nothing on stainless and a little light oil on carbon blades.

It seems I'm always washing a blade. Every time I use one, even if I've only been whittling and the blade gets a little sap or other tree-gunk on it, I wash it under HOT (hot as in hot) water with a little dishsoap on a sponge. Then it gets rinsed with HOT water and dried with a cotton cloth. Then it's done. If it's carbon I'll put a little oil on the blade only if I think I won;t be using it for awhile.

For folders, I oil the pivot when I remember to do it. I may wash a folder (HOT water) and not oil it after, but I will when I think it's been awhile since I did last.

I never heard of storing a folder any other way than just closed. That's new news to me.

I too have a good collection going. They are either cased or bagged, some remain in their sheaths while others are removed, depending on sheath type and such. Folders are all stored folded. All knives are treated with tuf cloth, which goes on wet, dries quickly, and leaves a nice film coat that prevents corrosion and keeps things lubricated. I use the marine version for maximum protection.

I used to use an Armadillo coating, which was carnuba based and made for blued steel for my guns, but I think the tuf cloth is a little easier application and just as durable. None of my knives have a patina. About half are stainless. All of them will take the hair off my arm at the least.

I can honestly say that now that you mention storing liner locks open makes a little sense. The liner is like a spring, and when open, the "spring" can be in the relaxed position.

This is sort of like saying that magazines should be stored empty.

Honestly, I am not enough of an expert on metalurgy to know if springs loose their springiness if compressed for too long. You know the saying: "Opinions are like ..." etc. etc. I have yet to hear from somebody with a PhD in the appropriate subject matter.

Well, just being honest I guess. Most of the time, I do clean and sharpen the knives I use regularly. In the case I mentioned, where I managed to grow some form of life on my folder, I was probably in a rush to get the boat buttoned up, and then forgot that the knife was still in the bait well. I might have actually created some new strain of virulent bio/chem warfare agent, but, the bleach seemed to do the trick, and it's gone from the face of the earth forever. (Or at least until I fillet some more fish )

I suggest you use a fillet knife like a Rapala that has no slots and hidden complex mechanism

AFAIK, it is NOT recommended to leave a knife in its leather sheath.
Leather attracting moisture, a carbon blade can easily rust.

As for storing my knives when not in use, I use tuf-cloth and put the knives in the display case, folders mostly opened.

I think it was an advice more geared toward automatic knives like the jackknife, so that the spring does not loose its elasticity from the compression when folded over time but it was also recommended for linerlocks. I would need to have a better understanding of their mechanism.

Would you settle for a Masters in Mechanical Engineering?

So let it be written: Metallic creep is only a factor at high temperatures. Unless your spring is made of lead.

Overloading and fatigue are the main killers for springs.

So, I can leave my folders folded and my magazines loaded. Thanks.

But can you use the knife that's been tuf-clothed for food preparation after that? Will just washing with water and soap remove the tuf-cloth particles?

Thanks