Rust really shouldn't be an issue for you in LA. Stainless steel can actually be weaker and more brittle than carbon steel, so for actual rock impacts I'd personally prefer carbon steel, which will is more ductile and will bend before it breaks (case in point: my ARB skids are dented and mangled but still work just fine for actual damage prevention). And, if you do damage a carbon steel skid, it's drastically to either beat it back into shape, or have any shop that can weld repair it, as opposed to repairing stainless, which requires either TIG welding or welding using special gas and stainless wire.
If the carbon steel skids get beat up of in the future, I'd just pull them off and have them blasted and powder-coated again. I'm getting my sliders blasted and coated in a few weeks as they look kind of crappy after 4 years and 4 winters on the rig. This will probably cost me around $100, but I'm getting it done as part of a big batch of other powder coating.
BUT if you really do like the SS, I'd get it raw as opposed to coating it. If you get it powder coated, it will flake off the first time you hit the skids, leaving you with black skids with silver streaks on them.
If the carbon steel skids get beat up of in the future, I'd just pull them off and have them blasted and powder-coated again. I'm getting my sliders blasted and coated in a few weeks as they look kind of crappy after 4 years and 4 winters on the rig. This will probably cost me around $100, but I'm getting it done as part of a big batch of other powder coating.
BUT if you really do like the SS, I'd get it raw as opposed to coating it. If you get it powder coated, it will flake off the first time you hit the skids, leaving you with black skids with silver streaks on them.