Do you care about hair?

I usually keep mine hair-shaving sharp, but I just got an Edge Pro so I'm still getting good at it. I'll probably sit down tomorrow and work at it
 
I usually test on receipt paper now, but I used to shave arm hair like a madman. I looked a little bit crazy with one arm shaven half way up and the other perfectly hairy. I would love to get a knife to pass the toilet paper test, but that is hard to do without proper stones, harder with only wanting modern stones (diamond mainly), and really hard without good compound (I use cheap green and black).

But yes, arm hair is very important to me. My EDC must be able to shave hair without pressure, just dragging it against the grain off the skin.
 
southernknives said:
I'm not OCD, use my knives at least ten times a day, and want my knives to shave cleanly. If you keep your knife sharp it only takes two passes on each side of a DMT and a loaded strop to have it tree top arm hair.
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Agreed,

I find any excuse to use my EDC.. I also keep it in great, functioning condition.. Same with all my tools.. If I go to the range and put 500 rounds through my handgun, the first thing I do when I get home is service it.. Call it OCD or whatever, I like my shizz sharp, and functioning.
 
Shotgun said:
A knife doesn't have to shave arm hair to do the things that are required of it. A knife can be sharp without being able to do that. Out of the 2 knives I use every day, neither of them will shave arm hair at the moment. I sharpen them to shave hair but then use them until they stop doing what I need them to do. Then I repeat the process. Last time I sharpened my Izzy 2 and my SAK(not super steels either) was about a month ago. Both are used every day. The first for food and whittling, the second at work and for whittling. A month later and they still do their job though I'll probably sharpen them tomorrow as they're on the verge. They still make great fuzzies though.

I think having to have it razor sharp all the time is coming from people who don't use their knives all that much or are borderline OCD. At least as far as knives. Nothing wrong with that. I used to do the same. However, after really starting to use my knives I've found that this is just unnecessary sharpening that will decrease the life of the knife. Unless you hardly ever use it. :D
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Just shaving arm hair isn't that sharp, actually. "Razor sharp," as you say, is much, much sharper than just hair shaving. If an edge won't take hair off of your arm, then it's pretty dull, in my book.

Granted, I'm not talking about hair-whittling. I think that is silly and way too sharp (in additional to generally not being a practical or durable edge).
 
As a sushi chef my blades are expected to be the sharpest.

with my polish technique not only is it hair shaving it is long lasting.
 
I agree about hair whittling, I can achieve that sharpness but edge will dull very quickly with so little behind edge.
 
Nope, not me. I find that shaving-sharp edges never last very long anyway. If my knife can glide through paper, that's plenty sharp for me. YMMV

-Brett
 
Since I wear shorts all the time, I shave the hair on my thigh when sharpening my knives. That way the only one who sees that I have been sharpening my knives is my wife.
 
I've stopped shaving hair as a test, it looks so weird when your left arm is bald or you're wearing shorts in summer and part of your leg is shaved.
So usually receipt paper will have to do, if it doesn't slice that cleanly, I sharpen it or use another day for the day
 
Magnaminous_G said:
If an edge won't take hair off of your arm, then it's pretty dull, in my book.

Granted, I'm not talking about hair-whittling. I think that is silly and way too sharp (in additional to generally not being a practical or durable edge).
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Everyone has a different definition of sharp. For me, if I can't easily do the job then the knife is dull. Whether or not it can shave hair, whittle hair, etc doesn't impact the work that I'm doing so I frankly don't concern myself with it.
 
Does my knife need to be sharp enough to shave hair? Yes. Do I feel a need to shave with my knife to know that it is sharp? No.
 
I can take a knife to hair-shaving sharp in a few minutes on a DMT. Even my .25" thick Busse can remove hair, and it's not difficult to get there.

Why wouldn't you want a sharp knife :confused:
 
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I would think that it is about the same as carrying a gun with out the firing pin... you could carry it, and it would look cool but its not going to work the way its supposed to.
 
If it doesn't shave and slice paper then it is not up for the job for me, it's not like touching up your blade takes forever
 
I am a hairy SOB and I do not want bald spots on my hairy arms. So no, I do not use my arm hair as a sharpness tester. I prefer it to be able to cleanly slice tp, that is good enough for me. Also to pass the nail test. The edge must not slip when sliding across my nails. All my arm hair is intact.
 
I'm another "shave arm hair or stay home" guy. Yes, I understand that very little of what I do with a knife requires a shaving edge. However, I do like being able to pull gently on that loose thread and just swipe my knife past it and watch it drop.

Also, a number of my EDC knives are not great slicers. Currently, I have an Emerson Mini A100 in my pocket and it will, in fact, shave arm hair. But, it's not the best in the world at some slicing tasks. I used my Hen and Rooster Congress last night to open the second package. :)

My thought is that for many of us, we have a lot more time for sharpening than we have for use. I'm an office-dwelling cubot for the most part. Rarely do I need a knife for anything more compelling than opening a box or clipping a thread. But, I have this Edge Pro and a girlfriend who uses her knife far more than I use mine. So, I keep hers razor sharp with a weekly sharpening and since the Edge Pro is already set up, I sharpen whatever else is within arms reach. While I was never a Boy Scout, I learned in the infantry that it's best to sharpen that edge before you know you'll need it.

While I'm thinking about it, anyone else notice how there is a small group of people who are actually opposed to sharp knives? My Mom used to complain. She could tell if I'd been in her kitchen because her paring knife (frankly, it was a stick) had been sharpened and she feared for her life--only a slight exaggeration; she had the Bandaids to prove it.
 
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