Easiest way to sharpen a knife

For me, the easiest way to sharpen is with my 6/8 x 2/3 benchstones, diamond or silicon carbide, but I've been doing it a long time.
The lansky and other guided systems produce good results with very little learning curve (compared to free hand), but are much less versatile and more hassle for me.

I've ground out many blades from raw stock but always apex on bench stones. Unlike others (I guess), I'm not good enough to apex with powered equipment despite 30 years of using bench grinders/sanders, not to my satisfaction anyway.
 
You can easily spend 30-40 dollars for fake edge pro from china. I just got mine and I got shaving sharp knife after 30 minutes. Also looking forward to buy/make leather strop.
 
Use the force ;)
I'm kidding, if I have to advice a one stone solution I'll go with fallkniven diamond/ceramic which is about 600/1500-2000
You can get a relatively coarse edge with the diamond side specially when the stone is new all the way to a great level of push cutting ability if you follow the ceramic with a strop with compound. you get great feedback on this stone by sound and feel, it comes in full size 8 x 3 and in pocket size and when the diamonds break in a little bit it leaves a great medium edc edge.
About technique the best advice I can give you is to use the light, always sharpen under a bright light and use it to help you hold the angle seeing the reflection of the light on the flat of the blade, also check your progress by looking straight into the apex, when an edge is really really sharp it makes a weird effect of looking at infinity by not reflecting even the tiniest bit of light. Another useful little trick for me is trying to really get the feeling and the muscle memory for the "starting the stroke" position and come back to it in every stroke even while scrubbing back and forward use your eyes and your position awareness to check if you are keeping the movement consistent.
Hope it helps, I tried to share some personal tricks a little less commonly posted, of course the basics are well explained on the stickies.
Mateo
 
A+1 Jackknife and HH. And as Craytab stated never let it get real dull, touch up after use to maintain a sharp edge. There are no short cuts, start with stones and work your way up through various mediums. I still freehand most everything using diamond, glass, paper wheels and belt sanders now. When I was taught it was all freehand on stones. Those who taught me still use that method and are very happy with it. Getting into into diamonds and grinders just saves you a bunch of time over stones and sticks. Conversely the time it takes to screw up your knife is exponentially greater. It just takes practice and time. Master each method to your satisfaction before moving to a new one. Learn your knife steels and feel the difference of each while sharpening. It is really not difficult, just takes time.
 
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If you want to use your knives and be able to re-sharpen them in the field, a belt sander or device like a sharp maker is moot. You need the sharpening device to be easily portable. Get a stone and practice.
 
If you're spending enough time "in the field" that would prevent you from using a system, you're probably not posting here with a question of how to sharpen a knife.
 
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