fine edge retention vs easy to sharpen

H

hammerfall

Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
221
which do you perfer? a knife stay sharp for a longer time. or a knife with less edge retention but much easier to be sharpened.

i used to think edge retention all the way to go. until i had ran into this problem a few weeks ago in the rocky hills of western china. (we were there for mineral prospecting. just in case if you courious why i was there.) the terrian is heavy covered by those spiky little plants. i don't know what it called. but they grow very dense and very resiliant with 0.5inch spikes sticks out on its brench. you cannot really move an inch without cutting a passage yourself. this especially hard when i have to go up the hill because this way i often hit my knife on the hard rock beneth the plants. less than a mile of up hill climbing our knives had already got several dents and rolls... and my 3v blade took forever to be sharpen again.

in such a situation where your knife is going to be brutaly used, i perfer a knife that can be easily sharpened. i really wished i had a 5160 blade when i was swiming in spiky trees.
 
If you're going to cut rocks, you're going to have problems with any steel. Might as well use one that you can sharpen out the dings and chips easier.
 
IN most situations I prefer edge retention over sharpening ease, recognizing that with Diamond sharpeners its all pretty darn close.

You hit on about the only one where easier sharpen might be better in my opinion.

That said this is an age old dilemma. I think you always need to balance these characteristics. Generally the knife has to have at least enough edge retention to finish the job at hand, and be easy enough to touch up that it can be done "between jobs"... What those jobs are and how much time/etc they take is very individual.

And nothing likes rocks... Doesn't matter if its a chainsaw, an axe, a machete, a camp chopper, or the lawn mower, rocks are bad. :D
 
In a situation like that, I would prefer a Collins machete that can be touched up with a file. Super steels are great, but the machete has earned its place in history for a reason.
 
My martindale golok with about 55hrc is perfect for clearance where rocks might be hidden in the undergrowth.

It rolls rather than chips (You can straighten a roll, that's what knife steels are actually for) and is easy to sharpen (especially now it has a convex edge).
 
jawilder said:
In a situation like that, I would prefer a Collins machete that can be touched up with a file. Super steels are great, but the machete has earned its place in history for a reason.
Click to expand...

+1 I have machete's from Guatemala that every worker uses. It can cut all day long, be sharpened with a file or even with a rock and you can bend it into a C and it will snap back true. I think I paid $12 for it
 
I generally prefer edge retention. For what you are doing you don't want a knife, you want a machete. I use an Ontario Knife Co army surplus machete for that kind of work and it works beautifully. With a little practice you can take out trees up to 1 1/2 inch diameter (38mm?) with one 45 degree diagonal to the ground shot, and 3-4 inch with a bit more work, they resharpen easily should you hit a rock and give yo a bit of range between you and the thorns when working on brush clearing

-Page
 
A small brush hook would work well in this situation. It keeps hands far enough a way from the objects being cut to keep them safe. There is the advantage of not bending to cut as well. Brush hooks will take a huge amount of abuse.

Do you have any pictures of your prospecting venture in China?
 
Fred.Rowe said:
A small brush hook would work well in this situation. It keeps hands far enough a way from the objects being cut to keep them safe. There is the advantage of not bending to cut as well. Brush hooks will take a huge amount of abuse.

Do you have any pictures of your prospecting venture in China?
Click to expand...

i cannot uploading photos right now. skydrive is not working for some reason. i will do it later.

and yes, a hook shape would be very helpful at climbing those upsweep slope too.
 
I prefer edge retention.

If I were in a remote location as you described, I would just be sure to pack a DMT diamond stone.
 
here are some photos i took at shan'xi china. one more problem i forgot to say. the little worms on those trees are annoying too lol. it shows in 2 of the photos. and there are many of these worm nests. if you accidently hit those nest of worms, it blow up like a bomb and blast hundred of worms in your shirt, pants, hair...everywhere. the worm's poison is not strong enough to cause big problem, but make your skin itch and pain a lot.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=5672a80485aae4b9&resid=5672A80485AAE4B9!142&id=5672A80485AAE4B9!142
 
Wow spectacular scenery... the caterpillars look like what we call "tent caterpillars" here. With ours its the little "fuzzy" bristles that cause the skin irritation. Annoying little buggers.
 
I perefer edge retention over easy of sharpening... but we would probably buy a $15-$20 machete (and a $3 file) if I knew I was going to hit rocks.
 
id say learn how to sharpen well with the proper equipment. and then all steels become easy to sharpen. the difference may be to get diamond stones, not necessarily a better technique.
 
Definatly easy to sharpen, id take either my old wwii machete, or a bigger blade from a leaf spring tempered just soft enough to sharpen with a file.

Also, if you are hitting alot of rocks with the tip, nothing says you have to sharpen them all out every time you sharpen, and wear your blade out too fast, just tune up the sweet spot on breaks and the sharpen tip when you are done hitting rocks, or sharpen tip at a steeper angle to resist rocks better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top