Good sharpener for field dressing?

M

Mr. Hands

Joined
Feb 20, 2009
Messages
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I was wondering what a good compact sharpener would be that I could carry in my pack when I'm hunting deer. I usually hunt a couple miles from my truck and like to carry all my "survival" essentials in my pack incase of the worse scenario (break a leg/get stuck somewhere/have to camp out/call for help). I'll be using the sharpener on my skinning knife if I need to pack a deer out or use in a survival situation like stated above.
However I also don't want just a "quick and dirty" carbide dragger because I can use the sharpener around camp for my camp knife and if I get a deer back there in my truck I can use it on my skinner when I'm boning it out. Thanks
 
winbag338 said:
Dmt blue/red dia-fold, or you could make sure the knife is sharp before heading out.
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My blades are always sharp before I head out but like I said I want something I can carry in a survival situation or for touching up my skinning knife. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Hands, Yes I understand . There are many easy cutting chores which will dull a nice sharp knife not just one field dressing . Those small diamond stones will do it but are slow and not much to hold to on the sides as I cut myself during sharpening . So, if you like the small 2x4" stones you'll need to glue it to a 1" thick board . Or just get the ones w/ a thick backing to start with . The blue 2x6" DMT it will last about 10yrs.. The small telescoping pen style will work too but tend to get the edge angles off . So, you'll need to go back to a larger stone to correct this . DM
 
I don't think I mentioned the dia-folds . I stated stones as I don't own a dia-fold so, I cannot comment about them . DM
 
I always carry a spyderco doublestuff pocket stone and a wooden tongue depressor loaded with Adam's #2 metal polish in my EDC bag. I use the tongue depressor as a strop.

Sharpening with tiny tiny stones is always an annoying ordeal. The thing to do is to touch up often, before the knife gets too dull.
 
A $10 DMT Aligner clamp (small and made of light plastic) and two sheets of wet/dry sandpaper; one 350 and one 600. :thumbup:

Put the sandpaper down on a flat spot, clamp the blade into the Aligner, adjust the guide rods to where you want them to be and slide them along side, off the paper while sharpening the blade. If you don't mind the extra weight, add a sheet of 1000 grit paper to your bag. :)

No weight, (much lighter than any stones,) as accurate as any guide system, and you can take it to what ever grit you wish to use. For the woods, I certainly wouldn't feel a need to go to more than 600-800 or so.

Stitchawl
 
If you like your blades very sharp while skinning the ef/eef dia-fold would be the best choice or a UF sharpmaker rod would be good too.
 
Spyderco Profile stones if you want to go light, or the Sharpmaker if you can manage the extra weight. DMT products are also good if you already freehand sharpen. What make and model of knife are you talking about? If it has a large Tec Lok, you could replace the belt adjustment bar with a diamond sharpener. I saw one on a thread on another forum posted by Tom Krein.
 
I always carry the Fallkniven DC4 pocket hone. Fine diamond on one side extra fine ceramic on the other. I use a white vinyl pencil eraser to clean the ceramic.
 
I agree with the dia-fold being the way to go, I carry an EZ Lap in my bag....
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stitchawl said:
A $10 DMT Aligner clamp (small and made of light plastic) and two sheets of wet/dry sandpaper; one 350 and one 600. :thumbup:

Put the sandpaper down on a flat spot, clamp the blade into the Aligner, adjust the guide rods to where you want them to be and slide them along side, off the paper while sharpening the blade. If you don't mind the extra weight, add a sheet of 1000 grit paper to your bag. :)

No weight, (much lighter than any stones,) as accurate as any guide system, and you can take it to what ever grit you wish to use. For the woods, I certainly wouldn't feel a need to go to more than 600-800 or so.

Stitchawl
Click to expand...

That sounds like a great idea.. Have any pics of how you store/use it? That and a small strop sounds like a great setup...
 
bodydamage said:
That sounds like a great idea.. Have any pics of how you store/use it? That and a small strop sounds like a great setup...
Click to expand...

Here's a photo from the KnifeCenter's catalog that shows the clamp being used with a bench stone
http://images.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/dmt/images/dmtabg.jpg Substitute a sheet of sandpaper for the stone. The guides run along the table top along side the paper. By lengthening or shortening them you can control the angle of bevel. Paper works better than stones when used this way as you have more choice of angles because of the thickness of stone vs paper. :thumbup:
Just be sure to keep the guides off of the paper so you don't wear them down along with the eged.

I have no idea of exactly what the angles are when used in this fashion. I don't really care. If I'm using this set-up it's because I've run into some sort of difficulties in the woods and my original edges have worn down through use. That would take some doing. I've been able to dress two deer without needing to do more than strop my edge on my boot. :)

To carry it, I pull the rods out of the Aligner, and wrap the three parts together with a heavy rubberband. Total size; about the size of a shorter mini-maglight. Total weight; two or three ounces. It works well.

Stitchawl
 
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