Knife Sharpening, Necessary Life Skill?

bikerector said:
I will add, those that don't know how to change a tube went to extra lengths for getting tires and tire lines, sometimes thornproof tubes, to avoid flats. This can be related to people getting high wear resistant steels to help compensate for their lack of skill and make what used to be necessary, not longer a necessary skill.
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I know how to change a bike tire and tube, and do all the other work on my bikes.
However, I very much exceedingly loathe flat tires.
On my trike, I have "thorn proof" tubes, Gorilla tire liners, and 16 ounces of tube sealant in each tire.
Goatshead thorns/Sandburrs seem to be the "State Flower" around here.

If I continue to get flats ... Them airless foam tubes like 'No Mor Flats' or solid foam tires are the next step.

As for sharpening knives ... I would agree free-hand sharpening is a necessary skill if you use a knife while hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, etc.
There will be times in the field when you'll have to touch up the edge.
If a person can only get a good edge using a powered sharpening system, they be kinda screwed when there no power. (plus those powered syatems would be a major pain in the back to carry out in the field.)
 
bikerector said:
I'll somewhat agree with this because my other great love affair is with bicycles and for those that pedal around cities, there are plenty of service providers that can take care of that for them. This gets back to the first part of your statement where they have to rely on someone else, however. And then we can circle back to Dangerously's comments about it depending on the environment.

For riders like myself, changing a tube and tire could literally be a life/death situation, or used to be when I rode more adventurously, since being stranded in in a snow storm or inclement weather (because we're stupid) can be bad. This comes up in bike tours and things when you're more at the mercy of weather but in the city environment, you're probably not at risk from either. Always dumbfounded me the amount of people that didn't know how to change a tube but they certainly got use from their bikes without that skill.

I will add, those that don't know how to change a tube went to extra lengths for getting tires and tire lines, sometimes thornproof tubes, to avoid flats. This can be related to people getting high wear resistant steels to help compensate for their lack of skill and make what used to be necessary, not longer a necessary skill.
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Honestly even super steels lose their razor edge quite quickly. They can maintain a working edge for a long time.

If you want to have a razor sharp knife on days other than the day you get your knife back from being professionally sharpened, you better learn to maintain an edge.

It took me a while to learn how to sharpen decently. However I have for a while known how to bring a dulling edge back to razor sharp.
 
I agree with what has been said already, is it a necessary life skill? No. The majority of the population gets by without knowing how to. Being somebody who works with his hands and having learned a blue collar trade I enjoy doing certain things with my hands while other things that I could do I am too lazy to. Case in point, I needed a new battery for my car, being a trained electrician I would have felt like a dumbass having somebody else do it, it wasn't a major thing but I did it myself.
With the knives I kinda postponed the sharpening, had enough knives to rotate, but I kept feeling dumb, so I finally broke down and bought a sharpmaker and been tinkering with that for a bit now. I want a KME because I am not the most patient person and the most accurate with hand eye coordination, but the KME was sold out here so I went with the Sharpmaker for now. THe KME will come in later I am sure. It just feels like a necessity to me as a knife enthusiast because not being able to sharpen myself (with proper equipment) while owning expensive knives is like buying a 200,000$ car and driving around on steelies with the cheapest china tires you can find.
 
When my dad gave me my first knife at age 8 he also showed me how to sharpen it as he felt that a dull knife was useless and dangerous. I enjoy being able to keep my knives sharp and touch up as necessary. My USAA car insurance includes roadside assistance buy the can't help me if I can't call them, It's been a few years but I have had flat tires in areas with no cell service. Who would change my tire if not me? I think that changing a tire, building a fire, swimming, knife sharpening are necessary Survival Skills.
 
afishhunter said:
I know how to change a bike tire and tube, and do all the other work on my bikes.
However, I very much exceedingly loathe flat tires.
On my trike, I have "thorn proof" tubes, Gorilla tire liners, and 16 ounces of tube sealant in each tire.
Goatshead thorns/Sandburrs seem to be the "State Flower" around here.

If I continue to get flats ... Them airless foam tubes like 'No Mor Flats' or solid foam tires are the next step.

As for sharpening knives ... I would agree free-hand sharpening is a necessary skill if you use a knife while hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, etc.
There will be times in the field when you'll have to touch up the edge.
If a person can only get a good edge using a powered sharpening system, they be kinda screwed when there no power. (plus those powered syatems would be a major pain in the back to carry out in the field.)
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Never had to deal with goathead thorns but I heard a lot about them on the mtb forums. Your experiences with them sounds unpleasant.
 
leghog said:
It's stupid to be a bike enthusiast/rider and not know how to change a tire/tube having to rely on others. I'll say it's equally stupid to carry and use knives without being able to sharpen them having to rely on others. My saying that seems to upset you, but neither that nor anything else will change my mind about it.
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Doesn't upset me, I just don't agree with you. We can disagree and not get upset about things because we're adults have a discussion about differing opinions.
 
Goatheads ain't nothing but a bitch on bike tires, probably harder on tires than a knife would be. Goatheads are always sharp. Experience counts.
 
plumberroy said:
bikerector bikerector you have mentioned that you are into bikes. Trueing a wheel is almost an art. But unless the wheel is destroyed I can get it close enough to get home, that is the skill level of sharpening I am talking about
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I get it, and I understand it is very convenient to know how you can do a lot of these things on your own. But I don't agree that it's a necessary skill and that not performing the work on your own makes you lazy or stupid. There are good reasons people pay other for services to the point of not learning a skill so they can do something else. How valuable that something else is, is a different matter entirely.
 
Lapedog said:
Honestly even super steels lose their razor edge quite quickly. They can maintain a working edge for a long time.

If you want to have a razor sharp knife on days other than the day you get your knife back from being professionally sharpened, you better learn to maintain an edge.

It took me a while to learn how to sharpen decently. However I have for a while known how to bring a dulling edge back to razor sharp.
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But, they keep a "working edge" a really long time. After reading some of Larrin's posts on serrated edges ability to hold a poor slicing edge for a really long time, I've been curious about something in a higher steel with serrations to see how long it could go without sharpenings.

Before I knew how to sharpen, I ran a burd crossbil for 2-3 years without sharpening. It cut/ripped through cardboard just fine and I never realized it cut poorly until getting a different knife. My standard back then was, if it cut it was sharp. Now I know there's a difference in how that cut happens and things like sharpening got more complicated with it because "just cutting" wasn't good enough. Getting, or making, a thinner out of many of these thickly ground blades has been more recent hurdles as I've taken affection towards larger fixed that are too often designed for people who don't know how to maintain a knife.
 
It’s an accessory skill that increases the functional value of bladed things. Knowing about the properties of steels, what an appropriate edge angle is for a certain task and metal, being able to clean up an edge, etc will give your blenders, kitchen cutlery, folding knives, and lawnmower blades that much more life.

Edge maintenance and sharpening is a fine skill to have, but, given that I could easily get through the rest of my life using cheap scissors... not exactly necessary. Depending on how much you value your time, it might actually be a net loss to learn to sharpen (let alone do the sharpening) if you could instead toss a couple bucks at a comparable solution.
 
Desirable, YES :thumbsup: Necessary, NO :thumbsdown:. If one lives in a place and a lifestyle where it IS necessary (e.g. Alaska wilds trapping for a living) it is pretty instinctive along with that lifestyle. ;)
 
bikerector said:
But, they keep a "working edge" a really long time. After reading some of Larrin's posts on serrated edges ability to hold a poor slicing edge for a really long time, I've been curious about something in a higher steel with serrations to see how long it could go without sharpenings.

Before I knew how to sharpen, I ran a burd crossbil for 2-3 years without sharpening. It cut/ripped through cardboard just fine and I never realized it cut poorly until getting a different knife. My standard back then was, if it cut it was sharp. Now I know there's a difference in how that cut happens and things like sharpening got more complicated with it because "just cutting" wasn't good enough. Getting, or making, a thinner out of many of these thickly ground blades has been more recent hurdles as I've taken affection towards larger fixed that are too often designed for people who don't know how to maintain a knife.
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Yeah that’s what I said. Superssteels do keep a working edge for a long time.

I like a knife to be able to push cut well. My new sharpening style means I always end up with a mirror polished edge.
 
Every one with I'll just pay someone else to do it attitude are making a few assumptions
1. You will always be able to get to the person to have it sharpened
2 . There will always be someone around to do it.
3. You will always have money or that money will be worth anything.
Puerto Rico went 10-12 months with out power
Look at Venezuela right now their money is worthless people are prostituting themselves for food they have eaten most of the animals in their zoos. Good luck with that throwing $2 at someone and getting something sharpened in those situations. Personally since it is something you should know how to do. If we are in a natural disaster or collapse of some sort it will COST you for me to do it. On the other hand in the same situation I would be very likely to let you use my tools to do it yourself
 
plumberroy said:
Every one with I'll just pay someone else to do it attitude are making a few assumptions
1. You will always be able to get to the person to have it sharpened
2 . There will always be someone around to do it.
3. You will always have money or that money will be worth anything.
Puerto Rico went 10-12 months with out power
Look at Venezuela right now their money is worthless people are prostituting themselves for food they have eaten most of the animals in their zoos. Good luck with that throwing $2 at someone and getting something sharpened in those situations. Personally since it is something you should know how to do. If we are in a natural disaster or collapse of some sort it will COST you for me to do it. On the other hand in the same situation I would be very likely to let you use my tools to do it yourself
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peaches. Just pay with cans of peaches. You could probably rule the country with peaches.
 
bikerector said:
Doesn't upset me, I just don't agree with you. We can disagree and not get upset about things because we're adults have a discussion about differing opinions.
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Actions speak louder than words. Upset enough to start a new thread about it.
 
I've tried to teach myself how to sharpen freehand but I simply don't have the knack. The modern knife sharpening systems are simply amazing how easy they make it. I've been using my Lansky for quite a few years with good results, but this Christmas I got a Spyderco Sharpmaker and I can't wait to use it.
 
plumberroy said:
bikerector bikerector you have mentioned that you are into bikes. Trueing a wheel is almost an art. But unless the wheel is destroyed I can get it close enough to get home, that is the skill level of sharpening I am talking about
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Trueing a wheel isn't art lacing the wheel is art.

On topic it's not a life skill it's just handy.
 
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