My New Field Sharpening Kit (pics)

Magnaminous_G

Magnaminous_G

Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
2,090
After a few weeks of trial/error and product testing, I’ve decided on a field kit. Here is the setup:

DMT Credit Card – fine (600 mesh, 25 micron)
DMT Credit Card – x-fine (1200 mesh, 9 micron)
Piece of cut out Fellowes mouse pad as backing
DLT Field Hone (strop) loaded with Bark River Green Compound
Equinox Marsupial Ultralite Pouch (medium)

Total weight in bag = 4.75 ounces. I keep it in my sling bag, which goes with me everywhere. I’ve tested the DMT Credit Card sharpeners on several different knives, ranging from 3” in length to 10” in length. They are fantastic. I set up the strop last night and tested it today. It’s extremely light and effective. The shooting leather has quite a bit of nap on the surface. I had to spend a little time with the strop to get it the way I wanted it, though; both the leather top and the plywood bottom were roughly finished and *dry* as bone upon arrival. I had to feed the leather quite a bit of Fromm strop dressing and then sanded the plywood backing and fed it a good bit of Boos Mystery Oil (not a mystery: it’s orange oil, carnauba, and mineral oil), let the strop sit and soak up the goodness for half a day, and finally hot worked the green compound into the strop. I tried it on a knife today, and it’s great.


Knife shown for scale
Dw104J8.jpg


8sn1VNK.jpg
 
You need to set up shop and sell those on the web/bay. Nice collection and size. Very portable and well thought out. I likee!

Blessings,

Omar
 
Thanks, Omar. :D A *lot* of thought and product comparison went into this setup. I settled on the DMT cards because they are wider than other field stones, which tend to be longer but very narrow. I researched the hell out of field strops before settling on the DLT Field Hone (and even debated making my own). I could get this kit down to less than 3 ounces if I remove the x-fine card, wrap the strop in Saran wrap, and stuff it in a small Equinox Marsupial pouch, but meh... 4.75 ounces is nothing.
 
That's awesome. Would it be possible the get a piece of leather 2x8 and glue the dmt stones to it so you could just fold it up and have everything there?
 
I carry similar setup. All 3 DMT set, pieces of worn 1000 & 1500 grit sandpaper and biscuit pack cardboard cut & loaded with strop compound (MAAS) and a backup small tube of Autosol. Except for the Autosol, all go into a zip wallet, into my LBP. :)
 
Two Week Update:

Okay, so I've been using this kit for about two weeks (give or take a few days) and have sharpened about a dozen knives of varying lengths and steels. I've decided to add the Coarse DMT Credit Card to the kit, which brings the weight of the total kit in the bag up to 6.3 ounces. There was just no way around it, in my humble view. I've been sharpening knives that had some real issues in the edges (mostly chips) and have regularly found myself really wanting the Coarse stone to work the chips out faster. Not necessary, but a real convenience issue, and the extra weight doesn't bother me *too* much. In this time, I've also had the chance to get to know the DLT Field Strop and Bark River green compound better. I found that the Bark River compound is surprisingly mild (relatively speaking). I had previously heard that it's the most aggressive green compound out there, but I haven't found it to be excessively aggressive. I quickly became comfortable using a moderate amount of pressure while stropping. However, I didn't like the dry compound on the dry(ish), high-nap shooting leather that DLT chose for this strop. So I rubbed fresh compound up with olive oil and hot worked a slightly thicker, more even coat of compound on it, and rubbed in a good bit of olive oil and then brought the nap up again. I think I like it like this much better. Here's a pic below. Anyway, I'm very satisfied with this field kit, so far, and I think it will be even better with the Coarse card added and the strop improved.


CnjBLMJ.jpg
 
I've done the same with BR green compound and olive oil. It works out much better but I still prefer the black and white compounds. Trying to like the green is still a work in progress.
 
pjwoolw said:
I've done the same with BR green compound and olive oil. It works out much better but I still prefer the black and white compounds. Trying to like the green is still a work in progress.
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I like the black/white setup, too, but I use this strop solely to do the final clean-up on edges after the DMT x-fine, so it's a pure "last step" strop in that sense. I wasn't sure if I'd like BR green compound, but it doesn't seem to be as aggressive/coarse as I'd heard.


awestib said:
What a great setup M! Are the DMT Credit cards somewhat flexible?
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Thanks Andy. The DMT cards are not flexible, at all. They are 100% rigid. The advantage is that they are very stable and sturdy. The disadvantage is the surprising weight (about 1.55 ounces a piece).
 
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That is great Mag! On the strop, what is the purpose of the olive oil? Does it help saturate the compound into the leather fibers, or something else. Also did the heat help melt the green compound into the fibers, and what did you use for heat? How did you bring the nap back up? I know, questions, questions. You have me intrigued about this strop. I feel that my strop and my ability to use it properly is my weak spot. I had never used one before joining this forum. The closest I ever came to a strop was stropping on the toe of my leather work boots years ago.

I have some success with what I now have, but think it could be improved upon. Thanks for all you contribute to on this forum. I have learned tons from you and others on here. Lots of fun and lots to learn.

Blessings,

Omar
 
OHALLUM said:
That is great Mag! On the strop, what is the purpose of the olive oil? Does it help saturate the compound into the leather fibers, or something else. Also did the heat help melt the green compound into the fibers, and what did you use for heat? How did you bring the nap back up? I know, questions, questions. You have me intrigued about this strop. I feel that my strop and my ability to use it properly is my weak spot. I had never used one before joining this forum. The closest I ever came to a strop was stropping on the toe of my leather work boots years ago.

I have some success with what I now have, but think it could be improved upon. Thanks for all you contribute to on this forum. I have learned tons from you and others on here. Lots of fun and lots to learn.

Blessings,

Omar
Click to expand...

Hi Omar :) I learned (stole) the olive oil trick from the folks at Knives Plus (makers of the Strop Block). The olive oil does a lot of good things for the compound/strop. First, it makes the compound more pliant and easier to work into the leather, and using a finger with a bit of olive oil on it, you can rub fresh compound up from beneath a glossed-over, loaded surface, which is much more efficient/judicious use of your compound. The steel is just sitting on the very surface of the compound, after all. So that way, you don't have to just apply more compound over the old, loaded compound all the time like adding layers of paint. Softening the compound up also lets the fibers do their work easier. I don't use a heat source. I just melt the compound, apply it to the strop and rub in as fast as I can before it hardens up to crayon consistency. Then I scrape off the hard excess and start massaging the olive oil in. When using the olive oil, one has to be judicious. The entire process only requires a few drops. Basically, you just wet your finger tip with the oil and re-wet as necessary. The finger should never be dripping with oil. Then I just use my fingernail to bring the nap up.

Cheers,

Mag
 
I'm thinking about getting a Fällkniven DC3 or DC4. What made you go for the DMT cards instead (I think I saw that you had a Fällkniven DCx in another thread)?

Thanks for the description about using olive oil on the strop. I might try it on one of mine.
 
Hi Mr. Deus,

The DC4 is also a great field stone. I chose the DMT cards over it because their design makes them wider. I sharpen with a Japanese-style blade sweeping motion, mostly back and forth type of sweeps. The wider surface gives me more confidence and speed, although I can sharpen just fine with the DC4. I also don't like ceramic when it loads. Metal swarf on diamonds is easier to just blow off and rub on your pants and good to go.
 
Thanks. I missed that you had explained part of that already. I think I'll give the DC4 a go (being Swedish and all :)). I've been thinking about a field strop and maybe some sand paper, but then I think about the likelihood of me actually using them in the field. I usually only go on short treks (one day), so I could have that stuff in the cabin/car.
 
This might be a dumb questions but do you really need a x-fine stone in a field kit? It would seem like a course/fine should be enough! :)
 
Just checking back to say that I tried hot working BRKT white compound into one of my smaller strops. I used olive oil as Magnaminous_G described. I also heated the strop in the oven (on very low heat) a couple of times while working the compound in. I didn't use a massive amount of compound, just what I normally use. It seems to work great. The strop becomes black very quickly now, which I take as a good sign (metal coming off evenly). Another benefit is that there's no longer any dust. That strop was kind of dusty when used before.

I also got a Fällkniven DC4 at a good price. I tried it out a little and it was surprisingly easy to use while holding it in one hand (I guess all that freehand sharpening is paying off). I think it will do well in the field.
 
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