Opinions on sharpening stones or set up for backpacking trips...........

L

LostChance

Joined
Mar 23, 2012
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Hello. I am gearing up and testing different equipment for a long haul backpacking trip. I am respectable with a stone and honing rod but I am looking to downsize and lighten that load so to speak. Ill carry two to three different tools if it helps downsize and lighten if I have to. Anyways The main thing is it has to be able to sharpen large blades like a Khururi or Machete or a large fixed blade. The basic pocket sized diamond stone knife sharpener will work fine for the small knives. I havent done much searching around yet so I am not sure if there is a nice small sized sharpener for large blades or not. I am not looking for hair popping sharp. They are work/chopping blades not X-ACTO KNIVES!

Any suggestions would be helpful to save me the hours of time looking to try and find one.

Thank you :-)
 
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Buy a sanding belt fo a belt sander in both a medium and fine grit. The finest grit you can normally find is around 320, which is fine because it will give you a toothy edge. Hold one end down with a rock or something, and sharpen by pulling the blade backwards. Use the back of the belt as a strop if you want.
 
Thank you that sounds about perfect. I never used any kind of sanding paper or anything of that nature before but from what I gather doing it that way is almost about the same as using a stone. Ill give it a try :)
 
Common camping sharpeners are, the DMT diafold in coarse/fine, spyderco double stuff, and the fallkniven DC3 or 4.
 
The DC3/4, as mentioned above, is the first one that came to my mind, when I read this post. Very versatile. With a large blade, I'd invert the blade (edge up) with the tip braced on something firm, and slide the hone diagonally into and along the edge. Work in sections.

The DMT Dia-folds (especially a C/F) and Spyderco ceramic hones are great too. The Spyderco ceramics aren't very aggressive, if needing to re-bevel a blade. They are great touch-up and finishing hones, however. The DC4 would be my first choice, just because of the extra versatility of diamond and ceramic in one package. It'll quickly repair/re-bevel a damaged edge with the diamond, or simply maintain it with the ceramic. Lots of bang-for-the-buck in that little hone.
 
Thank you. Ill look into those three also. After pondering the sand belt over the major problem I have with that idea is how quick it might wear out using it a lot in the field for long periods of time.
 
+1 on the DMT Diafolds. I have both the C/F and the XF/XXF. They are very, very light and compact, excellent for taking in the field.
 
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