PSK knife sharpener

DaleW

DaleW

Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
2,194
I've come across the Lansky Dog Bone sharpeners that work for a PSK-- just a short ceramic rod with some plastic end caps. I've also used the folding-style diamond sharpeners. Both fit into a PSK pouch, but I found a tiny flat diamond sharpener the other day-- an EZE-LAP model H. It measures 3/4" x 2-1/2" and weighs just 1/2oz. It's about as thick as a coin, so it can be carried just about anywhere. It came with a snap kook keychain, but I passed on that and went with a paracord loop. I think this a natural for small PSK's.

ezelap.jpg
 
Looks good. I've looked at one at Home Depot but it was quite thick and weighed a ton. I'll have to look into this one. I've also thought about one of the small diamond rods as they look very easy to pack.

Charles
 
Thanks for the heads-up DaleW, that's a nice-looking item. I agree, a little-on-the-coarse-side is OK for a hard-use knife.
 
I like "packability", thats why I got one of the pen style sharpeners from gerber, it work really well, a bit course, but diamond sharpeners are like that.
 
That looks great. I currently have something similar from DMT, which is credit card sized with a little plastic sheath that I carry in my PSK.

I did recently purchase one of the retractable "pen" style ones, but haven't used it yet. How do they work? Generally I prefer a flat sharpening surface, but this type is easy to carry, for sure.
 
XMP said:
That looks great. I currently have something similar from DMT, which is credit card sized with a little plastic sheath that I carry in my PSK.

I did recently purchase one of the retractable "pen" style ones, but haven't used it yet. How do they work? Generally I prefer a flat sharpening surface, but this type is easy to carry, for sure.
Click to expand...

the one I have from gerber has a "half moon" design. One side being flat, and the other side the half moon shape.
 
XMP said:
That looks great. I currently have something similar from DMT, which is credit card sized with a little plastic sheath that I carry in my PSK.

I did recently purchase one of the retractable "pen" style ones, but haven't used it yet. How do they work? Generally I prefer a flat sharpening surface, but this type is easy to carry, for sure.
Click to expand...

I got one of the tapered pen-style sharpeners for serrated knies and it works okay for that (the fine serrations are a pain), and it works well for plain blades, BUT you want to use it more like a kitchen steel. With the taper, my tendency was to stroke down on one side and up on the other, which does some odd things in the belly and tip of the knife as the angles are different. If you hold it straight and stroke the same direction on each side of the blade, all is well.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong: it seesm that the smaller diamond sharpeners work quickly, but lean more to micro-serrations to produce the sharpness they attain. Am I off base on that?

This little sharpener just seemed a natural for a small pouch-style PSK. All I really want in the field is to knock the rough edges off and keep going. If I'm camping, I usually don't make that much of a mess and I touch things up when I get home. Most military survival knife sheath stones are that way-- a tough little stone to get things working again-- a step up from using a rock.

I have one of the folding DMT mini-sharp goodies that I like a lot. The folding section makes it a little less scary with a good sharp blade-- giving you another couple inches to get your fingers out of the way. It is a little fatter than the eze-lap but still very packable.
 
Nice Dale. I'll keep my eyes open for that model H.

In addition to the Dog Bones that I have scattered around, I also have two Spyderco Outdoor Profile sets. These are set of two stones, medium and fine, and they measure 4" long. They are housed in a nice suede pouch. I haven't used them for quite a while. Hmmm... At this point, I'm not sure where they are. I guess I'll be emptying a few packs, totes, and drawers tonight.
 
hikeeba said:
Nice Dale. I'll keep my eyes open for that model H.

In addition to the Dog Bones that I have scattered around, I also have two Spyderco Outdoor Profile sets. These are set of two stones, medium and fine, and they measure 4" long. They are housed in a nice suede pouch. I haven't used them for quite a while. Hmmm... At this point, I'm not sure where they are. I guess I'll be emptying a few packs, totes, and drawers tonight.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I want to get some of the Spyderco serrated hones to get down to those knooks and crannies.

I got the little diamond stone from this guy on Ebay and he did good job. He has lots of moras and survival goodeis too: http://stores.ebay.com/BENS-BACKWOODS
 
DaleW said:
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong: it seems that the smaller diamond sharpeners work quickly, but lean more to micro-serrations to produce the sharpness they attain. Am I off base on that?
Click to expand...

I've noticed that too. It may be just because most "pocket" diamond sharpeners don't have a super-fine grit. Again I think this is perfectly OK for the one sharpener you know you'll have with you. It gives you the option of taking off a "lot" of steel quickly should you nick chip or fold your edge in really hard use/abuse, yet can still provide a very good edge. Certainly a step up from the typical (carborundum?) stone that comes with a USAF knife, for instance.

Having said that, I find I can get the smoothest, most polished, sharpest "standard" edge from a good ol' fashioned set of Arkansas stones and some very light oil. But of course, I'm not gonna pack all that or a bunch of sandpaper and mousepad in my BOB or PSK.
 
Replacing the sheath pocket stones with one of these lets me add a firesteel and tinder at the very least. They are corse and only one sided but will certainly keep you going .
 
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