Ridiculous: Survival Sharpeners

Obsessed with Edges said:
So, being that there'll likely be lots of rocks and broken concrete and cinderblocks and bricks and broken ceramic houseware & kitchenware laying around in the remains of civilization, I think I'd just grab a couple knives in simple carbon or low-alloy stainless steel, going on the assumption I'll have to rely on some of that debris to improvise, at some point.
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People talk about sharpening 1095 on river rocks all the time. Romantic idea, to be sure. Maybe I’ll actually go out and try it. I wonder just how different it is from using an actually flat pocket stone.
 
Dangerously said:
People talk about sharpening 1095 on river rocks all the time. Romantic idea, to be sure. Maybe I’ll actually go out and try it. I wonder just how different it is from using an actually flat pocket stone.
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Eh. The curved surface makes consistent edge angle difficult or impossible to maintain. Better is to find two fairly flat sedimentary rocks of the same type and then grind the two against each other to produce a flat surface.
 
Dangerously said:
People talk about sharpening 1095 on river rocks all the time. Romantic idea, to be sure. Maybe I’ll actually go out and try it. I wonder just how different it is from using an actually flat pocket stone.
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I've used a piece of siltstone to sharpen a pocketknife in simple stainless (420HC). It was a piece I'd just picked up off the ground & tried for that purpose, just to see if I could make it work. Looked essentially like red southwestern sandstone, but the grit was much finer in that example, than any of the other sandstone pieces I'd found. Used wet, it behaved like a waterstone, building a fine, muddy slurry. Was able to rebevel the knife, set the edge and clean it up on a piece of leather with some of the stone's 'mud' used as compound, to take care of the burrs. It was a small piece of stone, pocket-sized, and sharpening just the one knife wore a good bit of it away. I haven't yet found any other pieces like it.

That was an eye-opening experience for me, and it made me want to find other stones & materials for improvised sharpening. That's a hit-or-miss sort of thing, and it's not necessarily easy to find natural stones that work well, depending on the local geology. Many stones will be too coarse/blocky in grit, or the stone's mineral content isn't quite hard enough to cut hardened steel well, if at all. But I keep looking for them; it keeps things interesting. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Eh. The curved surface makes consistent edge angle difficult or impossible to maintain. Better is to find two fairly flat sedimentary rocks of the same type and then grind the two against each other to produce a flat surface.
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Great idea! This is the sort of prepper stuff I’d read if I could find it.
 
View attachment 969827 If you’re looking for portability, DMT makes a folding Diamond sharpener. One side is Fine (600 mesh/25 Micron), the other is Extra Fine (1200 mesh/9 Micron). This “HC” model is made by a new process that makes the Diamonds harder to pull loose from the Nickel plated substrate. HC stands for Hard Coat.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
That was an eye-opening experience for me, and it made me want to find other stones & materials for improvised sharpening. That's a hit-or-miss sort of thing, and it's not necessarily easy to find natural stones that work well, depending on the local geology.
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I live on an island called “the rock”, so there’s no shortage of local geology to try out. However, I’m not sure if any of it will make a decent abrasive for knife steel.

Now I need to find a knife I don’t mind jacking up pretty badly to try out new rocks. :)
 
Dangerously said:
People talk about sharpening 1095 on river rocks all the time. Romantic idea, to be sure. Maybe I’ll actually go out and try it. I wonder just how different it is from using an actually flat pocket stone.
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I have a smallish puck taken from a local stream, ground flat per 42 Blades recommendation, have used it extensively to keep my hatchet arm shaving sharp when camping. Carbon steel, and I use it for just about everything when I'm hiking. The stone is about 400-600 grit.

Not all natural stones work well though, it takes a bit of trial and error. This one releases a small amount of mud when used with water - it works well on low RC stainless kitchen knives as well. I even drilled a shallow depression in the back side to use as a socket for a bow drill (though I've only been able to start a fire with it using very dry wood in my back yard! While camping I have successfully drilled smokey holes through many pieces of wood but haven't managed a good ember yet).


As a survival strategy per the OP it makes more sense to use carbon steels or low alloy/ low RC stainless and sharpen with natural stones. The ash from the firepit makes a great stropping compound.
 
As a general rule, you want to keep an eye out for siliceous sedimentary rock. Such stone can range from sandstone to siltstone/mudstone, and you want it to be both high in quartz content and at least soft enough that dulled grain can shed from the surface when firm pressure is used. Not every region will have this sort of stone in abundance, which is why when good sources of it were found they were prized and almost always commercially mined for the purpose. Different stones behave in different ways and are better for different stages of the sharpening process, and the odds of finding a full range of types in one spot are even more slim than finding just one of any part of the grit range in acceptable grade.
 
Dangerously said:
Every other sub forum does this except MT&E, because of all the sane, practical people here. But I’m bringing the craziness.

Say you had to get by for the rest of your life with a minimal kit. The grid’s down, Godzilla is roaming the earth, whatever. You get to bring a couple of stones to your lake cabin in the woods, where you’re hiding out, repopulating the earth.

What stones do you bring?

First, I think I’d have to go with a DMT double sided stone. XC/C. They’ve done great work for me on pretty much any steel, and lasted a long time without needing flattening or reconditioning.

And then maybe a ceramic for polishing and touch ups, like a Spyderco double stuff, or double stuff 2.

Roll your eyes! I know this is crazy. But I’ll bet you still have an opinion on this!
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None ! I will learn to use natural stone ....... When Godzilla chasing me I'll run faster without DMT in my pocket :D
 
If we are going for things we already own, I'd have to pick my 2 double sided DMT plates, XC-XF grit range. I've had these stones for about 5 years now (I've got nothing on some members here), and they still work just fine with little/no maintenance

If we are going all out, I'd like to try the higher-end diamond plates from Atoma or Venev, though I doubt it'd matter much to me in the long run.
 
When it comes to small, portable sharpening tools which is what I would prefer for "survival sharpening tools" I think there are 3 different companies that do extremely well in that category. Spyderco, DMT and Fallkniven all have some great small sharpening tools that really do a great job for their size. There are so many small sharpening tools out there on the market that I personally think have a lot to be desired. But those 3 companies all have some great small sharpening tools>> also Spyderco and DMT both have kit sharpening systems which I find quite nice. Spyderco's 204 Sharpmaker is without a doubt my #1 pick of everything currently on the market. But DMT's "ALIGNER" kit isn't bad either. Now I do think that the Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker has a lot more versatility but if I were to get another DMT "Aligner" kit at a good price I probably will get me another one. I had one stolen some time back and I was just getting the hang of using it.

This is a most interesting thread because there sure is a wide array of different sharpening tools being discussed and what will work for one guy might not work for the other guy. Because I'm sure everyone has different needs in this area. But I do deem it important to learn to use manual sharpening tools the hard way because there might be a time we all might be without electricity for an extended period of time. Don't let manual sharpening become a lost art>> learn everything you can about it.
 
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