Sharpening at the camp site

L

ljorges

Joined
May 25, 2015
Messages
11
Hello Guys,

I do a lot of camping and between cutting meat, wood, materials, etc. of course my blades get a lot of wear and tear. Any recommendations for a simple way to bring back the edge when you aren't at home? I've seen some fairly expensive sharpeners that many people like but that wouldn't be practical at the campsite. I don't want to ruin my blade with inferior sharpeners.

Thanks in advance,


Les
 
For convex edges I prefer a small wooden strop, one side thin, hard leather with CBN 1000 grit and other side thin cardboard or paper-wrap with white compound. The CBN works so well, I can produce a burr in short order if needed. For v-edges, I prefer the DMT diafold, preferable coarse and extra fine but they don't come in that combi - so I bring two. The strop is a long as the folded DMT diafold so it comes in a nice little and light package. I try to sharpen all knives in a way that I can copy on a smaller stone as well so there is no change in angle etc.
 
Last time I was backpacking I touched my hatchet up with ashes from a hardwood coal rubbed into a flat piece of wood. I don't think this would work for higher carbide steel but it worked well enough. A small rock or combination puck is very handy too, Norton's combination puck is mighty thin.
 
Most of my sharpening aspirations are geared to 'campsite' type sharpening; in other words, anything that's portable/pocketable and ALWAYS at hand no matter where I happen to be. Any one of the sharpeners listed below come to mind; I've used all of them to regularly touch-up my knives. The diamond options will handle literally any steel easily with a light touch, and the SiC stones will handle the vast majority of mainstream steels pretty well. The pocketability of the diamond hones lends extra advantage in the field. The first one listed is what I've come to use most often, and it also happens to be the smallest of all of them (read -->: diamond packs a bigger punch, relative to size):

  • DMT Mini-Sharp keychain diamond hone (recommend anything in the Coarse-EF range); ~$10-$12
  • DMT 'Credit Card' diamond hone (same recommended grit range as above); ~$12-$15.
  • DMT Dia-Fold hone (a C/F double-sided is likely the most versatile for any circumstance); ~$35 for a double-sided version.
  • SiC stone; anywhere from ~$4-$8, depending on size & where purchased (3", 4", 6" at ACE Hardware, 6" at Home Depot or Sears).
  • Fallkniven DC3/DC4 diamond + ceramic hones (3" or 4" sizes); ~$23-$30.
  • Eze-Lap model 'M' diamond rod sharpener; $18-$23 or so.


David
 
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A coarse/fine DMT Diafold and a Spyderco double stuff makes a very nice field sharpening combination.
 
DMT diafolds work great. Choose whichever grit you require. Coarse (blue)/medium (red) is a good choice for field work.
 
Ive got a Smiths 3 in 1 sharpening system and a Lansky Blade Medic I use when out and about for bushcraft/hunting etc..For a strop I just use my leather belt and that works just fine.
In a pinch I have used various creek stones.

That said Ive pretty much stopped using my knives for bushcraft/wood working needs since I started carrying a CS Riflemans Hawk on my pack,so my edges on the blades tend to stay sharp much longer nowadays and rarely have to sharpen in the field.I use the hawk for all sorts of various tasks since Ive learned to use it and its a helluva alot tougher than my knives to say the least.
 
Sandpaper if you want something cheap a light. You can even fold it up and lay it flat on something, and can bring a rubber band or tape handy to secure it to something. Or just use some glue and glue some sandpaper on 2 sides of a flat card (credit card sized for example) so you can have a coarse and fine side.
 
DMT Aligner clamp and sandpaper. Total weight... just 3-4 ounces, small yet sturdy enough to be reliable, able to sharpen small blades or large fixed-blades, and the total cost is less than $15
 
stitchawl said:
DMT Aligner clamp and sandpaper. Total weight... just 3-4 ounces, small yet sturdy enough to be reliable, able to sharpen small blades or large fixed-blades, and the total cost is less than $15
Click to expand...

What he said^ Russ
 
I have a small diamond pocket stone in fine grit I can do a quick touch up on. I also carry a 4" double sided strop. One side plain smooth side leather, the other rough side loaded with green compound. Most of the time I can do several quick touch ups on the strop and make it the whole weekend without needing to resharpen.
 
If you are looking for a field sharpener that adjust to any edge angle and is precise as them come check my website out and read what custom makers and professional sharpeners think about this tool. edgeru.com

Our for sale thread is in my sig line at the bottom of the page.

Fred
 
It's... a carbide scraper. Sorry, not for my knives, man! I've seen way too much of the results of those darn things.

I go with the DMT credit cards, myself. I'm crazy enough to carry C, F, and EF around with me in my wallet all the time. They've done me darn well so far, largely for me they end up being handy for touching up friends' blades, or tools that I'm handed. Generally my own knives don't get field-sharpened, I tend to just carry a second knife if I'm too worried, and I tend to go for steels with good edge-holding properties. Obviously, that's not going to be an option all the time, so a good field sharpener *should* be in your kit. Like I said, I've used it more for my friends' knives than my own, really.

The Sharpmaker, actually, isn't particularly weighty either. Bit bulkier than the other options mentioned, but not overly complex and works great to just lightly re-touch an edge if you're not comfortable with the fully freehand options.
 
Komitadjie said:
It's... a carbide scraper. Sorry, not for my knives, man! I've seen way too much of the results of those darn things.

I go with the DMT credit cards, myself. I'm crazy enough to carry C, F, and EF around with me in my wallet all the time. They've done me darn well so far, largely for me they end up being handy for touching up friends' blades, or tools that I'm handed. Generally my own knives don't get field-sharpened, I tend to just carry a second knife if I'm too worried, and I tend to go for steels with good edge-holding properties. Obviously, that's not going to be an option all the time, so a good field sharpener *should* be in your kit. Like I said, I've used it more for my friends' knives than my own, really.

The Sharpmaker, actually, isn't particularly weighty either. Bit bulkier than the other options mentioned, but not overly complex and works great to just lightly re-touch an edge if you're not comfortable with the fully freehand options.
Click to expand...

I ask, have you used an ERU? If not then your words have no foundation. If you have an open mind and and are always in search of the better mouse trap; read the comments in my for sale thread from knife makers with 20 years experience, read what professional sharpeners, with 20 years experience have to say, Take note of the experiences of sharpeners on this forum who have actually used this tool. Carbide "V" sharpeners have a bad reputation for a reason, they have up until now been a poor excuse for a sharpener. The only thing the ERU has in common with the previous is the name.
Even now, at 71 years of age, I am open to new experiences and am always open to a new tool or technique that will improve on my skills. I've been a knife maker for 16 years and have a fairly broad understanding of knives and the edges they carry. I would not put my name on anything that did not meet the same standards I expect in the knives I make. This is true for the Bubble Jig grinding system as well as the ERU knife sharpener.

Regards, Fred

edgeru.com
 
To be totally fair, I have not used that *specific* carbide pull-through design. I have, however, used many others and have examined the results under high magnification and via working tests. In all cases, invariably, the result has been far, far inferior to even a hardware-store SiC stone and water. The one and only exception I have found to this (only sort of an exception) was that for a fast field reprofile (why ever you'd need such a thing) I was able to use a carbide pull-through as a first step before my Sharpmaker at 40 degrees to quickly establish a fairly decent edge on a badly-ground Gerber hunting knife, and a couple Pakistani blades.

Additionally, I sharpen knives at a local sporting goods store from time to time, and I've seen way too many blades come through that have been done to death with the pull-through carbides. Only thing that eats up a blade faster is a Chef's Choice, as far as I can tell.

Feel free to run your knives through whatever you wish, this thread is largely a "what's best" opinion one anyway! I would just not choose a pull-through scraper design for my own knives. That opinion is, of course, worth precisely what was paid for it. :) The Bubble Jig, incidentally, looks friggin' awesome. I'm definitely going to have to add one of those to my 'grab it' list when I have a chance.

EDIT: I did indeed see six testimonials at the ERU site, but none from makers or users that I recognized. To be honest, unless I can put a face or reputation to the review, the grain of salt I tend to take it with is often larger than my body mass. :D
 
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