Sharpening Equipment: Very necessary

FortyTwoBlades said:
I personally carry a coarse, fine, and extra fine DMT card, a drag-through carbide sharpener, and two sharpmaker stones broken in half (one medium, one fine) in my backpack for an emergency sharpening kit. It all fits in one small pouch.
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Hey I think you may be already one up on the rest of us there "FortyTwoBlades". That sounds like a fairly decent sharpening kit to have in normal life> I think you're already in the driver's seat so to speak.

I've got a couple of those Carbide type sharpeners that I got from Garrett Wade here a couple of years ago but I haven't done much with them yet. That's a possibility as well.

The only thing that I would add to that list would be some kind of very coarse stone with some size for like axes and machete sharpening. But you are certainly on the right track Sir ;)
 
I had a chemical supply shop make up a short 5" long by 1/4" diameter Pyrex rod for me. $4 USD and it's a perfect touch up tool.

But for my pack I prefer to carry two pieces of wet/dry sandpaper, one coarse 200 grit and one fine 600 grit. No weight at all, but able to either repair a nick or return a blade to shaving sharp quickly in an emergency.

"RazorEdge" sells their sportsman's 'HANDI-HONE,' an adhesive backed rugged sharpener with just a bit more weight to it than emery cloth, made to last a while. But for emergency use, thinking I'd might only need to use it once or twice before rescue, the wet/dry sandpaper is enough for me and being so light and taking up as much room as a piece of paper, it's something I always have. Actually, I even have a piece of 600 grit in my wallet....

Stitchawl
 
I don't know about a survival situation, as I have fortunately never been in one that was life-threatening. However, I managed to kill a nice 5x5 bull elk in the bottom of a creek a long ways from nowhere this year. I had my Falkniven F1 with a DC3 stone in a pouch on the sheath. I had to bone out the entire elk and pack it straight up to spot to get the mules close enough to load them. While butchering, I would stop and sharpen the knife every 10 minutes or so. It took about 2 hours to finish the job and it made a huge difference having a sharp knife. I never go in the remote wilderness without a sharpener.
 
I carry a diamond folding sharpener in Coarse and Fine. Lightweight, would let you take a ding out of a blade or put a fairly fine edge on it.
 
I often strop my knife on the back of the sheath. Got the idea while in the military on remote missions. Keep in mind that almost anything that will dull a knife will also sharpen it.
 
go2ndAmend said:
I don't know about a survival situation, as I have fortunately never been in one that was life-threatening. However, I managed to kill a nice 5x5 bull elk in the bottom of a creek a long ways from nowhere this year. I had my Falkniven F1 with a DC3 stone in a pouch on the sheath. I had to bone out the entire elk and pack it straight up to spot to get the mules close enough to load them. While butchering, I would stop and sharpen the knife every 10 minutes or so. It took about 2 hours to finish the job and it made a huge difference having a sharp knife. I never go in the remote wilderness without a sharpener.
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That's one really good and inspiring testimony there "go2ndAmend" :) That even makes me want to be more equiped than I already am at this present time. Today for instance I carried my 2 Gatco, dog bone type small sharpening stones along with my trusty Spyderco "Doublestuff". And believe it or not I ended up using all 3 of them today for different sharpening jobs.

When I started my knife hobby ( did I say hobby?? I meant OBBSESSION :D) back in the early 90s the very first thing I wanted to excel at was the skill of sharpening. Because it was GOD's still small voice that told me that a knife or any other edged tool is only as good as it is sharp. And I've made it a point to learn all I can about the skill.

But this skill of sharpening tools in a survival situation is a new one for me and I can certainly see it's importance more now than ever.
 
JD Spydo said:
J's Knives N More> I definitely want to make your aquaintance Sir. I have some stuff I want to order from one of the knife dealers here on BF and I'll gladly provide you my contact #. It will probably be a week or so before my GOLD membership goes into effect here. I love your suggestion of a firesteel. I think fire starting ability is slightly more important than the sharpening equipmenet. But I think you get my point because if we do have the foresight to get a bugout bag together I do think that sharpening gear is one main priority. Great suggestion on the firesteel :thumbup:
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I look forward to hearing from you :thumbup: Oh, and don't worry about the "sir," it's appreciated but I'm still a young'n :o I do agree that having a sharpener handy no matter how long or short the trip is very important. You could have the best knife in the world but it won't do it's job if it's dull :)
 
jd, when i started out sharpening knives i was shown how to sharpen on 3m wetordry paper which worked out great. then my sisters boyfriend took my barlow diamond edge folder and stropped it so it would shave. stropping took a long time and when i came across the ceramic sticks i gave up on a strop. for years i carried just a ceramic stick and always had one when i went camping. then i came across an ez sharp system and used it along with the ceramic stick to sharpen knives with. i still use a ceramic stick in the kitchen for quck touchups instead of buffing the edge with the paper wheel.
 
udtjim said:
I often strop my knife on the back of the sheath. Got the idea while in the military on remote missions. Keep in mind that almost anything that will dull a knife will also sharpen it.
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That's a really interesting point! If you use a leather sheath for a fixed blade knife you can use the sheath itself for a strop. I'm sure a lot of people do that anyway. Other than that leather boots or belts can work just fine.

Personally I don't like leather sheaths anymore because I think that Cordura and other polymer materials are better in cases of weather exposure and humid environments and are better overall in most survival situations. Unless there are leather treatments that I might not be aware of that would remedy those faults.

Hey If I'm wrong in my assessment of leather then tell me why. I'm here to learn.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Coarse/fine is a better mix to my estimation. One never knows if you're going to chip/ding your edge or hit a rock. The coarse side would help out with that a lot.
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This is pretty much the grit combination I'd use every day at home... coarse now and then to maintain a good edge profile and add an initial toothiness, and of course fine for push cutting/chopping apllications.
 
For my convex edges if I I have leather, i'm basically good. There are limits to that, and I have strips of worn 320 grit belt all over the place in assorted bags and such.

I have a diamond rod, little 4 inch thing, that I carry with one of the bags. It's.... I could make it work if I needed to but would probably end up using a big rock instead.

for field carry of my SOG government I've always used some form of V sharpener. not hight tech, not the best edge, just fast and easy and it's not exactly my hiking knife, yaknow? I updated to the collins design pocket wheel setup and I tell you, if you like V grind final bevels, it's a pretty trick pocket pal.

For an axe, I use a leatherman file sometimes.
 
udtjim said:
I often strop my knife on the back of the sheath. Got the idea while in the military on remote missions. Keep in mind that almost anything that will dull a knife will also sharpen it.
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I've been thinking of adding a rough side out strip to the backs of the expedition sheaths, with a snap on cover piece, so you could load one (or both) sides with compound. total thickness addition would be minimal. Whatcha think?


JD Spydo said:
Personally I don't like leather sheaths anymore because I think that Cordura and other polymer materials are better in cases of weather exposure and humid environments and are better overall in most survival situations. Unless there are leather treatments that I might not be aware of that would remedy those faults.

Hey If I'm wrong in my assessment of leather then tell me why. I'm here to learn.
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Hi! You've just gotten every leatherworker in WSS ready to to infodump! I'm a bit more into the technical side of leather preservation than koyote girl, so I'll do our portion of the infodump:

For the most part, woven synthetics are flammable and burn in melting globs. I have had this happen (a strap, not a sheath) and it is ugly. Not napalm by any means, but not joy.

Leather can be preserved any number of ways, but basic sealing oil/wax mixtures will keep a sheath going for decades. Often longer than a cordura sheath- ESPECIALLY if handmade and fitted to the knife. (generally, this doesn't apply to kydex, which will outlast cockroaches) - leather finishes can give you everything from very supple leathers that will stretch like a glove over a knife handle to kydex-hardness wax immersions that knives will audibly 'click' into.

I have had woven synthetics mold and rot on me in humid hot environments.

Only leather and kydex, to the best of my knowledge, can be easily formed to a specific knife or gun shape. (Or any other tool, I suppose) Kydex tends to wear contact points much worse than oiled leather.

Leather is hackable. If you need to sew something on, add a Dee ring to a strap, or something, it's leather :)

The weird-ass final fringe of my answer:

A good leather sheath is a set of survival gear all on its own. To use one of the expedition sheaths for an example, you have one removable belt hanger strap. I don't know what you need a 9 inch piece of 1" wide leather strapping for but it's there. The horizontal straps are individually stitched and can be removed, also. The sheath itself is a source for more leather material (I can think of a few things off top of my head that i'd take apart a sheath for in the wild, and boot repair tops the list) with several feet of heavy duty waxed sewing cord available.
 
It's easy and lite enough to carry a quarter sheet of both 600 grit and 1500 grit paper and my belt makes a nifty strop.
 
koyote said:
I've been thinking of adding a rough side out strip to the backs of the expedition sheaths, with a snap on cover piece, so you could load one (or both) sides with compound. total thickness addition would be minimal. Whatcha think?




Hi! You've just gotten every leatherworker in WSS ready to to infodump! I'm a bit more into the technical side of leather preservation than koyote girl, so I'll do our portion of the infodump:

For the most part, woven synthetics are flammable and burn in melting globs. I have had this happen (a strap, not a sheath) and it is ugly. Not napalm by any means, but not joy.

Leather can be preserved any number of ways, but basic sealing oil/wax mixtures will keep a sheath going for decades. Often longer than a cordura sheath- ESPECIALLY if handmade and fitted to the knife. (generally, this doesn't apply to kydex, which will outlast cockroaches) - leather finishes can give you everything from very supple leathers that will stretch like a glove over a knife handle to kydex-hardness wax immersions that knives will audibly 'click' into.

I have had woven synthetics mold and rot on me in humid hot environments.

Only leather and kydex, to the best of my knowledge, can be easily formed to a specific knife or gun shape. (Or any other tool, I suppose) Kydex tends to wear contact points much worse than oiled leather.

Leather is hackable. If you need to sew something on, add a Dee ring to a strap, or something, it's leather :)

The weird-ass final fringe of my answer:

A good leather sheath is a set of survival gear all on its own. To use one of the expedition sheaths for an example, you have one removable belt hanger strap. I don't know what you need a 9 inch piece of 1" wide leather strapping for but it's there. The horizontal straps are individually stitched and can be removed, also. The sheath itself is a source for more leather material (I can think of a few things off top of my head that i'd take apart a sheath for in the wild, and boot repair tops the list) with several feet of heavy duty waxed sewing cord available.
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Don't forget if you are REALLY starving to death you can make a stew out of it :D :barf:
 
DMT folding diamond hone. Coarse side for repairing damaged edges, fine side for keeping them hair whittling sharp. Weighs very little, it's compact and the diamonds work very quickly. Found one on sale for 15$ and have been very pleased.
 
Aw. man, I was avoiding that one. Explains why classic cowboy style leathers are finished with olive oil, though!
 
If I head out with fully sharpened knives, I've never had the need to resharpen in the field. Unless you are out for a long period of time, doing a hell of alot of cutting, resharpening is probably not necessary. Even if you nick the edge, the blade is still going to work. That said I still carry my all time favorite, the EZE Lap Sportsman diamond rod which rides in my Leatherman sheath everyday. I use that, then strop on my pants.
Scott
 
koyote said:
I've been thinking of adding a rough side out strip to the backs of the expedition sheaths, with a snap on cover piece, so you could load one (or both) sides with compound. total thickness addition would be minimal. Whatcha think?




Hi! You've just gotten every leatherworker in WSS ready to to infodump! I'm a bit more into the technical side of leather preservation than koyote girl, so I'll do our portion of the infodump:

For the most part, woven synthetics are flammable and burn in melting globs. I have had this happen (a strap, not a sheath) and it is ugly. Not napalm by any means, but not joy.

Leather can be preserved any number of ways, but basic sealing oil/wax mixtures will keep a sheath going for decades. Often longer than a cordura sheath- ESPECIALLY if handmade and fitted to the knife. (generally, this doesn't apply to kydex, which will outlast cockroaches) - leather finishes can give you everything from very supple leathers that will stretch like a glove over a knife handle to kydex-hardness wax immersions that knives will audibly 'click' into.

I have had woven synthetics mold and rot on me in humid hot environments.

Only leather and kydex, to the best of my knowledge, can be easily formed to a specific knife or gun shape. (Or any other tool, I suppose) Kydex tends to wear contact points much worse than oiled leather.

Leather is hackable. If you need to sew something on, add a Dee ring to a strap, or something, it's leather :)

The weird-ass final fringe of my answer:

A good leather sheath is a set of survival gear all on its own. To use one of the expedition sheaths for an example, you have one removable belt hanger strap. I don't know what you need a 9 inch piece of 1" wide leather strapping for but it's there. The horizontal straps are individually stitched and can be removed, also. The sheath itself is a source for more leather material (I can think of a few things off top of my head that i'd take apart a sheath for in the wild, and boot repair tops the list) with several feet of heavy duty waxed sewing cord available.
Click to expand...

I'll sure take a second look at leather.

But in the case of storage and protecting your tools ( sharpening or otherwise) wouldn't some of the newer materials have certain advantages in extreme weather conditions?

Again I know I've got a lot to learn and that's why I'm here :)
 
I use the fallkniven DC4 stone:
It consists in a ceramic stone glued to a diamond stone.

The diamond stone is very aggressive and will sharpen quickly even difficult steels like 3V.
The ceramic stone is great for final edge and touch ups.

The whole package is very compact. It can be used without water. The ceramic stone is somewhat brittle to impact. The diamond stone is on a steel plate, it always remain flat.

For final treatment, I take my leather belt off, hang the buckle to a branch, and strop the knife on it.

http://www.davesknifeworld.com/productimages/d-j/fK-DC4.jpg
 
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Just for grins I've been using the black "stone" from a USAF pilot's knife lately. Ontario made the knife, I don't know who made the stone. It may seem on the coarse side but I've had no trouble getting a nice thin and somewhat toothy edge on various blades with it. It works quick, too. Frequent stropping is your friend when it comes to avoiding re-sharps. Even if it's just on your pants leg like Gossman said, or the edge of your sheath per udtjim.

I used to be a lot more fussy about really fine smooth edges but I've found I like a toothy edge.

JT -- formerly known as GibsonFan
 
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