Sharpening in the bush?

ratamahatta said:
600 grit and 1200 grit sandpaper in an altoids size tin, with a piece of leather and a piece of mouse pad.....
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I have a slightly larger tin that holds this plus inside is a DC4 ... with these two little guys i can pretty much sharpen up anything. :D
 
I use sandpaper with grits ranging from 500-4000 and a strop for my convex knives.
For skandi grinds, I just use the strop since I try not to bash them around.
 
I use an eze lap diamond rod and a spyderco double stuff. That combo works on all of my blades even my machetes. I find myself reaching for those when I'm at home too in spite of my bigger diamond stones.
 
I have a Lansky puck for my machetes, and I use a file if there's anything the Lansky can't handle.

For standard fixed blades and pocketknives I really like the DC4 stone and a strop.

I carry a small two sided credit card sized diamond plate in my EDC bag that can be used for everything.
 
Im all set up for convex but another method is using a dogbone. I set it up with a string so as long as i set it on a fairly flat surface i was able to hold it at a 40 degree angle using the string similar to a plumbob.
 
hiwa said:
Congrats on the DC4:thumbup:
Here's a tip: The glue that holds the diamond plate to the ceramic stone is water soluble. If it gets soaked for a while the halves may shift or separate. Don't worry. I separated mine under hot water on purpose , scraped the glue off , and re-applied the halves carefully with superglue( you could use epoxy)
Be careful; superglue sets immediately so line them up straight. Once done , they're not coming apart.The DC4 is a great pocket stone system but the glue Fallkniven uses is not the greatest.
:)
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Good call brother, I was going to post that same piece of advice - I do the same thing with every Fallkniven stone that I buy ;)
 
hiwa said:
Congrats on the DC4:thumbup:
Here's a tip: The glue that holds the diamond plate to the ceramic stone is water soluble. If it gets soaked for a while the halves may shift or separate. Don't worry. I separated mine under hot water on purpose , scraped the glue off , and re-applied the halves carefully with superglue( you could use epoxy)
Be careful; superglue sets immediately so line them up straight. Once done , they're not coming apart.The DC4 is a great pocket stone system but the glue Fallkniven uses is not the greatest.
:)
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I appreciate the tip, I will be sure to do that. To separate them, did you simply pour boiling water over the stone?
 
Diuron said:
Just wondering what you guy sharpen yall's ESEE knives with while backpacking. I have never tried to sharpen one with a hand sharpening stone and really wouldnt know where to begin (definitely not with my rc-3). Any input would be nice. Thanks in advance!
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If nothing else is at hand, I even sharpen like that:
sharp.jpg

Yep, it's a pebble. And it got shaving sharp.
 
When we first got our RP membership cards someone on here had the brilliant idea to glue the DMT SHARPENING CARDS to the back of the RP card. I bought a coarse and fine and glued the fine to my card. Stays in my wallet all the time so I always have a quick sharpener with me.
 
ml100 said:
If nothing else is at hand, I even sharpen like that:
sharp.jpg

Yep, it's a pebble. And it got shaving sharp.
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Rock on (literally)!

I am surprised more people are not doing this. There are many ways to touch up an edge in the wild with what you have. A fairly smooth river stone like you appear to have there is a great choice.

I have also used some fine mud (clay) smeared on a patch of leather on my boot. I also have stropped on wood, my palm, or my jeans. Depending on the level of edge improvement you need, your pants may be all that is needed.
 
I carry one of those old USA Schrade sharpening bars that come in the leather case and the back side of the case is loaded with compound. Up til not that has served me just fine.
 
I use a DC-4 stone too. Had it for a few years now, still working fine (though it's not as course as it once was). Sometimes I strop on my belt too, you wouldn't think dragging a knife across a plain belt would do anything but there's definately some improvement.

It's a good idea to learn freehand sharpening, that way you can use whatever sharpening tool you come across, whether that be a rock from the creek or an oilstone from a hardware store. If you can't sharpen your knife without a whole guided system then you'd pretty much be out of luck if something ever happened to that system while you were out. That's my thinking anyway.
 
Delkancott said:
I appreciate the tip, I will be sure to do that. To separate them, did you simply pour boiling water over the stone?
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Really hot tap water , and separated the halves with the edge of a knife carefully.Don't bend the gold plate. Scrape all the old glue off also.

I used Gorilla Brand super glue ( NOT the polyurethane stuff. ) Any other cyanoacrylate ( ie;super glue) should work also , or epoxy. :thumbup:
 
I usually bring along my sharpmaker, and a ceramic rod, the sharpmaker for smaller knives, and i use the rod for larger ones like my machetes
 
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