Sharpening in the field ?

Joined
May 4, 2005
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51
I am hunter and since 3 days I receive my new Nyala, a nice and strong knife from CRK.
I use the spyderco tri-angle sharpmaker at home, a very good tool, but :
What is the best tool resharpening in the field far away ?
Best regards.
 
I always carry with me a victorinox sharpener. Easy to carry around and could put a working edge on a knife. Usually i use it on my SAK, but had once tried it on my sebenza 21 while being out and it works~

Better wait for other's opinion to get better answer.
 
A small leather strop loaded wtih Bark River's black and green compound works the best for me. It's great for use in less precise environments, becasue the leather 'gives' a little bit and is more forgiving of an imperfect angle.

A loaded strop can get a good knife back to razor sharp very quickly and easily.
 
A small leather strop loaded wtih Bark River's black and green compound works the best for me. It's great for use in less precise environments, becasue the leather 'gives' a little bit and is more forgiving of an imperfect angle.

A loaded strop can get a good knife back to razor sharp very quickly and easily.

I also have a loaded strop and a DMT Dia-Fold (M &F) that I carry. The strop does work 95% of the time. If the edge really goes south from use, the DMT can go along way toward bringing it back. There's a really nice oval shaped diamond sharpener available from Emerson Knives that's a good pocket size. It does a good job on edges that may be a bit beyond just stropping and it works really well on recurves like a Commander or a ZT 350 or a BM 710 because of the oval shape.
 
I am hunter and since 3 days I receive my new Nyala, a nice and strong knife from CRK.
I use the spyderco tri-angle sharpmaker at home, a very good tool, but :
What is the best tool resharpening in the field far away ?
Best regards.

Just take one of the Medium Rods from your Sharpmaker with you and use that. :thumbup:

Use it like a steel, rod straight up and down and angle the knife making light passes, should only take maybe two passes each side to bring the edge back to screaming sharp.
 
I keep a credit card type fine DMT stone in my wallet. Works fine for touchups.
 
Just take one of the Medium Rods from your Sharpmaker with you and use that. :thumbup:

Use it like a steel, rod straight up and down and angle the knife making light passes, should only take maybe two passes each side to bring the edge back to screaming sharp.

This is what I do. Easy peasy.
 
Just take one of the Medium Rods from your Sharpmaker with you and use that. :thumbup:

Use it like a steel, rod straight up and down and angle the knife making light passes, should only take maybe two passes each side to bring the edge back to screaming sharp.


This, but stop by the hardware store and buy some rubber caps to put over the ends. The corners of mine are sharp and I don't like the rod to poke through or cut into anything else traveling with me. If you really want something dedicated, Spyderco makes flat ceramic "stones" that travel nicely....but they will work no better than the sharpmaker rod.
 
Spyderco Pocket Sharpening Stones in Medium and Fine. Buy them separately, i.e. not the Double Stuff version. This way you can sharpen on both sides of the stones (i.e. have a clean side available) which speeds things up quite a bit in the field. You can get by with just the Medium for a working edge if you are on a budget. Alternatively, go for a DMT Dia-Fold Fine/Extra-Fine.
 
I use the bottom of a ceramic coffee cup, Waffle House, Dennys, friends house, whatever, then strop on Levis, Works for me!
 
I use the bottom of a ceramic coffee cup, Waffle House, Dennys, friends house, whatever, then strop on Levis, Works for me!

Well, if you have the luxury to drive to one of those places, you should try rolling down the window of the vehicle and using the edge of the window. It is a much longer surface (nice for larger blades) and it works very well for a more refined edge than the chipped up mugs at most greasy spoons around here :D Seriously though, try it!
 
As others have basically already said "keeping an edge" rather than actual "sharpening" is the way to go. I usually carry a small ceramic stone in fine or medium and a strop of some sort. The Falkniven, Spyderco and Lansky ceramic stones all see use from me, (I do also sometines take a small blue DMT stone for sharpening emergencies when there might be one). The ceramics with a strop of some sort to keep the edge clean is about all you can really ask for when nursing an edge away from home. The trick is to make sure and keep the edge going rather than let it wear out and having to actually remove material to get the edge back....that generally takes a lot of use of course but it can happen much quicker than usual with some tasks out in the wilds. for example, muddy animals or wood from the sea/river can be pretty tough on an edge with the dirt and grime they pick up. :)
 
Or you can be lazy like I am and just bring along a couple extra knives. Lol.

Seriously though, the small ceramic crossed stick type work well for me to get the edge back. I go easy with them though so I'm not taking off too much metal or really altering my bevels. I'm pretty sharpening challenged so I just want an edge back, not trying for hair popping sharp.
 
Work sharp is good for simple sharpening. but the guides are only 20 degrees. other wise I think it is decent.
 
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