Sharpening/Maintenance Field Kits

OutdoorsFamilyMan4

OutdoorsFamilyMan4

Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
2,278
What all do you guys put in your kits?
I have a double sided strop, a smiths retractable diamond rod, a small india stone in a homemade leather sheath, a small bottle of mineral oil, an allen wrench and a generic Shamwow towel. Can you guys think of anything else that I can put in here---sharpening or maintenance only----
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Small extra knife? Never know when you may break or loose your main blade.

Blessings,

Omar
 
Nice kit. I like the mini strop.

Have you thought about adding some WD-40 or solvent to clean sap off the blade?


Ric
 
This is what I carry in the woods. 3 grits of wet/dry sandpaper,leather strop with velcro backing that sticks to top with black compound and a small piece of med. ceramic stick. This was davematic1 idea.It works well.
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flatblackcapo said:
This is what I carry in the woods. 3 grits of wet/dry sandpaper,leather strop with velcro backing that sticks to top with black compound and a small piece of med. ceramic stick. This was davematic1 idea.It works well.
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That is a really good idea
 
That is a really good idea
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It works very well for such a small package.Cost is about .......well I was goingto say 5 bucks but altoids are about 2 bucks now soooooooo just say you can do it for under 10 bucks and have minty fresh breath:DOh yea if your blade is convex then you wrap the sandpaper over the strop and shapen away. If you want to keep it v grind wrap the sandpaper on the smooth side of the tin (fold it under the lid and snap closed to keep it tight) Then a light strop POOF lazer sharp.I think davematic1 has a vid on youtube about the kit.
 
A DMT Aligner jig, two strips of wet/dry sandpaper 4"x8". and a piece of leather (same size) with Chromium Oxide compound on it. Everything in a ziplock sandwich bag. For a 'flat surface' I use what ever book I happen to bring along. (I don't go anywhere without something to read.)


Stitchawl
 
here is mine
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The nice pouch is from my wife's leather brand and inside a Fallkniven DC4 25 micron diamond / fine ceramic and a double sided strop with flexcut gold and bare leather.
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Mateo
 
I really like these ideas. As much as I sharpen knives, I actually don't have a field kit that I take with me everywhere. I've got on order: Spyderco Double-Stuff, DMT Credit Card 3-pack, Fallkniven DC4, and a DLT Mini Field Strop with Bark River green compound. I'm going to see which of the three main sharpeners I like the best and combine it with the Mini Field strop in a little Sil-Nyl bag to throw in my bag every day. It'll be awesome to be able to quickly sharpen a knife for someone while I'm out in the city.
 
I use the DMT 8 in Duosharp and my leather belt that I wear anyway or a small strop. I know, the DMT is not small but very light, sturdy, stays flat and you can use it dry or wet.
 
awestib said:
I use the DMT 8 in Duosharp and my leather belt that I wear anyway or a small strop. I know, the DMT is not small but very light, sturdy, stays flat and you can use it dry or wet.
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How do you carry that in the field? Do you put it in a separate bag and slip it in your pack?
 
Here's my kit, tho to be honest this is more of a travel kit than a 'field' kit. Just a 4" combination stone, small bottle of oil, two small chunks of compound, and a board to use them on. When backbacking the most I might bring is a 6" single cut file and small block of compound for touching up a machete or hatchet. I don't use my smaller higher RC knives for anything but food prep and cutting paracord - normally don't even use it for fuzz sticks, so it doesn't really get dull. Next time out I'm going to try using nothing but what I find to put a new edge on my machete, right down to using ashes from the fire for stropping compound. Pretty sure the grit from a pond or stream sprinkled across a flat piece of wood will work well enough for a knife board, then some ashes on birch bark should clean it up nicely as a strop - or leave me wandering away from camp muttering about how I should have just used a file...

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"Better to have and not need, than to need and not have". Of course if backpacking, then weight is a major consideration. The only trail packing I have ever done was with a small group, so we had a little more leeway with what we packed in. Any way it was all fun.

Blessings,

Omar
 
Magnaminous_G, yes! It's so flat that it fits perfectly in the front zipped pocket of my backpack. You just have to find a surface to put it on but since I don't like to hold the sharpening medium in one hand and the knife in the other anyway, it would not make a difference with any other stone. If I had no backpack etc., I would prefer either the DMT stones that are meant for the aligner or the DMT credit card "stones". The strop is about 15 cm long and although it's a bit overkill for the outdoors I think, I like one side with the black compound and one side with Enkay green compound. I mainly use scandi knives and I find that the black compound on thin leather makes it very easy to get rid of the last left over burr without rounding the edge too much. A bit of a "convex" edge is quite welcome.
 
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