sharpening your knife in the wild

So for the guys who take just sandpaper, what would you put the sandpaper on for a convexed edge like a Howling Rat? Could you tape it to your belt?
 
tip guys to save u some cash

u can get a light green 'josco' compound the one that you use on your grinder buffer, then shave some off ( about a teaspoon full ) add a little olive oil then heat in the microwave for about 30-50 seconds ( untill smooth ). apply to your strop and let dry over night.

this creates a paste as good as the bourght stuff at a fraction of the cost. one stick of compound will last for months even years:)
 
Sharpening in the wild: I understand what Codger is saying using a belt or sole of a boot. But all of this other stropping and compounding?
Is it being done in the wild?

I can imagine a person could rub some compound into their leather belt, and wear it while in the wilderness, and get dual use out of it as a strop.
Not a bad idea.

I would suggest there are different levels of sharpening in the Wild.
Either we have prepared to sharpen in the wild, or, we are improvising.

-If we have prepared to sharpen in the field, then, go about your business.

-If we have not prapared to sharpen in the field, but now must do so, there are methods, just like Codger pointed out. But, it will depend on the blade's condition. If it's "touching up" , or stropping, use your belt or shoe like Codger says.

Crude sharpening: would be for a dulled blade that has been abused and/or used heavily, or simply for a great length of time without touch ups in between.

Crude sharpening might be the file on our multi tool? That would be about the most drastic step, so, we need to back up and examine what it is we need to do.
It may be a flat stone from a stream or river. (Or flat sedimentary stone in places where flat stones tend to congregate).
It may be a piece of granite, choose the spot wisely that will get you the best surface for bringing the blade back to "useful".

I saw Bear Grylls, in the Costa Rican episode, grind up some sort of rock, spread it on a smooth piece of wood, and use it to sharpen his knife. I shuddered. I can't see how his method yielded much of anything. Of course, they had to squeeze it into a 30 second clip, I would imagine given about 30 minutes perhaps, it would have been a more meaningful lesson.
However, not to totally dismiss that type of method, I would imagine there is a way to make some kind of abrasive compound in the wild, add some water, and proceed that way.

Depending on the use/abuse/ and type of steel, itself, the edge may be rolled, in which case you want to strop or "steel" your blade to try to roll it back to shape. If not, and it's dull, then you'll probably need some abrasive action to hone the edge.

Lastly, if it were purely a Survival situation, you will most likely be seaking water, and hopefully running water.
This is just me talking here, but I'd make the most of the resoruces at hand once i found water, and select the nicest, flattest, smoothest most portable rock I could find and pocket it until something better came along. Even if you can't find a flat rock, look for a smooth one. A smooth round rock can be used sorta like a crock stick. If the rock is pourous, you could pulverize some minerals down to small size, add a few drops of water, and use it as a slurry on your newly found stone.

Any other Improvised ideas for sharpening in the wild??
 
Shotgun said:
So for the guys who take just sandpaper, what would you put the sandpaper on for a convexed edge like a Howling Rat? Could you tape it to your belt?
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Shotgun, I lay it on my leg, some take a flat piece of wood with them and others like to use part of a mouse pad.

For convexing, it doesn't take a lot of motion to bring it up to snuff. Actually, stroping on a piece of leather would be my preference for a convexed blade. My BRKT Northstar is convexed and along with Moras, is the easiest blade I've owned to keep up. A simple stroping once in awhile during use, keeps it popping hairs.
 
Stropping with compounds can and is done in the wilderness. Compounds were made for leather. Before you go into the wilderness take your leather belt and rub one compound on half your belt (18") preferably the outside, and another compound the other half. You will lose some, but not enough to make that big of a difference. Then strop as you always do. It works.
 
Check out the Lansky Dog Bone mini ceramic rod sharpener-- perfect for touching up in the boonies. I like the DMT mini diamond folding sharpener too. Either or both will fit in a nook or cranny in your pack or PSK. They are inexpensive and light. I use the fine model.

I watched the Bear Grylls show where he powdered some rock and put it on a stick to sharpen his knife. Yeahhhhhh, kinda. Good improvising I guess. I'd look for the finest-grained rock I could find and go lightly if you really creamed the edge. Your leather belt or your boot will work fine for a strop as other have written here. That's great for a quick touch up before you have done more damage to the edge-- a good hunter's technique while skinnin' a critter. I usually need more help than stropping.
 
You guys go on and on about compounds to buy.
Now, i`m just curious. Would normal clay work aswell? It should be slightly abrasive.
Ofcourse, not as much as aluminium oxide or other suchlike compounds, but still. When in rome, or lost in the bush.
The clay could possibly also be made coarser, by adding in some crushed rock, like the Bear Grylls method. Though, i think i`d want to crush the rock a bit more than he did. (I actually shuddered, thinking about the poor knife he abused in that episode.)

Sandstone, if avaliable in the area you find yourself in, could also be used, if it isn`t too coarse. Perhaps with some clay added to it?

Just my two cents, and some odd change.
 
I watched a friend of mine use a smooth rock from a stream bed to sharpen an old pocket knife he just bought at a yard sale. Took him 15 minutes or so and the butter knife dull blade was popping hairs.
 
I have used a number of things for improvised sharpening, in and out of the fields. Some may be applicable here.

Rocks of all descriptions, as mentioned. Smooth ones for general work, coarse rocks and even concrete for heavy repairs. We have a lot of sandstone locally, and also flint. Shards of flint are very hard and can be quite smooth, so you can use them as a very fine abrasive like an arkansas stone, or use them to burnish or realign an edge like with a butcher's steel, or even use their sharp edges to literally scrape steel from your edge like those carbide sharpener things.

Glass bottles can sadly be found deep in the woods, where creeks and rivers out of their banks deposit them. Glass can be used to burnish or scrape like the flint above. Etched/ground glass makes a decent abrasive, such as on the top edge of your car's window.

Ceramics of many kinds- bathroom tiles, unglazed pottery, (even used the underside of a toilet tank lid before) etc.

Other metal. Rust (iron oxide) is slightly harder than steel. It's an option if your edge is in bad shape already. Tools that have been hard-chromed, such as wrenches, pliers, etc., can be used like a butcher's steel. Or the spine of another knife, if you have one. Files might be a good option depending on what kind/how hard the steel of your blade is. Even if the file can't really remove the metal easily, it can realign the edge via draw filing, if you don't mind ruining the file.

Dirt is a mild abrasive too. Not as fast cutting as the substances sold for the purpose, but every year our tillage equipment on the farm probably loses a hundred pounds of steel due to its abrasive effects. I've stropped on a dirty pants leg, boot, rubber tire, belt, piece of wood, and even the dirty palm of my hand to bring some bite back to an edge. Naturally, if you can find some sand in a creek or something, that works too if you want something coarser.

I generally don't worry about the last class of fine abrasives and strops. I prefer a coarser edge for the rougher work, which seems to be most of it, and have another knife in reserve with fresh sharp edges if need be. So if I'm gonna carry something along to sharpen with, it will be for repairs and serious metal removal, rather than worrying about the high polish stuff. I like the various pocket diamond hones due to their slim and compact nature, but would really prefer something even coarser, like in the 100 grit range.
 
I have been trying to hone in the edge on my beater but have no luck(used wet sand paper), is it because its stainless steel and that makes it harder to do? how long does it take to completely sharpen a knife?
 
Cliff's mora gets stoned, literally.

True story: Teacher of mine was in Thailand and happened upon a carver selling some fine looking carvings, with works-in-progress sitting there as well. He thought the carver must have mighty good tools to do work of that caliber. About the time that thought crossed his mind, the carver picked up his chisel and went back to work. On closer inspection, the chisel was found to be made from a ground-down screwdriver. When it needed sharpening, the carver, who worked sitting on the ground, leaned over and rubbed it on the concrete sidewalk, turned back to his work, and proceded to make more chips fly.

The secret is not the quality of what's in the worker's hand, but rather first-nature muscle-memory familiarity born of incessant practice, practice, practice, .........

Keep 'em sharp, however you make it so.
 
are Japanese waterstones over rated for sharpening? and what grit do you guys usually stick with? And with higher end knives would you guys just pick some river stones to sharpen with? or is it a must to get very good sharpeners?
 
RokJok said:
[
The secret is not the quality of what's in the worker's hand, but rather first-nature muscle-memory familiarity born of incessant practice, practice, practice, .........

Keep 'em sharp, however you make it so.
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But there's nothing like a nice tool, well sharpened and a fine grained piece of wood for carving. Like magic. When you have tiny details meeting all in the same cranny, a sharp tool makes it look like a diamond.

I remember walking the Ponte Vecchio in Florence with my wife early one morning and I stopped to watch a craftsman freehand carve rose blossoms in the repaired walnut trim around a jewelry store window. He was amused that I watched him and we shared no common language. I showed him the scars on my hands and he understood that I knew enough to respect his work. I did manage a "bellisimo" and he smiled and bowed. He cut those rose petals like the wood was made of wax. His hands knew where to go, and his gouges and chisles were *sharp.* There is a lot of furniture making and restoration in Florence-- little cavelike/garage shops full of lumber and tools.
 
kevshin21 said:
are Japanese waterstones over rated for sharpening? and what grit do you guys usually stick with? And with higher end knives would you guys just pick some river stones to sharpen with? or is it a must to get very good sharpeners?
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Kevshin, we were talking about sharpening in the wild, and digressing into improvising ways to sharpen.
At home or in the shop, a good stone ( or three) are nice to have.

In terms of your "beater" , that syndrome sounds akin to a knife that may not be made of the highest quality material. Some metals can be worked and worked and may only yield moderate results. What kind of steel?
What knife brand?
 
kevshin21 said:
............ Also would a spyderco sharpmaker be good for my Ontario RAT 3 knife that I just ordered?
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Hey Kevshin

I just finished my RAT-3 using Lansky and Spyrderco Sharpmaker. You might fin it of interest. The thread is in the Toolshed:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=448786

All you need is the Sharpmaker unless you plan on re-beveling the edge (like I did). For that, you need at bare minimum the Lansky diamond set.
It'll shave hair now!!!!!

Good Luck
 
I am still new to knives so I don't know what rebeveling means, does it mean that the knife edge is basically reshaped? and if so why did you reshape it? is it not holding its razer sharpness?

edit: I didn't get d-2 steel for the rat-3 I got 1095, is that a mistake? and will it make it easier to sharpen?

double edit: after reading your thread, why did you change the angle? and what is edge grind?
 
Rebevelling basically means changing the angle of the blade(bevel.)
I believe 1095 is much easier to sharpen then D2 but I don't own D2.
People change the angle on there knives to get more cutting performance(smaller angle) or more toughness(wider angle.)
Check out the "toolshed" in the "general discussion" area. They have crazy amounts of info about it.
 
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