Im going to get the small DC3. What is the difference between ceramic and diamond...as in what are their different uses concerning sharpening.
Also...should i buy some sort of knife "lubricant" (no, im not into S&M) that will protect the blade (humidity, corrosion, etc).
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I assume that if ever you do need to use a knife for anything, in a forest...its to chop wood.
If i need to open cans or anything, i can use a sharp rock.
If i need to make a notch, a large knife such as the A2 can do that fine.
What "finer" work would a knife like the A1 really help with that the A2 could not?
Diamond is the hardest natural material, so it has obvious benefits in sharpening: it will remove a lot of metal quickly, and can easily sharpen even the most annoying new supersteels that are a pain (if not entirely impossible) to sharpen with anything else. The ceramic side you can use if you need to remove less metal, in other words, if the blade isn't very dull and you just want to quickly restore it to high sharpness. You can "finish" the sharpening with the ceramic side, if you want the "best" edge possible.
I wouldn't bother with any oil or such on the blade. It's stainless steel, and pretty corrosion resistant. Just wipe it dry after use and it should be fine. If you really want to oil it, then mineral oil would be good - it's cheap and isn't harmful if you happen to digest it (by cutting something you intend to eat with that oiled up knife).
About the use of a knife in the forest, actually, to chop wood is one of the least likely uses. People nowadays just really like to chop things - likely because they don't get to do it in their urban lives, as compared to those that live in the countryside and have to chop wood regularly for fires. Many people will say that you need to chop wood to make a fire or shelter. This is often incorrect, because in a lot of places you will be able to find dead wood on the ground or wood small enough that it need not be chopped off, and shelter building can certainly be done without chopping anything at all (indeed, it might be wise to learn to build a shelter barehanded and without any other tools, if you're into learning such things). And this is even not considering the fact that if you're clothed right (and you should be) you may in fact not need any shelter nor fire at all. Again, many people like to make these things just for the fun of it. I certainly like to make a good fire and sit around it quietly.
But I digress. For chopping wood, many people prefer a good axe or a hatchet to a fixed blade - it's certainly a much cheaper solution. The finer work one might do really quite depends on what you go out to do. If you're the sort that just does a quick day hike with prepacked meals, then you won't need any knife - you can open the cans and such with keychain can opener or that rock if you'd like. On the other hand, if you intend to fish or hunt game or anything do-it-yourself, then there are many finer tasks than chopping wood that you would need to do and for which a smaller fixed blade would be better than a large chopper. For example, processing fish and game is much more convenient with a light, relatively small knife than a huge, heavy and cumbersome 8" chopper. The same goes for all food prep - even cutting bread or peeling an apple is a total chore with a heavy, long-bladed knife. Then there's always carving wood - for that, a small knife is always a million times better than a large, heavy, cumbersome one.
