Survival sharpeners

blgoode

blgoode

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Messages
7,260
Hi Guys,
I am looking for a nice sharpener to put in my gear. What is a good one thats small but leaves a nice edge?
 
You might want to look at the EZ LAP brand of diamond rod sharpener. I have a similar one made by Gerber that I picked up at Wal Mart. It's the size of a pen and a nice sharpener in the field.
 
The smallest field sharpeners are sandpaper or lapping compound which you apply to something (paper or cloth) to make sandpaper. These two are so small they can fit in the tinest of survivial kits and can give whatever type of edge you want (polished or coarse) of very high quality.

However they lack a jig or some way to maintain an angle. This can be easily obtained by making a "field grade" sharpmaker by just drilling two holes in a small piece of wood which you use to hold two dowels around which you can wrap the sandpaper, or diamond or ceramic rods. If you want to get really spiffy drill holes in the block length ways to hold the rods for storage.

The most durable field sharpener I have every seen was brought up on the Busse forum :


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=215745

These are many times more durable than other ceramic plates, or diamond or various grades of stones.

-Cliff
 
The one I keep in my BOB is a Myerco Sharpen-It. This little jewel has both ceramic and carbide sharpeners as well as a rod for serrated blades. It's about 3/8" thick and 1"x3" closed up. It only weighs a couple of ounces. I have sharpened everything from SAK's to Billhooks with it. Blackie Collins sold me on it at the NRA Convention in Charlotte, NC.
 
Not really a survival sharpener per say as you can't take it with you - but I have touched blades on the top of my truck's door window. You got to think outside the box if your in a bind.:D
 
Got a set of Crock sticks set up just like JJ said. I bought it at an outdoor store with 2 sets of stick coarse/fine. I just bought a DMT Diafold this weekend coarse/fine. Both are great for field use.
 
I like the WSI P60 C. You get a ceramic rod and a fire starter.
 
A cheap pocket stone works pretty good.

Maybe even cut it lengthways with a masonry disk to make it a bit smaller.

I remember a post some time back suggesting a flat bit of wood with little dimples drilled with your blade and then sand sprinkled over the wood, then used like a stone.
 
I've tried three out and they all still got a home in one pack or another. The accusharp is my favorite of the three and does a decent job on knives and broadheads. A good strop brings the broadheads to an acceptable sharpness for a field sharpening. The other two are the Gerber diamond sharpener and the Gatco ceramic sharpener. Both of them actually do a decent job, but are more work than the accusharp.
 
Thanks Longbow, I'll check around. Problem here is that there are very few hardware stores and I usually have to mailorder for almost all my sharpening supplies.
 
Yeah, I used to have to do that as well when I lived out in the Bush. Many of the traditional archery supply shops carry them too.

3RiversArchery.com

carries them for less than 10.00 plus shipping.
 
Gatco Triseps. It'll sharpen straight and serrated edges, and comes with a handy little keychain. About ten bucks at most places.
 
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