Survival Sharpening??

Talking of taking little sharpening things with you for the 'emergency',

There is the Eze Lap Hook Sharpener.
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Back aways I used to carry one on a knife sheath that I had.
I took just the sharpener part and drilled a little hole though the plastic handle and put a string though it,
stuck it in a crack of my sheath and tied it in so it would not fall out.
Never had to use it but it was always there.

I use one a lot for working on my knives, handy little things.

www.eze-lap.com


Here is an interesting little article,
Eze Lap Hook Sharpener


Eze-lap makes some little Diamond Needle Files that might work for sticking in a sheath.

Sharpening tools are only good if their with the knife when you need it :)
 
JD, the question you pose is a major reason why I don't want a knife with a blade made out of some kind of "super steel" that's hard as woodpecker lips. All I want is a blade made of some basic, tried and true carbon steel that's not hardened to a ridiculous degree. I know I'll be able to sharpen it without much difficulty, even if caught without "proper" sharpening equipment. If you find yourself where there are natural rocks that appear to have possibilities, just try them out until you find a good one and don't worry about identifying them. Yes, bricks work, too. Even concrete will work in a pinch. Generations of women without other resources have sharpened their kitchen knives on the bottoms and rims of crockery (where it's not glazed), as well as on the bottoms and rims of their cast iron skillets. Any unglazed ceramic surface will work OK, but the harder the better.

Now I'm going to suggest a sharpening device that many here may regard as some vile form of heresy. In my billfold and in my personal survival kit I keep a couple of these little Sterling Sharpeners that a friend introduced me to several years ago. I was skeptical, too, until I realized how well these things work. They are small, flat, aluminum plates that hold two carbide chips in a "V" angle appropriate for putting a good, quick, working edge on a knife. By quick I mean four or five strokes, or about 10-15 seconds! These devices are about 1" x 3" and sell for about $10. They can be ordered from Sterling Systems, P. O. Box 620547, Woodside, CA 94062, or phone 800-2XSHARP or 650-851-0259. Their website can be found at www.2xsharp.com and I have no financial interest of any kind in this company, I just like their products. They sell the basic model and a model with a small diamond dust impregnated pad bonded to it for polishing the edge if you so desire. I was told that this is the version that is bought in quantity by Victorinox and widely distributed in Europe along with their Swiss Army Knives. I'd say that's a pretty good recommendation.
 
The problem with carbide "sharpeners" is that they dramatically reduce the life of your knife, not a big problem if you're only using it in a survival situation but for everyday use you'd be a lot better off just stropping every now and then. Plus somewhere I saw some pictures of the edge they produce :eek: not pretty.
 
The Gerber Sportsmans Steel is a handy little item I always carry fishing, hunting, or camping. It's great for touching up a knife in the field and they make great little pry bars so you don't have to abuse your blades. Unfortunately they are out of production (again) but you can still find them on ebay at decent price. (oh yeah, and the edge of the leather holder makes an excellent strop)

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Jared Stenoien said:
The problem with carbide "sharpeners" is that they dramatically reduce the life of your knife, not a big problem if you're only using it in a survival situation but for everyday use you'd be a lot better off just stropping every now and then. Plus somewhere I saw some pictures of the edge they produce :eek: not pretty.
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Hey Jared you really got me scratching my head on that one :confused: You are not the only one I have heard that said that "Carbide Sharpeners" reduce the life of the blade :confused: . Now please don't misunderstand me because I am not trying to be confrontational or disagreeable. But why would a carbide sharpener reduce the life or your knife? Why would it hurt your knife any more than any other abrasive would?

I will admit that I have personally never been sold on Carbide sharpeners. I do own a couple of them that I bought from the Garrett Wade catalog but I have not used them on anything but kitchen knives and knives out in my shop. I wouldn't use it on one of my Spydercos. But I can't see how it would destroy a knife :confused:
 
Carbide Sharpeners: I've never used one that actually put a nice edge on a knife. Generally the edge ends up wavy and gouged and the initial sharpness deteriorates quickly because of the wire edge. A friend of mine used one on a cheap sword once and you could see how it gouged metal out of the edge. I wasnt happy about having to spend a few hours fixing it. Edit: JD Spydo, the ones I have experience with were not abrasive, they were designed to reform or scrape. The carbide itself was rather smooth.

Survival sharpening and Hard Steel: Many good options have been presented although the Bear grylls sand and stick method was not one of them. As some have mentioned, a super steel or other high hardness steel might not be the best choice in a wilderness knife because of the time, attention, and difficulty involved in sharpening them while in adverse conditions. Its quicker and easier to get a decent edge on a softer knife. I've used slate to sharpen a buck knife but I wouldn't even try it on my benchmades in M2. The benefits of a harder knife are also questionable when the hardness or abrasive nature of the materials to be cut in the wilderness are likely to be no greater than wood. Although I suppose "survival" might entail more than simple woodsmanship.

Eze-lap hook sharpener: I picked up one of smaller ones that I keep in my dress shirt pockets for those occasions when someone pulls out a knife that is about as sharp as the average spoon. Once broken in, it does a decent job and looks just like a pen. Very geeky. :D
 
When I suggested that some people might want to consider the small, simple, and inexpensive Sterling Systems carbide chip sharpener I expected some less than favorable reactions to the use of such an ordinary device. That's OK.

First let me address the supposed rapid wear of a blade sharpened this way. In my use of these sharpeners I give my normal every day pocket knives maybe 2 or 3 strokes on the carbide chips using modest pressure only every 3 months or so. I expect all my knives to last a lot longer than I will at this wear rate. I don't sit there and spend 15 or 20 minutes "grinding away" at a blade, it's more like 15 or 20 seconds USING MODEST PRESSURE. Trust me, folks, that removes very little steel. To slightly refine my edges I may follow up with a DMT diamond dust impregnated bench "stone" (or a 3 inch pocket model). Again, it just takes a VERY FEW STROKES!

Second I'd like to address the kind of results I see that many people who post here are trying so hard to achieve when they sharpen their blades. I frequently see references made to stropping and other techniques for attempting to produce a razor like edge. I'm going to make somebody mad when I say this probably, but I don't think some of you are living in or using your knives in the real world. If you spend some time actually using your knives in practical ways I think you will eventually learn that some of the edges you work so hard to produce are good only for slicing paper or shaving the hair off of your arm, and they don't work nearly so well for routine uses. Folks, some of you are going to elaborate, time consuming, and often expensive extremes to produce an edge that is simply not the best for practical purposes.

Now, you go right ahead and spend as much time as you like and buy all the fancy equipment you want and make sharpening your knives an end in itself if that's what turns you on. I'll just enjoy using (that's USING) my ordinary, simple knives they way they were intended to be used.
 
Credit card sized diamond cards would also be a pretty handy addition to a wallet and would last longer than sandpaper.

Thread drift----

Dr. Mudd, respectfully: The practical lifetime of a knife even under regular heavy sharpening conditions is generally longer than many of the things we use on a daily basis. Ex.: I rebuild my computer every two years and replace my crts every 4-5 yrs. I get a year out of a $1000 set of tires on my corvette.--- To me the issue is edge quality. The carbide sharpeners I have used provide mediocre edges that have short lives. Edge angle and finish should be tailored to the job at hand. When sharpening a utility pocket knife for a friend I'll leave an aggressive fat edge because it will work better in their intended application (mostly slicing and generally abusive). My pocket knife gets used more on wood and wire sheathing than it does cutting through plastics, cardboard, rope, strapping, etc. Thats why my 710m2 gets a narrow high polished edge. I think kitchen knives especially work well with narrow polished edges although a cleaver is better suited to a wide edge and finish doesn't matter a whole lot. The point here is that one size does not fit all and carbide sharpeners are limited in this even if you ignore edge fatigue.

None of my daily use knives last 3 months between touchups. I don't know your definition of "Use" but it must be different from mine.

---End Thread Drift
 
Well, the Sterling sharpener is reccommended on the Equipped to Survive website - as a last-ditch method for touch ups (but not recommended for super steels). The point is that you would be better off with one of these attached to your keychain or tucked into your backpack than without one. It is stressed that no-one would try one at home, because of the quality of sharpening. . . but it’s better than not having one when you need it.

Personally, I tuck a mouse mat and a couple of sheets of sandpaper into my backpack when I’m out and about. If you want, you can get all fancy and cut the mouse mat down and glue it to a wood board, making your own sharpening block. The mouse mat system has the advantage of being lightweight, tho’ I’m certainly going to be putting a strip of sandpaper into my survival kit. I’m amazed I never thought of that before!

To agree with what’s posted above, I personally don’t need a knife to be razor sharp. I do not need to cut any more newspaper or take any more hair off my left arm. . . and I can stop doing it any time I want!
 
I carry a simple arkansas hard stone. It works great for honing.

I find a nail file is better than sandpaper.
 
Funny you should mention a nail file, I've used an emery board to get a nice coarse edge for slicing rope before.
 
I'm new here.

This is not a recommendation but in the spirit of the thread,it's long been reported by many who've been to Africa that the usual sharpening method by the natives there is to simply toss sand on a log and use that.
 
I have epoxied the pocket DMT's on the back of a sheath or two. It doesn't get in the way at all, and is pretty handy. Just have to be careful and not slice up my sheath.
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Since I almost always have a pocket tool and a knife, I glue narrow strips of diamond abrasive to the handles of the pocket tool. They're small, but when you absolutely have to resharpen an edge...they work like a charm.

If you are going to carry sandpaper in a wallet, don't fold it so that the abrasive touches itself, it'll get dull. You might consider waterproof paper or film backing too so you don't sweat apart the sandpaper. I think EZ Lap sells double sided diamond hones sized for wallet carry. Probably a more durable solution.
 
Hey guys those are some very interesting answers thus far :) I even intend on trying some of them ( on some older knives of course :D ) I guess one point that I am trying to push here would be the importance of having a knife with some type of stone, sandpaper, hone or even some type of carbide device to take with you. A sharp knife is so essential in any type of survival situation and a lot of times you don't hear anyone stress how important it is to make provisions on having some sort of sharpening tools handy.

I would truly like to see either Spyderco or some company make a mini sharpening kit or device that you could carry in your wallet or bug out bag. With an apparent economic train wreck looming on the horizon I am seriously trying to get as prepared as I can. And I hope more suggestions will keep coming in on this thread because I have a gut feeling that many of us will either need the skill to sharpen in a survival situation or we'll need equipment to do so if times were to get really bad. I'm hope I am wrong ladies and gentlemen but I do think we are not looking at times getting any better anytime soon :( But you all have given some very interesting and thought provoking answers thus far. JD
 
I bought a dozen pack of 5" ceramic rods from Smokey Mountain. I have them in my hunting bag, tackle box, survival pouch, gear box, truck storage... If I'm traveling, hunting, hiking or fishing, I at least have one of them if not more.
 
tknife said:
I have epoxied the pocket DMT's on the back of a sheath or two. It doesn't get in the way at all, and is pretty handy. Just have to be careful and not slice up my sheath.
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I think that's a great idea, thanks.
 
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