What do you use to keep your knife sharp on the go?

S

SKT

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May 13, 2021
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I'm looking for a small stone to do light touch ups on the go. I already have a travel sized leather strap, but I need something for when that's not enough. I'm mostly carrying carbon steels and some soft SAKs, but I have some s30v knifes (and I'm looking at a k390 knife) as well.

What's your recommendation? Selection is poor and prices are high where I live, but I can get Fällkniven DC3 and DC4 without any hassle and for a decent price. Are they what I'm looking for?
 
I find the DC3 and 4 stones to be pretty coarse. But if you like that kind of edge, they can work very well. I like the Spyderco Double Stuff. It's a bit on the fine side if you're trying to repair a really dull or damaged edge though. Still searching for the perfect solution.
 
rocketbomb said:
I find the DC3 and 4 stones to be pretty coarse. But if you like that kind of edge, they can work very well. I like the Spyderco Double Stuff. It's a bit on the fine side if you're trying to repair a really dull or damaged edge though. Still searching for the perfect solution.
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Thanks.

I don't want anything coarse, but I've read that the Fällkniven stones will get finer after they break in. Any thoughts?

Spyderco Double Stuff 2 is 3.5 times more expensive than DC4, is it worth it? But to my surprise, I can order it online and pick it up the next day in walking distance from where I live.
 
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I keep a lansky fine diamond stone in my pack. It’s the stone that goes with the guided system they sell. Works great for touch ups on the go.
 
SKT said:
Thanks.

I don't want anything coarse, but I've read that the Fällkniven stones will get finer after they break in. Any thoughts?

Spyderco Double Stuff 2 is 3.5 times more expensive than DC4, is it worth it? But to my surprise, I can order it online and pick it up the next day in walking distance from where I live.
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I find the current Fallknive DC to be pretty coarse no matter what.

Kinda forgot about the DMT stones. I have used them, although lately I think the quality of DMT stuff is a little hit or miss. Some stuff is great some is very meh.

Sorry the Spyderco stones are so expensive for you. They will last pretty much forever if you take care of them, if that's any consolation.
 
at work this morning I used a flat rubber pink eraser with green loc tite clover compound 320 grit paste to strop my ad10.

eta
its cut worse after other things.

cuts ok now
 
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3D Anvil said:
The Work Sharp Field Sharpener is great. Has course and fine diamond plates, 20 deg angle guides, ceramic rod(s), and a small leather strop.

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Looks great, but from pictures it looks to be a bit on the large side.
115Italian said:
I keep a lansky fine diamond stone in my pack. It’s the stone that goes with the guided system they sell. Works great for touch ups on the go.
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That's what I've been doing as well, but I want to keep my set complete for when I need it, and a to-sided stone for travel would be more versatile.
 
more to o.p. stone recommendation I use an e z lap double sided pocket hone.

grey on one side white ceramic on the other. works pretty well.
 
For the range of steels mentioned, from simple carbon & low-alloy stainless up through S30V, a single diamond hone in Fine/EF grit (600-1200) would fit pretty well. Better yet, a two-sided diamond hone in F/EF pairing would handle it all - think of one like DMT's F/EF (red & green) combination The simpler steels will respond better to finer grits in diamond and S30V likes a 600-grit finish pretty well as a one-hone solution for that steel. A 600 diamond is just aggressive enough for some emergency edge repair in a pinch, when a coarser hone might not be available to speed things up.

The diamond side of Fallkniven's DC3/4 hones is in that 600-grit ballpark - they spec the grit size at 25 microns, which is the same spec as DMT's 600 'Fine'. As others have mentioned, the ceramic side of those hones can be pretty rough and has been known to disappoint sometimes. I have a DC4 I bought maybe ~ 10 years or so ago, and the ceramic side was pretty irregular & bumpy. I've since resurfaced it to something much, much finer. As a finishing or de-burring hone, it works fairly well in that capacity. But with the DC4, I've relied much more on the diamond side of that hone - it performs well.
 
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I carry multiples. If a blades ceased to cut efficiently, I switch to the next and do the maintenance at home.

But I also carry a keychain Lansky ceramic rod too (it's triangular).
 
I rarely sharpen on the go. but I have a little strop I bought from Sagewood gear and a DMT Diafold (Medium/Fine) in my bag.
 
I would take my DMT. And if I could only take something that I could put in my pocket, I would take my DMT out of its holder, put it in a zip-lock baggie, and put it in my back pocket.
 
I've carried DMT 'credit card' hones (C/F/EF) in my wallet long enough now, I've sometimes forgotten they're in there. They're my default, no-brainer backup solution for any sharpening issue I might encounter while away from the house. That must say something about how much faith I have in them, that I've taken them so much for granted. The first time I tried one of these out, a Fine (600), I used it to reprofile the edge on a Queen traditional pocketknife (Country Cousin pattern) in D2 steel. Did it all by hand, with the hone in one hand and the knife in the other, using back/forth and/or circular scrubbing technique to grind the new, more acute bevels. It did take some time... but it got the job done and proved the method's effectiveness, should I ever have to do it again. It wasn't until sometime later that I also acquired the hones in Coarse (325) and EF (1200) to complete the set for my wallet.

In the pic below, I also show a small 4" Norton India (Fine) in a pocket slip - that is my favorite for simpler carbon steels like 1095, CV and low-alloy stainless like 420HC. The three knives shown are a Buck 111 (420HC), a Case 6375 CV stockman (CV steel) and an older 2-dot Buck 112 in 440C. They're just examples of the knives I typically carry & use every day. I'll also occasionally carry a modern folder in S30V, for which the diamond hones really earn their keep and make sharpening that steel essentially effortless.

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Dmt use to be my go-to but after much searching I found the Fallkniven CC4. The black ceramic is coarse enough to fix a dull edge and the fine is fine enough to polish to a high sharpness with minimal burr.
 
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