Which sharpener would you carry for survival ?

Silas

Silas

Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
2,628
I am planning on ordering a custom leather sheath for my Ratweiler. I want to either have it with with a slip sewn on the front for a EZ-Lap rod sharpener or a pocket for a small sharpening stone. Which do you guys think would be the better sharpener to have and why? If you say the stone could you also give a site to purchase them from for I have'nt been able to locate one. Thanks
 
Actually what I would suggest for a purely survival situation,ie.. a bug-out bag,,, is the two sided DMT diamond stones, course one side, medium, the other, the covers fold around like a butterfly knife..


B.G.
 
Knifeworks carries DMT sharpeners. I would call him about a two-sided butterfly handle sharpener with fine and coarse stones back-to-back. This is compact and gives you a reprofiling and a polishing capability. Also, look at the coarse, fine and extra-fine credit card sized diamond cards. These are extremely portable.

Smokey Mountain has the fine and coarse.
 
You can also get Lifter to make a leather sheath to accomodate both the knife and sharpener..



B.G.
 
Mmmh, nothing that would be carried on the belt, even though I suppose you could make a pouch for it as well, but I would take my Sharpmaker.
 
I'm getting Leatherman to do the work. I was hoping to keep the sharpener on the sheath in either a pocket or the tubular slip but I can't see doing that With the sharpeners that are being suggested. The butterfly style sharpener is 5" long and it seems like the pocket would half to be at least 5.5" long to hold it. It just seems like that would be a little to long. I know the rod sharpeners are almost that long but it would just be that narrow tube and not a big pocket.

Are the rod sharpeners no good? Don't last that long?
Your suggestions are good but I was just hoping to keep it smaller.

What are your thoughts ?
 
I like the foldup sharpeners a lot. I started with the DMT, but switched to EZLap. The difference is that the surface of the DMT has those circles, so the entire surface is not abrasive. The EZLap is all abrasive. Much faster and more agressive sharpening. Not quite as sure about this part, but EZLap stones are made of diamond on a precision steel plate, and I think that DMT is on plastic.
 
DMT all way. I've probly sharpened a good couple hundred knives on my folding stone and they make a bunch of different size stones for what ever size you need.


Eat'Em and Smile
 
So I'm taking it that the EZ-lap rod sharpener is no good. Comments?

I've been looking at the butterfly style. I was really hoping to get some feedback on the two that I suggested in the start of the thread. Are they just crap or are these butterfly ones just that far superior. Remember it would just be for survival, I would rarely if ever even use it
 
I'll agree with "bgf" on this one. I have a 2 sided DMT and it works great. Personally, for bigger knives like yours (and my own Fehrman Final Judgement), I bought a 10 inch Hewlett 3 sided Jewelstick. I'm going to make a cordura pouch for it, or just carry it in my pack. It's light and slender enough to not be cumbersome and it's alot easier to sharpen big knives on.
 
DMT diamond all the way.....1 coarse.....1 medium.......unles you gotta shave, then get a fine :D
 
fasteddie said:
I like the foldup sharpeners a lot. I started with the DMT, but switched to EZLap. The difference is that the surface of the DMT has those circles, so the entire surface is not abrasive. The EZLap is all abrasive. Much faster and more agressive sharpening. Not quite as sure about this part, but EZLap stones are made of diamond on a precision steel plate, and I think that DMT is on plastic.
Click to expand...


Ahem....the reason for those little holes is to trap crap so said crap and metal does not foul your whole sharpening surface....... :D
 
I'm with bgf on this one too. DMT diamond for its reprofiling capability in case you do serious damage to the blade.
 
I like the DMT, but often a steeling is all the blade needs. You can always strop with your belt, but a small steel like those from RazorEdge would be helpful for aligning the edge before it needs sharpening. I have a fine (1200grit) ceramic rod with a leather sheath from HandAmerican.com, but that's kind of large and fragile for survival. A small steel rod would be a good companion for the DMT.
 
Arthur said:
DMT diamond all the way.....1 coarse.....1 medium.......unles you gotta shave, then get a fine :D
Click to expand...
I keep one of each from course to extra fine in my B.O.B. :D
 
Most of my sharpening is done with an Eze-lap rod that screws into the handle . I've used it for many years an would never part with it. That was when Eze-lap had only a few items [yes it's that old !] now they have a large selection so take your pick !
 
I would either take Joe Talmadge or Cliff Stamp (pretty good sharpeners from what Ive read ).My other choice would be the DMT............
 
Spyderco doublestuff. Big enough for large blades (It's 5" long). Comes in a stout leather case. Easy to clean and take care of.
 
mete said:
Most of my sharpening is done with an Eze-lap rod that screws into the handle . I've used it for many years an would never part with it. That was when Eze-lap had only a few items [yes it's that old !] now they have a large selection so take your pick !
Click to expand...

I've also used the Eze-lap rod, for many years. It goes with me in my hunting pack. I believe all the sharpeners sugested would be good. But for a sharpener that takes very little room, the Eze-lap rod would be hard to beat.
Danny
 
I'm not familiar with the Ratweiler. It it from Swamp Rat? I'm guessing it's pretty hard steel, but how thick is the edge?

I can understand why you'd want to keep a backup stone right with the knife. And I do love diamond stones. If space is at a premium, then the diamond rod would work fine. However, don't get so caught up on a sharpener that you forget about all the ways to sharpen without a factory made stone. Anywhere you go, there should be plenty of abrasive materials laying around. Hard rocks or sandstone can be rubbed together to get a flat sharpening surface, smooth river rocks for polishing, broken glass for steeling & scraping, sand spread on your belt or a piece of wood for coarse stropping, the dirty thigh of your pants for fine stropping, etc. You may want to also consider carrying a section of abrasive belt that knifemakers use for grinding. It folds up to practically nothing, and works very well on convex edges.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top