Knife Sharpening Kit for the Backpack

One of the reasons I like convex grind knives for bushcraft tasks, is that a strop is pretty much all you need to keep the edge razor sharp.

 

The thought occurred to me that one might be able to take a piece of wood, and create as flat a surface as possible, and then imbed sand or dirt in the flat wood face, and use that to sharpen one's knife, in a pinch .
Probably a hard wood for finish work and soft wood for a corse grind.
I have knives that i can afford to experiment with , it's worth a try , yes ?

 

+1 on the DC4

it fits nicely in the pouch on my Spec-Ops sheaths too.

 

Rocks with a smooth surface, like from a river, especially granite, and sandstone will work to keep a steel blade sharp enough for outdoor tasks if you forgot your whetstone, or opt not to carry one as I do. For a car kit just roll down your window and use the top edge where the glass is ground, works like ceramic.

It's not pretty out there and pretty things don't stay pretty long.

 

Two knives for my pack. One fixed blade (always sharp, initially...) and if I need a razor sharp knife I grab the little Havalon Bolt with replaceable scalpel blades. And I carry half a dozen replacement blades with me.

My preferred sharpener is a Spyderco Sharpmaker.

 

Yeah, I have a small light kit and it doesn't include a whetstone which represents several more rounds of ammo I can carry. Plenty of rocks laying around in my neck of the woods that keep a coarse edge on my knife which is what I prefer in woods work.

Everybody has different requirements, what works for one might not work for everybody, just saying...

Perfection is tempered with experience and my reality and becomes true perfection.

 

I keep a small Fallkniven stone, ceramic rod, small smooth steel and strop in my pack when hunting etc for restoring an edge in the field. Not much I can't accomplish with these besides a mirror polish edge and the usefulness of those (even though I love them) is limited. Most of my blades are INFI so I tend to roll the edge as opposed to chip them out, this can best straightened out on the smooth steel and then I normally only have to strop to get back to a very nice sharp edge.

 

I still use my belts as strops...if it isn't usable as strop it's not a suitable belt.

 

Lansky Diamond Rod for me.

I try to keep my pack weight down, and use minimal gear. The diamond rod lets me keep my knives and hawk/axe razor sharp in the field, and the rod itself takes up the space of a pen.

 

I don't shave, so having a more industrial grade edge works for me.
Razor edges don't last long if your using the life for aggressive work , and if I need a razor edge i use a razor/exacto knife that isn't used for processing wood or other abrasive operations.

 

Fair point... was using it as more of a colloquialism than adjective.

A razor sharp ax would be pretty silly.

 

A lumberjack shaving with some tiny razor would be silly. Shaving with an ax distracts from the high heels and bra.

 

I was just at the auto parts store and glanced at the cylinder hone stones about 3-4" long and 1/2" wide glued to a small aluminum frame would make a great field sharpening stone.

 

I used to watch my grandmother sharpen knives on the bottom of an old crock, or sharpening steel. She ran a restaurant and could hone a blade in a hurry.
My dad used a whetstone and stropped the knife on the side of his Browning work boot. I still have one of his last pocket knifes and it still has a very sharp edge. Needless to say, I don't use it, just keep it for the memories.
I've tried a lot of different sharpeners. Some work better than others. I keep coming back to various sized diamond hones and stones. I carried one in my flight survival vest along with a sharper knife than that imitation K-bar they gave us (low bidder) with soft steel. I now have diamond hones at the house, cabin, tackle box, tool bench and BOB. I always have either a piece of an old belt or a whole belt nearby as a strop to set the edge.