A couple good articles on knife sharpening/blade sharpness testing from Field&Stream...
"Sharpening a knife so that it is keen enough to sever your limb, or,
less drastically, skin and butcher a deer, really isn't that difficult.
All you really need to render a serviceable edge is a stone, a little
spit and a steady hand, and even the spit is debatable."
http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2011/05/outdoor-skills-hone-knife-sharp-enough-shave?src=related&con=outbrain&obref=obinsite
http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2014/08/paper-cut-testing-blade-sharpness?cmpid=enews090314b&spPodID=020&spMailingID=7034785&spUserID=NjI2NzA0MjQyMzcS1&spJobID=520285118&spReportId=NTIwMjg1MTE4S0
I use a 3 stone system from Smith's that has 3 different grit stones
on a triangular block of wood,that has a base with two vertical supports
which are notched so that the triangular block of wood the stones are
attached to fit in the notches.
This is
what I use to put an edge on every new knife I get-unless it's a custom
made knife-then it is sharpened correctly from the knife maker.
The key is being able to hold the same angle while sharpening the blade.
I
use a angle between 20 and 25 degrees,except for fillet knives,which I
use an angle of around 15 degrees,a less steep angle allows for a wider
cutting edge,but it dulls faster.
One other very important thing to remember is to use the same number of strokes on each side of the blade.
After using the 3 stones,I use a fine diamond stone,then ceramic
"sticks". The ceramic sharpener can be either the set of sticks that
goes in a wood block,or one of the pocket knife sharpeners that has both
carbide and ceramic.
The last step in my
knife sharpening process is to use a razor strop-or a wide leather
belt-hey they worked for old-school barbers for a few centuries-so they
obviously work.
In my pack-I carry a medium
sized diamond hone that has a coarse and fine grit to it,along with one
of the pocket sharpeners that has carbide and ceramic sticks,plus a
diamond coated tapered rod for sharpening serrated blades.
Both of those products are made by Smith's-and no,I am not promoting
their products,nor do I receive any compensation for mentioning their
products-they just happen to make what I was looking for when I bought
the shit. Plus there's the fact that the company has been making knife
sharpening products for a very long time-like since the civil war era-or
right after the war.
I've also used DMT
sharpening products,they work great,then there's the WorkSharp-which
uses a sort of sanding belts,Lansky makes good knife sharpening stuff,as
does Boker,who makes Japanese sharpening stones-Gander
Mountain,Cabela's,Bass Pro Shops,etc usually have good prices on knife
sharpening products.
I use these guys sometimes...
http://www.usaknifemaker.com/sharpening-supplies-c-52.html
As well as Smoky Mountain Knife Works.
Use
whatever works best for you,the important thing is to always keep your
knives sharp-dull knives are how you end up cutting yourself,and ruining
whatever you are cutting-finding out you have a dull knife as you're
skinning and caping the deer or elk of a lifetime is not a good
thing,and could ruin the skin,which would ruin your trophy that you were
going to hang on the wall.
Finding out your knife is dull during a survival situation also sucks-and could cost you your life-or the lives of your family.
Keep your knives sharp-all the time.
A dull knife does you no good.
Practice
sharpening your knives until you can get a razor sharp edge on all of
them in just a few minutes-which is easy to do,as long as you sharpened
them right in the first place...
Read.
Learn.
Train.
Do more PT !
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