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Sharpening in the bush. What do you use?

David

B&B’s Champion Corn Shucker
I'll have to admit, I've never needed to sharpen one of my knives in the bush, but I still want to be prepared to do so if I have too. My sheath has a 3x1 stone pocket, which is plenty big enough, but what would be the perfect field stone? Currently I'm carrying a black ark, but quite often when we're sitting around the campfire my buddies will ask me to put an edge on their knife, and I'm pretty limited on what I can do with the ark. I'm thinking of making my own DMT 600/1200 combo which could be used with water or even dry in a pinch, and should give me enough range to bring back one of my buddies edges if it's not too far gone.

Curious to what you guys are carrying in the field?
 
I don't go out in the field these days, but if I did I would pack a Work Sharp field sharpener. Great little tool.
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I'll have to admit, I've never needed to sharpen one of my knives in the bush, but I still want to be prepared to do so if I have too. My sheath has a 3x1 stone pocket, which is plenty big enough, but what would be the perfect field stone? Currently I'm carrying a black ark, but quite often when we're sitting around the campfire my buddies will ask me to put an edge on their knife, and I'm pretty limited on what I can do with the ark. I'm thinking of making my own DMT 600/1200 combo which could be used with water or even dry in a pinch, and should give me enough range to bring back one of my buddies edges if it's not too far gone.

Curious to what you guys are carrying in the field?
Fallkniven make some pretty good stones of varying sizes. Two sided.

Here is the DC3 on the US big river site
https://www.amazon.com/Fallkniven-DC3-Whetstone-Diamond-Sharpener/dp/B004D4FH8E/ref=sr_1_2?crid=7WN0OZWCJ864&keywords=fallkniven+dc3+sharpening+stone&qid=1678653719&sprefix=fallkniven+DC3,aps,312&sr=8-2

$17.52 is an ok price for this item I think.
 

Legion

Staff member
My camp stone is a smallish Washita. If you can’t find one of those to fit in your sheath I’d get a soft Ark. or one of those India Sportsman.

A black Ark is too slow and fine for using in the field. Diamond is good because you don’t need oil, but a little bottle of oil is not so much to pack. You might even have some on hand for your rifle.
 
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David

B&B’s Champion Corn Shucker

David

B&B’s Champion Corn Shucker
My camp stone is a smallish Washita. If you can’t find one of those to fit in your sheath I’d get a soft Ark. or one of those India Sportsman.

A black Ark is too slow and fine for using in the field. Diamond is good because you don’t need oil, but a little bottle of oil is not so much to pack. You might even have some on hand for your rifle.
I carried a soft ark for a long time, but without oil they load up pretty fast, same with a washita, especially if you're using pressure. A black ark is actually a great option as long as you don't let the edge go too far. A shapton glass 500/2000 would be a thing of beauty.
 

Legion

Staff member
I carried a soft ark for a long time, but without oil they load up pretty fast, same with a washita, especially if you're using pressure. A black ark is actually a great option as long as you don't let the edge go too far. A shapton glass 500/2000 would be a thing of beauty.
What about one of those 5x1 dark Thuringians? They don’t take up much space and work with water.

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I like the double sided folding DMT diamond, looks a bit like a butterfly knife. I always have one in my pack, and one in my truck.

This. Not super fancy but does the job. That said most of my knives are in steels that hold an edge for weeks/months, so its highly unusual for me to need it. Also most of those steels need diamond to really get sharp.
 
Personally I love a small 1x4 DMT C and strop on my leather sheath


Ive also used a Coticule bout. Not the biggest fan but it will work.

The Spyderco sharp maker stones (diamond and medium gray) just one of each wrapped in a paper towel or cloth. I would bring the white but honesty don't have much need for it in the field.

I've also used the Victorinox sharpening stone that looks like a pen. I've got the Victorinox mini sharpening steel which is nice to realign the edge.

Last resort a smooth river rock to varying degrees of success..

Many many ways.
 
That looks like a great option. Do you have one?
Sorry for the late reply

I have one lined up, but I'm still wearing out an old Lansky Mini Crock Stick which has lasted suprisingly well and has been a great piece of blade first aid up to my camp axe (Fiskars X7). I have the DC3 in line for when the Crock finally fails.

It's my next sharpener for sure.
 

Legion

Staff member
Personally I love a small 1x4 DMT C and strop on my leather sheath


Ive also used a Coticule bout. Not the biggest fan but it will work.

The Spyderco sharp maker stones (diamond and medium gray) just one of each wrapped in a paper towel or cloth. I would bring the white but honesty don't have much need for it in the field.

I've also used the Victorinox sharpening stone that looks like a pen. I've got the Victorinox mini sharpening steel which is nice to realign the edge.

Last resort a smooth river rock to varying degrees of success..

Many many ways.
The Spyderco Sharpmaker stone is a good option. If you buy the replacement sticks without the kit they come in individual plastic tubes.
 
Hewlett 5" tri-diamond rod 270/600/1800 grits

If the guard or handle is too bulky for you, you could trim some off. The 270 grit is useful for axes/hoes/sickles etc.
 

I use this. Years ago I bought one that was medium diamond on one end and just hard steel on the other. Purchased it at the PX on camp Lejeune. That thing would sharpen a knife well for what it was. I kept up with it for years, but lost it maybe 5 years ago. This one here is useable with a fine and very fine. If I'm in the field longer term I have at least a soft Ark.
 

David

B&B’s Champion Corn Shucker
I ended up making a 600/1200 combo stone from DMT diamond plates and plexiglas. As a bonus I added a short piece of ferro rod to the top for emergencies. I can use the plates with water or oil if available or dry in a pinch. I’m pretty happy with it.
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Some of these newer steels are so hard it's virtually impossible to sharpen without a diamond impregnated stone. There is some merit in using lower hardness steel for true wilderness survival / "bush" situations. An example would be a Buck 119. It has a relatively hard 420 steel. In general, 420 is known as easy to sharpen & pretty soft.

In the field, you can sharpen 420 or 440 steel on any flat stone you find. Just water and the stone will work. Of-course this isn't an ideal method to sharpen ANY knife.... but I've done it and it works. As to my S30 knives..... they NEED diamond sharpening. I spent a half hour trying to sharpen a S30 until learning that lesson.
 

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A round river rock like my hero, Ed Fowler. I got him to send me the same 'special' river rock he uses on his ranch. Smiles.

b/r

ON_1
 
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