[Bill Harsey]

NousDefionsDoc,
You got it, I push and pull the blade a number of times on one side only, then turn the knife over and do the other side. This gets a lot of work done fast. I have to be smart enough to watch and feel what I'm doing so I don't do too much.
WOOBIE MASTER-
Lansky's are great, some of the sharpest edges I've ever seen customers do are with these. you could do surgical instruments with them if you could get the jig clamped on. I have one around here somewhere but it's too slow for me to set up and use and seems hard to do big blades with.
The reason I'm talking about hand held diamond stones for "field" use is they are very small and light, and don't care how hard the steel is.

If possible, carry at least Medium and Fine Diamond "stick". Using the Medium will save time by getting more done faster, then finish with the Fine. For hard work, you have a using edge using just the Medium.

Take for example the steel CPM S-30V, it has enough vanadium to form vanadium carbides. These vanadium carbides are harder than the aluminum oxide used to make sharpening stones but are valuable in that they add measurably to the edge holding when cutting tough materials.

Chris Reeve and I focused the heat treat on the Yarborough knife for maximum toughness with good edge holding. This knife is produced from the CPM S-30V.
This way we can sharpen the Yarborough knife on a normal stone and still have the edge holding abrasive resistance gained with the vanadium carbides.