You have my vote for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. :)

Ahem... figured since I hold a good sharp blade near and dear to me.. Might I recommend tossing a Gatco sharpener into your deployment box?

It's almost a priesthood and an order to be able to sharpen a knife well, especially in this day and age where everyone's so prone to want to push a button rather than chance a close encounter with those who wish harm on us.

The varying stones of the kit allow you to either completey reshape the edge you already have, or refinish it, or put the touches back onto a blade who's been neglected due to one thing or another.

GATCO
 

Thanks for mentioning GATCO, The owner is a great guy who makes great stuff. I'll have to check out their sharpening rig based on your recommendation. Your very correct about trying to keep a knife as sharp as possible, even if you have to cut some rope or webbing very fast in an emergency this attention to sharpening will have paid off.

Re: GATCO
 

And sometimes they get close enough to stick their knives in you...It is of equitable benefit to have a sharp blade to reciprocate with:

Terry

Re: Re: GATCO
 

LOL - "equitable benefit" "reciprocate"

Missus Nacy Home Schooling the Old Warrior Cap?:D

Re: Re: Re: GATCO
 

Hey Brother, I thought you would get a chuckle out of that one.

And yes miss Nancy is educating me, slowly but surely.

Terry

Re: Re: GATCO
 

And when they do, SOP is to attack the getaway vehicle, right? ;)

INDUBITABLY!

Sharpening
 

I realize I'm late to this post, but here's my $.02 worth:

1 - Lube it with oil, at least wet it, as a last resort spit on it, just never do it dry.

And that applies to sharpening knives too.

2 - I mostly use a Smith oilstone, but have a few other stones of various grits and fineness, depending on whether I'm doing a pocket knife, kitchen knife, machete, etc.

3 - I generally go with the "fine angle for fine blades, blunt angle for axes", but overall I use 22 1/2 degrees. Not that there is anything magic about 22 1/2 degrees, just that it is 1/2 of a 45 degree angle, or 1/2 of 1/2 of a 90 degree angle, and that seems to be easy to hold so I don't build a rounded edge by rolling the blade as I draw it down the stone.

4 - I am a firm beliver that a good blade and stone combination will "talk" to you as you draw the blade down the stone; and you can "feel it " when you are doing it right. The smooth "swis -s -s -s -sh" and the even feel of the resistance of the blade the full length of the stone tells you when you are right. A gritty "KA - KA - KA" tells you that you are cutting too much (or need to wash accumulated grit off the stone and free up the pores); and an uneven "Swis - s h .. KA ... swis -s sh .. cur" means you are probably rolling the knife and exposing a different section of the blade to the stone during the pass.

As a test, try stroking the blade down the stone with your eyes closed, listening to the sound. (Best if the stone is mounted on the work table or held on the underside). You don't really need to push down hard, let the stone do the work.

Wipe off the blade and stone often, and test in a fingernail. (Rest the blade under it's own weight on your fingernail, it should slightly dig it and resist side to side movement).

Holy Crap, I resign! CSB has it nailed. WELL SAID SIR! I knew you guys are too smart for me. That's it I'm done here, see ya over at the beer board.

CPTUSARET:

People make fun of me for my huge 12" blade tanto. I just smile. Don't think a leatherman is what you want in a knife fight.

I want a 1911 in a knife fight..

Roger:

What Greenhat said:

But sometimes you run out of ammo for projectile weapons...

Terry

I made this thread into a sticky because it contains good basic information on sharpening.

Thanks for all the other questions about sharpening here at ProfessionalSoldiers.com.

OK, let me show you one of my ideas, which applies to hollow-handle knives I use (by Chris Reeve, MK.VI in this case). As you can see that was really WINTER when I've taken these shots last year (I stopped using Maxpedition mid of this year). Snow, snow, snow… so if it works in these conditions it must work also in the middle of summer. BTW, A2 holds the edge very well even in 20 C below zero. Checked!

First of all the content of the handle... I ALWAYS carry two pieces of adhesive bandage in the handle of my one-piecer(s). I prefer my knives to be sharp so it’s always good to be prepared for the unlucky moment. Than I usually carry there about foot-and-a-half of paracord, which I use as a lanyard when chopping. And I carry there also two small sharpening sticks (coarse and fine) which you can find in Gatco pocket sharpener. Each of them is covered in paracord outer “tubing” for protection... it fits perfectly!

OK, back to field sharpening. You can imagine that sharpening knife of this size on such a small hand-held sharpening stick is neither convenient nor safe. However with your knife you can create easily a VERY SAFE sharpener that is more than enough to restore the edge in the field... well under 3 minutes! Just take a 3/4 inch stick, whittle a bit to have a flat area of 0,5 x 3 inches. Than cut a shallow, 2-inch “V” groove using tip of your blade, just like that one in the picture

Than put the stick in the groove... and… start sharpening (and follow with fine rod if you like). Just an idea... works for me.