Sharpening my knives has got to be one of my favorite tasks/hobbies. When you take a dull blade and bring it to a hair popping sharpness, well that is just a rewarding feeling of accomplishment for me.
The end result is great but to me, it’s the process that I simply love. The sound of steel grinding away on a stone. The lighter sounds of the knife on a leather strop. Ok, STOP!! That is beginning to sound weird!!! Anyway, all I want to say is that it’s not a job for me. Just like carving a spoon, it will relaxes me.
What do you use for sharpening your knives? Ok first, please don’t think that I am trying to convert you to what I use. Anything in these blogs is just telling you about products I enjoy. That’s it!!
But if in the process you do get something because of our blogs and it becomes a big positive in your life, well that will be a positive feeling for me as well.
There are a lot of stones/brands out there and it can be a little confusing especially when you are just starting. First off I am a big fan of WaterStones. They work well and I don’t have to get my hands oily each time I sharpen my knives.
I am using a combo right now of 1000/6000 grit but there exists many different combos’ depending on your needs. They are also sold separately.
My favorite job is the stropping. I am using a strop sold by DLT Trading. 
The leather is hard and will do what you want it to do. When leather is too soft at times it can change a little of your angle on your cutting edge. I use this strop with Bark River’s White and Black compound. The black is equivalent to 3000 grit and the white to 12000.
This kit is very effective for me. Ok, so what about sharpening field kits? Glad you asked… I own 2 types; one is the popular DC4 by Fallkniven. It’s small, packs well and will do the job. It’s got a coarse side and a finer one.
Other field kit is the S3 Dry Box by Bark River. Now if you are a fan of the strop… this is just AWESOME!! It’s not for light backpacker’s but still not that heavy. It is completely waterproof and contains everything in it to bring any dull edge back to scary sharp conditions.
The kit contains:
- Bark River Green and Black Compound (I replaced the green for the white)
- KSF Custom Leather Hone
- 400, 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000 Grit Sandpaper (4 pieces of each)
- S3 Dry Box to serve as a base and storage/carry
There you go my friends. That is what I use and just love it. Hey! Why don’t you tell me what you love to use? Thanks.
Here’s a VIDEO of me using the WaterStones sharpening an axe.
Related Video (Sharpening an axe and the ULU knife)
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AMAZON USA: https://goo.gl/yZSsbo
AMAZON CANADA: https://goo.gl/Ie4YIA
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Good luck in your new endeavors. I enjoy your videos, I am sure this will be great too.
Thanks Marc, we appreciate you.
first: thanks for your amition and sharing it. what an inspiration!
me, raised in the mountains, living in vienna almost too long, i am enjoying each of your videos.
i have learned so much already that i would like to tell you about my latest invention regarding knife-sharpening.
using the waterstone for a long time i think i have to go a new way without it. because if found the spyderco tri-angle sharpmaker. for me the easierst and most effective way to sharpen all my tools. not only knives but nearly anything else on purpose of cutting things. i don’t know if you have already used it but i am realy interessested in your opinion on it. eather you agree or not…
best greetings from the old part.
thomas
Hello sir, yes, I’m also a big fan of Waterstones. In the last year I have not used them much though because I try and simply strop my knives. I’ve become a strop addict 🙂 I now own the Bark River sharpening system (field and home) for stropping. With it I can bring a dull blade back to very sharp. It’s not as compact as other systems but I just love the feeling of stropping a knife. I have heard of the Spyderco tri-angle sharpmaker and a lot of people seem to like it. Sadly I have not had the privilege of using one. Maybe someday I will. I still use my waterstones for bigger jobs when I am home. Thank you so much for your encouraging words. I really appreciate that.
Good Morning,Mike & Josie, U inspired me 2 get out my stone & get rid of the “FEVER” LOL.Really like & thanks 4 the link 2 the stones U use.will look into this soon.I presently have a Lansky stone set in a wooden block,2″x6″ which came with a 4oz.can of Nathan’s Natural Honing Oil.Have been using this 4 years,now, There R some that say oil should not B used as a wetting agent,what is your opinion on this,please ?
Josie’s Alaskan ULU ? where ever did U get this very intriguing item ? Looking 4ward 2 Josie doing some Whoppin & Choppin with this item.
Many Thanks again 4 another great video. Hoping this finds U & Yours Well,Safe & Warm,There.
Happy Trails From Down The Road A Piece ATB Terry & Melanie
” GOD BLESS “
Haha! lol we certainly need something to fight this fever for sure friend. Oil sharpening stones will do the job but here are a few reasons why I love the waterstones a lot more. The stones used with oil will tend to take too much steel off the blade than it needs to. The ending result on a blade using a waterstone is so much smoother and you can actually polish the cutting edge to a mirror shine to have the maximum edge retention.
Also it is a lot less messy and cleaner to work with water than oil. The only thing you must be careful is to make sure that your handles (if they are made of wood) are well fitted or not cracked so that no water gets into it as you sharpen the blade. But to be honest it rarely happens and its really a small issue. I want to thank you guys for your wonderful support that you give us. That is the fuel that keeps us going.
For the ulu I will leave you a link to where I got it if you are interested. Ulu means womans knife by our natives the inuits if I am not mistaken. They use this knife for everything. From prepping food to field dressing a deer. God bless you both.
Click the link below. Just scroll down & find the Ulu knife, then click the name… it will give you the link where I got it.
http://bushcraftbartons.com/mike-josies-knives
Nice article!
I may be blind, but I couldn’t find the link from where you purchased the little white nagura stone.
Here’s the link Vincent.
Nagura Stone
Hi M&J, I was just going over the sharpening article, Mike favors the strop, any chance on a demo of how those are used or is it pretty self explanatory? Thanks Dale
It’s pretty self explanatory, you basically strop the same angle as you would sharpen the blade. But I will be doing a video in the future about it. Thank you Dale.