Survival knife sharpening?

[bushcraftboy]

If you have a knife in the wild, and no whetstones, what would you do to restore your knife blade?

[JonnyP]

In a long term survival situation I would hopefully find some sand stone and form some sort of sharpener by smashing stones and rubbing them together to try and get a flat surface to sharpen on. If no sandstone, I would try whatever rock I could get if it was fine enough.
If its teotwawki survival, a clay housebrick would do, or even paving stones, if you cannot find any stones in folks sheds.
Car windows are good for honing.
I would strop on my leather belt. Dried blood is mildly abrasive, so should make a honing compound, and so is certain plants like marestail, but I have never experimented trying to hone on them..

[CanadianMike]

Here's quote of the email I got recently (all are in the cutting tools section), from Murray Carter, quite apt for this thread:



Tip #9
How to Sharpen Anywhere, With Anything
If you enjoy reading this tip and want the FREEDOM that mastery of skills brings, then pay close attention to the special offer at the end of this essay.
In Tips #4 and #5, I explained in detail how to achieve razor-sharp cutlery using simple sharpening stones. The technique I use is proven and very effective. What, though, are we to do if we do not have our stones handy and need to sharpen a knife?

The first thing you need to do when you find yourself in this situation of peril is sit down, relax and don't panic! Seriously, though, all you have to do is look around for something that is harder than tempered steel. How about the rocks under your feet, or the curb in the driveway, or a cement foundation? Some other things to consider are the backsides of pottery and ceramics, sand paper, the diamond file on your Leatherman Tool or a carbide bit from another cutting tool.

I once refurbished the edge on my neck knife using an old 2x4 that had been trampled into the ground for years. The dirt that was imbedded into the wood made a great abrasive. The long flat surface made it easy to make long sharpening strokes and sped up the job to under a minute.

Once you have found your "sharpening system," the trick is to only sharpen by using the "stropping" technique I explained in Step #6 of Tip #5. Here it is again:


Stropping the Edge
It is very important that all grinding in this technique be done with the edge moving away from the grinding medium rather than moving into it. Imagine trying to shave a postal stamp off of the sharpening medium. Now, move the blade in exactly the opposite manner. If the sharpener is too small to move the blade against it, it will be necessary to immobilize the blade and move the sharpener.

Strop both sides of the blade. Small metal particles that remain on the edge are called the "burr." The burr is removed by drawing the edge, from the heel of the blade to the tip, through a soft piece of wood, twice, under the weight of the blade only. No pressure is applied. Then each side is stropped alternatively twice using less pressure.

If you are satisfied with the new edge according to the three-finger test of blade sharpness, you can try further refinement using a piece of cardboard or newspaper. Several backward passes on the paper should give you a hair-shaving sharp edge.

So, for fun or for profit, try this emergency sharpening secret and you will be well on your way towards mastering the art of freehand blade sharpening.

I hope you found this information fun and informative. Feel free to share this report with your family and friends. If they would like to receive their own Knife Tips, my catalog or my free Shop Tour DVD, then please direct them to CarterCutlery.com.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Murray Carter
ABS Master Bladesmith

[J_P]

Firstly i would protect the knife edge at all costs finding another cutting tool Flint for example, when out back maintaining the edge is key constant stropping as Jonny says is the way forward, dont let your knife get blunt in the first place.
Slate if found makes a good waterstone replacement or a smooth river stone, at the end of the day you wont need a razor edge on a survival knife just a good serviceable one, add a small sharpening stone like a DC4 to your possibles pouch and put that on when you put your knife on ;)

[bushcraftboy]

Wow, thanks for the help guys!

[LSKnives]

I agree with J_P. Get a D4 or credit card sized diamond sharpener to put in your wallet. Theres so many small backup sharpeners that work a lot better than rocks. Preparation is a big part of the equation too.

[Marvell]

As mentioned, the best way to keep a blade's edge is to avoid using it, but other than that ...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-c9yVO9G6jzg/T3rNi7qOqrI/AAAAAAAAAts/uUfjrV8FlgQ/s400/sharp.jpg

This was taken on one of my courses when the chap rightly complained that the tiny knife he had in his BCB tin was only good for spreading butter.

The slurry on the stone is the stone itself.