Page 102 - American Survival Guide - October 2017
P. 102

STAY









               SHARP

















               HOW TO GET—AND KEEP—A SHAVING EDGE

               ON YOUR CUTTING TOOLS


               BY JERRIE BARBER

               I                            ‹ Above: The author   bible of the cutting edge.” However, a lot of what was discussed in the book was, at
                                                           A popular book at the time was the Razor Edge Book of Sharpening, referred to as “the
                    have been involved in some type of
                                            selected these tools,
                    sharpening for more than 35 years.
                                            except the strop, be-
                                            cause he can throw
                                                          that time in my life, over my head and mostly boring. Eventually, after much practice, I
                    I was not so much trained; over
                                            them into a bug-out
                    time, I was educated as I watched
                                                          developed my own techniques.
                                            bag to maintain the
                                                           I hope they will work as well for you as they do for me. With the method I use now, I
                    others—noticing the di erences and
                                            hatchet. Except for
               similarities in their techniques, as well as   edge of his knife or   can turn the dullest knife into a straight razor in about 45 minutes with ease, and I do
                                            the strop, this gear
               the stones and tools they used. I also read   costs less than $30.  that for many people on a regular basis.
               and studied the subject of sharpening.      I have found that there is no good definition for “sharpening,” so let me share with you
               Those were the options we had during the   how I define this process that is so critical for anyone who carries a knife. “Sharpening” is
               “dark” days of the 1970s and ’80s—before   the intentional and purposeful removal of metal from a blade to increase the keenness
               the creation of the Internet.              of its edge and increase the blade’s cutting ability.
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           102  AMERICAN SURVIVAL GUIDE  [OCTOBER 2017]
          ASG_102-109_1710_SHARP.indd   102                                                                   7/11/17   6:30 AM
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