Page 103 - American Survival Guide - October 2017

› While several
companies make
THESE ARE these “credit card”
SKILLS THAT sharpeners, the
author doesn’t
recommend
TAKE TIME TO intention is to glue
them—unless your
LEARN AND them to a thicker
surface. It is easy
PERFECT, SO BE to slip on one of
these and hurt
yourself. They
PATIENT WITH are great for the
more-advanced
YOURSELF AS not worth the risk
practitioner but
YOU LEARN. when you are just
getting started.
Most of you who are reading this
have at least attempted to sharpen
a knife; and if not a knife, then a lawn
mower blade or possibly your hatchet or
machete. Let’s agree that some of you
have, at some point, thrown your hands
up in disgust. You then decided it was not
› Author Barber
worth the aggravation and had someone doesn’t own dull
else sharpen your knife for you … or, you knives; however,
one of his sons
simply bought a new knife. does. It is so dull
that Barber felt
confident holding
TOOLS OF THE BLADE it against his
So, what do I use? When hand sharpen- fingers, applying
quite a bit of
ing, I go with diamond stones. Some will pressure.
say they don’t last long. But I have not
found that to be true. Some will say they
cause your blade to rust. If your blade will
rust because of its high carbon content,
it is not the stone’s fault. If you have a
stainless blade, it’s not going to rust.
I don’t limit myself to a particular stone
brand, although I do like some better than
others. The stone you’ll see in this article
is a Chef’s Choice Edge Crafter, which
costs about $30. It is not necessarily the
best system out there, but, as you will see,
it does the job. At home, if all I had were
› Barber has
hand accessories, I would have a variety an app called
“Clinometer”
of Eze-Lap 4x8-inch stones that ranged that allows him
from 120 to 1,200 grit. to use his phone
The Edge Crafter set is not expensive to figure angles
on blades. This
and gives you three abrasives on a can be helpful to
magnetic platform. I can grind my blade’s establish the blade
angle you want to
edge, refine it and finish it fairly well with achieve.
only these three abrasives. The handle
protects my hand during sharpening, and
the magnet holds the abrasive firmly
enough to the platform so that it will not
slip during the sharpening process. Can
I shave with it? Probably not, but I can
easily clean a deer or make a feather stick
with the edge it produces.
In addition, I always carry a “dog
bone” ceramic rod in my pocket. A dog
bone will help me finish off the edge.
(It fits in a pack or pocket, so why not
keep one close?) I can also take this

[ASGMAG.COM] AMERICAN SURVIVAL GUIDE 103

ASG_102-109_1710_SHARP.indd 103 7/11/17 6:30 AM