There is a knife sharpener made by Smiths. Its yellow and has two sharpening V's, one is Carbide and the other is Ceramic. It is intended to be a portable one (about 2.5" by 2").
Does anybody have any experience with them? I saw them at Walmart.
Thanks.

i used a ceramic one like that many years ago for touching up
my fishing knife..because they were inexpensive i bought two.
one is still in the bubble wrap and the first one in in the
junk box---they might be ok for a quick pass thru between
fish--or whatever--but not for really sharping a knife..

Too big IMO. I'd go with this one: http://goodoutdoors.theshoppe.com/carbide_knife_sharpener.html

I strongly recommend that you do a little reading before you spend any money on knife sharpening equipment.

"Everybody's Knife Bible" is the first book that I would recommend.

It was put together by Sgt. Don Paul, who is an ex-Green Beret.

Sgt. Paul has written an excellent book about the subject of knives and knife sharpening.

I would also like to recommend "The Razor Edge Book of Knife Sharpening," by John Juranitch.

You've just gotta sit down and read the books by Paul and Juranitch if you want to know how to put an edge on a knife.

LW.

For someone with my level of patience and manual dexterity a diamond whetstone is worth looking at. There are compact folding ones with medium "grit" on one side, fine on the other (or course/medium, fine/extra fine). They're readily available on eBay and Amazon.com.

I've never had really good results with a ceramic sharpener. Someone once told me that, like a steel, they are only for dressing a blade after use, not for basic sharpening.

Frank2135

I ordered a Spyderco "Tri-Angle Sharpmaker" earlier this year and it works great. Not exactly pocket-sized, but man oh man, I was on a roll. I think I sharpened just about every kitchen knife I could find.

I do have one of the small yellow Smith's sharpeners, but I keep that in my trunk kit. It works okay, but that's about it.

I second that , I have only had success with Japanese waterstones
and diamond sharpeners. In the field I carry a DMT keyring diamond sharpener, at home when I have time I use a 1000 grit Japanese wetstone.

Without a doubt the wetstone is the superior method but it takes a lot more work and maintenance.

I have a couple I keep in some of my kits as a back up emergency sharpener. I generally only use the ceramic side to touch up an edge when I am away from my primary sharpening tools. They are good when used strictly for that purpose.

I keep one in my kitchen. I'm not really that impressed with it, but in a pinch it will put a "wire edge" on a knife.I think that the carbide side really shortens the life on a blade due to how aggressively it shaves off metal.

I see it as too bulky for a psk. I have a medium diamond hone sharpener ( about 4 x 3/4 ) in my PSK that works like a charm.the diamond grit does all the work and theres no need to bear down on the blade with it. Geeze, I figure I've had it over 10 years and it'll put an edge on most blades in seconds.