i've been thinking of getting a better sharpener for use in the field, i'm currently using a little stone that i picked up for about 50pence at a local DIY store, it's worth every penny! i was looking at a credit card sized diamond sharpener, this is basically a piece of steel coated in what i can only assume is diamond dust. it looks to me like a good idea, but i don't know anyone who's used one so i don't know if they're any good, and because i'm pretty tight when it comes to money i'm not about to spend money to find out that it's crap. so can anyone help me out here, has anyone used one of these, are they any good, would you recomend me spending my hard earned cash.<br>thanks in advance<br><br>take it easy<br>stuart.<br><br>p.s. i don't know if it makes any diference or not, but i'm guessing it could, it'll be used for sharpening both stainless and carbon steel blades.

I use one. I get mine from www.ragweedforge.com Remember that once a proper edge is put on a knife ( and sadly few knives come properly sharpened from factory) dressing or honing the edge with a ceramic or steel hone will usually suffice to make it "ship shape and Bristol fashion". People sharpen knives to much. You may need extra care dpending on the grind. The simple scandinavian grind is easy, and Fallkniven's Moran edge recommended maintenance involves small hand held plates. You might also consider honing paper for chisels. I got mine from Lee Valley in the USA and carry a few squares in my PSK. Diamond Hones are good for all steels, stainless and carbon. Some steels have a reputation for being harder to sharpen due to metallurgy and rockwell. Diamonds are still a girl's and knife's best friend ;O)

SMKW has a couple of small DMT diamond hones in the $5.00 range. They serve me well.

thanks chris and neanderthal, i'll take your words for it and get one. after all even if it's terrible it'll still be a vast improvement on what i'm using at the moment! just gotta make sure my better half doesn't find out i'm buying diamonds! ;-)<br><br>take it easy<br>stuart