During and after woodcrafting, cleaning game, batoning wood, etcetera, the outdoor blade needs to be sharpened in the field to stay most useful.

Diamond file? Whetstone[s]? Angled ceramic rods?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

I like the Sterling sharpener. Small and quick.
www.sterlingsharpener.com.

Warren

For field use, I carry a Diamond Mini-Sharp Sharpener Fine Grit

I really prefer to use "extra fine" grit for most regular sharpening, but the "fine" grit is good in case you also need to repair some damage.

Depending on what kit I have with me, I use a small thumbed sized whetstone that is now about 20 years old. I also have a newer whetstone which is a little bigger, however I don't really care for for it...and for no real reason expect that I probably prefer the old stone better.

In the event I forget to take the whetstone, almost any smooth surfaced rock (river rock is best) will work perfectly fine to sufficiently touch up any blade.

I can no longer find it in the Gerber catalog, but I carry a sharpener, pointed at one end (the proverbial sharpened pry bar) which has both fine and medium grits. It also works wonderfully well as a versatile fossil excavation tool.

There are oodles of fairly light rods that will sharpen quite nicely. I prefer diamond grits.

I used to carry a Shrade 'hone-steel'. It is a chisel shaped hunk of fairly soft abrasive-impregnated high-nickel steel. Its a bit more aggressive than most kitchen steels. You use it every few minutes when doing heavy cutting to maintain an edge. If you have ever seen a real butcher work you notice that they are always honing the edge between cuts. A honed edge cuts better and if you use a steel frequently there is far less need for actual sharpening. Eventually the steel can't move enough metal to get a fine edge so it need some sharpening.

If I was homesteading or blazing my way through the woods, and was constantly using my main knife, I would feel justified in carrying a steel, perhaps even a small stone, just in case, but my camping and hiking is all short term now and the knife just doesn't get much use before I'm back home where I have a complete rig, actually several, to take care of the blade properly.

I may cut a branch for a walking stick or a pole to hold up the end off a tarp. I may chop up some wild onions and cut some light line to make a clothesline but these are occasional tasks. But it isn't enough wear to worry about.

I've typically got a three blades. A main, usually a folder now, a smaller folder for fine work. And a very sharp spare, sometimes even a scalpel blade or two, in my medical kit. There just isn't a lot of call to do a lot of sharpening.

I concur, DMT diamond stones are excellent. Perfect for a quick touch up and they work well with even the hardest of modern blade steels.

I prefer this model though:

http://theconsumerlink.com/DIAMONDMACHININGTECHNOLOGY/detail/TCL+FWFC/110

It's a bit bigger than the keychain size model, but it's faster to use and you get both a course and fine edge.

I have this model. I needed a training session (Youtube) for proper technique, but it's worth it. It's less expensive here:

http://www.amazon.com/DMT-FWFC-Double-Di...mp;sr=8-2-spell

I use a Single-Cut round chainsaw file for my Axes,Kuhkri& Machete's.Carborundum & Hard Arkansas,Strop for my Knives.Works for me!

For small kits/short trips, couple of 1/4-sheets wet-dry sandpaper in different grits work well for my convex-edge fixed-blades. Light and take up little space.