Okay, I got it. It's like your chef kitchen knife. You hone it almost every time you use it to "realign" the "tiny teeth" (as it would be seen under high magnification) but you send your knife to a professional sharpener only once in a year.
Thanks.

Frankie,

The SAS compass you spoke of is relatively expensive, but nice.

Hi Chris and everyone,

I just ordered a Mora knife from Frosts. I chose the clipper because it has a blaze orange sheath and it's stainless steel for long term storage in a moderately humid area. (I'm also going to order carbon steel blades from Eriksson and for the flint and steel method of fire making -- I guess it's not possible with stainless steel --; )
My question is is it normal if the point of the blade isn't perfectly pointed? It looks as if they would have slightly unsharpened the point for security or something. Is this a typical thing or is it a flaw?
Thanks

It should be pointed. As inexpensive as these knives are, they are very sharp. Sometimes even the Finnish puukkos may have blunt tips. These have many hand ground operations and sometimes they slip through. It's easy enough to put a point on. Just increase the angle of sharpening at the tip and go very slow. These are great starter knives and at the price well worth learning with.

Do what Chris says.... the Moras with the red wooden (#1)handle are not well suited for field use. The better choice are the ones with the red or blue plastic ones ("Luna" by Eriksson), which are more ergonomic. These are very serious blades that make tough knives, for every use, from slicing ripe tomatoes to splitting wood for your fire.
A superb tool for a mere few $$

Chris, you said "you may want to pick up a fine ceramic rod and just 'steel' your knives most of the time". What grit would you recommend as "fine", probably beyond 600 grit? Ideally 700 grit I guess?
I've found a ceramic rod kit at Lee Valley:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?S...;amp;category=1,43072,43079

But I guess 280 is too coarse to just steel the knife without removing material.

How about the $1-$2 ceramic sticks (4"-8") at Ragweedforge?

http://www.ragweedforge.com/SharpeningCatalog.html

Do you know by any chance if they are fine enough to steel the knives (the grit isn't specified) or should I email them?

Anyhow, let's get to the point. Where do you get your fine ceramic rods and what are their characteristics and do you carry them in a survival kit?

Thank you.

How do you tell real para-cord from the fake stuff?

Buy from a reputable dealer, Brigade QM ( www.actiongear.com), www.countycomm.com. The real stuff has 7 inner strands and a nylon outer covering.

Ahhhh, good, I just bought a LOT from www.countycomm.com a few weeks ago, and I am glad that I did not get cheap stuff.

BTW, what IS the cheep stuff like? No internal strands, or what?

Cut a short piece off the end and look for the seven inner strands, not six, or four, but SEVEN. Chances are, if it's not what you're looking for, the inner part will be the nylon mess shown in the photo earlier in this thread.