Sharpening Knives in the Field

[jlw0142]

Magnacut is weak in edge retention, but that also means it will be easy to hone in the field. You'll just need a ceramic stick or you can glue some 1k paper to a round dowel.

I haven’t gotten the chance to test it out yet, but almost the entire reason I got MagnaCut was because edge retention is supposedly better. Everybody everywhere online says edge retention is great, compared to other great steels like 52100. Why do you say this? Not being a smart-Alec, I’m genuinely curious.


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[Tmac]

Usually slide one of these in a shirt pocket.

Diamond Retractable Sharpener

This retractable knife sharpener is a great portable knife sharpener option. Donning a unique retractable feature for storing it in your pocket free of danger.

smithsproducts.com

 

[sndmn11]

I haven’t gotten the chance to test it out yet, but almost the entire reason I got MagnaCut was because edge retention is supposedly better. Everybody everywhere online says edge retention is great, compared to other great steels like 52100. Why do you say this? Not being a smart-Alec, I’m genuinely curious.


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The strength of magnacut is extreme stain resistance and high toughness for a stainless. If your comparison is 52100; a steel used because it is forgeable, cheap, easy to work with, bendable carbon, sure it will hold an edge better. It's a terrible comparison or benchmark.

Because magnacut is tough for a stainless, it is a good choice for field work when folks value the stainless component. It will respond well to stropping/honing, and it will roll the edge rather than chip it when you get off plane or whack bone. If you expectation is that "super steel" means cut forever, you are off base and will be sad. You will want to maintain that edge, very easy with magnacut, throughout processing and you will be happy.

Cut forever steels tend to be brittle and stain easy. They also don't respond well to being off plane or whacking bone or light stropping. Hence some of the comments above about super cutting steels struggling.

You made a good choice with magnacut for field processing, but for the wrong reason.

 

[jlw0142]

The strength of magnacut is extreme stain resistance and high toughness for a stainless. If your comparison is 52100; a steel used because it is forgeable, cheap, easy to work with, bendable carbon, sure it will hold an edge better. It's a terrible comparison or benchmark.

Because magnacut is tough for a stainless, it is a good choice for field work when folks value the stainless component. It will respond well to stropping/honing, and it will roll the edge rather than chip it when you get off plane or whack bone. If you expectation is that "super steel" means cut forever, you are off base and will be sad. You will want to maintain that edge, very easy with magnacut, throughout processing and you will be happy.

Cut forever steels tend to be brittle and stain easy. They also don't respond well to being off plane or whacking bone or light stropping. Hence some of the comments above about super cutting steels struggling.

You made a good choice with magnacut for field processing, but for the wrong reason.

Oh okay gotcha, makes sense. Good deal, I appreciate you taking the time to educate me.


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[sndmn11]

Oh okay gotcha, makes sense. Good deal, I appreciate you taking the time to educate me.


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That stick rod on one of the sharpeners you said you have above is exactly what you want. Couple cuts, strop, repeat. Ignore the pull through part of that sharpener. Magnacut is very easy to get sharp and maintain that edge.

 

[taskswap]

If you really want to save weight, I weighed basically every sharpening option I could find and settled on the Smith's products. They have two options here that are great for use in the field.

The CCKS is your typical draw-through, like most kitchen sharpeners. It's got a carbide "V" on one side for sharpening and a ceramic side for honing. It weighs 1.4oz, floats (in case you want to use it while fishing) and has some rubber inserts on the end that are useless in the field but nice if you're at a picnic table. It's super compact and I keep it in my field-dressing kit. And for <$7 on Amazon it's kind of hard to beat.

The PP1 is way smaller in real life than it looks in the Amazon listing. It's three bucks more but still <$10 and only weighs 10 GRAMS (0.35oz) which is crazy light for any piece of gear. It has the same V slots as the CCKS but adds a flip out honing rod. This is great for fish hooks and serrated blades but does take practice to use.

I'm pretty sure these two are the "lightest" options, the drawback being pull-throughs have fixed angles. If those work for you great. If not, Work Sharp's options are probably the best for a more "sharpening-stone" style unit.

 

[LAhunter4962]

Just get a dual sided pocket diamond stone to carry with you. Find one that has about a rough side of about 200-300 grit and one with a finer side of about 500-800 grit. If you have to use two one sided stones. Practice with them a lot at home. With practice you should be able to put a good working edge on most knives in ten minutes or less

 

[Marbles]

Cut forever steels tend to be brittle and stain easy. They also don't respond well to being off plane or whacking bone or light stropping. Hence some of the comments above about super cutting steels struggling.

Magnacut is weak in edge retention

Semantically, edge retention typically refers to abrasive resistance measured by things like the CATRA test, meaning you are correct. However, high edge retention is not "cut forever."

I think most lay people mean a knives ability to stay sharp when they say edge retention (guess we can call this edge holding instead), which is an interplay of toughness, abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, and geometry. The best balance of those will be different for different tasks.

There is a reason Mexamet and REX121 are not really used in hand held knives. Even S110V and S125V are not common. They have great edge retention (abrasion resistance) but in use in a human hand their edge holding is poor. There is also a reason HRC is not pushed as high as possible for a given steel on most knives.

 

[sndmn11]

There is a reason Mexamet and REX121 are not really used in hand held knives.

They are hard to hone and can chip out. My maxamet para3 has been in a lot of animals though.

 

[Marbles]

They are hard to hone and can chip out. My maxamet para3 has been in a lot of animals though.

Out of curiosity, do you do the entire animal with it or do you use a scond knife or saw for some parts?

I think I'm too sloppy to make that work, and I have proven to myself that I don't switch tools when I should. My problem may be the monkey.

 

[Beendare]

Magnacut is weak in edge retention, but that also means it will be easy to hone in the field. You'll just need a ceramic stick or you can glue some 1k paper to a round dowel.

You just saved me $400 @sndmn11 !

 

[sndmn11]

Out of curiosity, do you do the entire animal with it or do you use a scond knife or saw for some parts?

I think I'm too sloppy to make that work, and I have proven to myself that I don't switch tools when I should. My problem may be the monkey.

I use it or a little k390 lady bug as my dirty outside blades. Then they go back on my pocket. I don't trust that I can get either clean enough to want to use on inside meat. The para 3 is my least favorite I have, so it's what I take in my pocket to hunt and risk losing.

In my kill kor I have a pma11 mule, a s90v belt knife pattern, and a havalon hydra. Gossmam steel for honing.

You just saved me $400 @sndmn11 !

What were you buying?

 

[gman82001]

The guided field sharpener works great but is larger than I prefer to carry in the field so only use it at home. They came out with recently a folding field sharpener that is only available on their website I believe. It is much smaller and more packable. The ceramic is great for touching up while working on an animal.

Work Sharp Folding Field Sharpener™

The Work Sharp Folding Field Sharpener™ is ultra-compact, lightweight, and packable, making it perfect for on-the-go sharpening. Built-in guides ensure easy, successful sharpening and honing on the diamond and ceramic plates. The folding design and Pocket Clip let you take it on all your...

www.worksharptools.com

Thanks for that I have not seen that one and it looks handy as hell so I ordered one up

 

[AKSandman]

I’ve used one of these with the handles removed for every hunt I’ve ever been on. It’s outlasted two knives and it’s lightweight, small, and fast to sharpen everything from basic 440c blades to s90v.

Note on sharpening angle: every combination of steel, edge geometry, and Rockwell hardness is going to perform best with slight differences in sharpening angle and draw back. Find the angle for sharpening that you like best on your knife for edge retention and overall sharpness. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 to 22 degrees should be ballpark to start. The softer and lower performance your knife, the larger angle you want on the blade. The higher performance the steel and the harder it is, you can decrease the sharpening angle.

 

[Beendare]

I carry one of the small 4-5” fine diamond stones that don’t weigh much.

I have had performance vary between the same steel. My Altitude S90v can’t make it through an entire elk but my other S90v can.

It seems like S30 v holds an wdge better than the charts claim.

I like My pma11- i made a lefty handle for it- it holds a good edge but stains.

 

[Beendare]

What were you buying?

Im always looking- grin

I was thinking of trying something with Cru Wear- tho expensive.

You’re a knife guy, what steels do you like in a processing knife?

 

[Boarmaster]

I use the worksharp field sharpener. Maybe I started using those 5/6 years ago. They have worked out the best for me after using many other sharpeners over my 45 years of hunting.

 

[Marbles]

I carry one of the small 4-5” fine diamond stones that don’t weigh much.

I have had performance vary between the same steel. My Altitude S90v can’t make it through an entire elk but my other S90v can.

It seems like S30 v holds an wdge better than the charts claim.

I like My pma11- i made a lefty handle for it- it holds a good edge but stains.
View attachment 785570

I have wondered if Benchmade does a poor job with S90V as the three knives I've had with it were all Benchmades. The Altitude was the worst of the 3 though. I also wonder as the M390 I carried for a few years was one of my favorites.

I have a MagnaCut reblade coming for my Bugout, EDC is a good acid test for me. Of course steel is only half the decider of performance, heat treat and geometry make up the other half. The current S30V blade that came with my Bugout keeps a good working edge, but despite being hair popping sharp after I touch it up, it is never as sharp as I would like when it comes out of my pocket. I de remember being immediately happy with the lack of chipping when compared to the S90V mini Griptillian it replaced, even though that one held a hair popping edge much longer.

Im always looking- grin

I was thinking of trying something with Cru Wear- tho expensive.

You’re a knife guy, what steels do you like in a processing knife?

Cru-Wear has the same edge retention as MagnaCut, so if you don't want MagnaCut due to its lck of abrasion resistance, then you don't want Cru-Wear. Cru-Wear is a little tougher than MagnaCut, it also is not stainless, but has corrosion resistance approaching the lower end of stainless steels.

Personally I think Cru-Wear is a great choice outside of coastal environments. Particularly if the added toughness is used to improve geometry (thinner stock, full flat grind, and such). The crowbar with an edge trend in tough steels is annoying to me.

 

[matchu865]

I bring this thing along. https://www.victorinox.com/en-US/Pr...ves/Accessories/Dual-Knife-Sharpener/p/4.3323

The ceramic notch I use as a last resort, but it doesn’t tear the edge as bad as a carbide sharpener. I mostly just use the stone to hone, or more likely in my case, create a micro bevel.

 

[jlw0142]

I bring this thing along. https://www.victorinox.com/en-US/Pr...ves/Accessories/Dual-Knife-Sharpener/p/4.3323

The ceramic notch I use as a last resort, but it doesn’t tear the edge as bad as a carbide sharpener. I mostly just use the stone to hone, or more likely in my case, create a micro bevel.

Sweet, thanks! That looks like a great option


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