What does everyone use to keep a good edge on their knives? I personally use a small diamond stone that I've been using for about 10 years. It was cheap at the time ($5), but it still works. Sharpens everything from my hunting knife to the kitchen knives.

I use about a 10 or 15 degree angle when I sharpen, and something similar to my stone is pictured below:


Despite it's small size, I don't have any problem sharpening even the biggest kitchen knives. How about everyone else?

I use a regular whet stone, and have for years. <hillbilly> That newfangled diamond stone don't impress me none! </hillbilly>

I take the easy way out, and use one of those automatic knife sharpeners.

I also use a regular sharpening stone.

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I keep a couple of sharpeners in my pack...I've got a regular stone, a two sided diamond stone (coarse/fine grits) and a little hand tool that has rods that you slide the blade through rather than scraping against a stone...they all work well enough for me...

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Never had any luck with the rods- any special technique that you use?

I have a 3 stone wetstone set that I use at home. in my BOB I have a set of stones used to sharpen tooling for lathes and mills. They are in a box that is less than an inch square by about 6 inches long. The best part was they were free. I got them from a company that was giving these out as samples.

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I think the key to using the rods is to keep strong pressure and a consistent angle of the blade...It took awhile, but I think I've got it to the point where it works well.

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If it's in your pack, but you don't know how to use it...it's useless. So, always test your skills as a form of preparation...Don't wait until your life depends on it. That's a lesson you don't want to learn the hard way.

Sort of like a regular stone, only there's less bearing surface. Does the knife edge slip off of the rod? I've thought about getting a sharpening rod for the kitchen, but I'm afraid of my wife cutting herself.

These are the two main sharpeners I use. The smaller of the two has a rod to sharpen serrated edges and two grooves to run the blade through (one to create a new edge, the other to sharpen/hone). The larger sharpener has two sides, coarse and fine. The colored/sharpener side pulls out and inserts into the handle for storage.

_________________
If it's in your pack, but you don't know how to use it...it's useless. So, always test your skills as a form of preparation...Don't wait until your life depends on it. That's a lesson you don't want to learn the hard way.