Knife Maintenance: The Easiest Way to Keep It Sharp While Camping
Car campers often take an axe along for the trip.
But those of us who travel with nothing more than a pack and a good pair of hiking boots know that the one indispensable piece of equipment we'd hate to be without is a good camp knife.
However, a camp knife needs to be sharp.
If it isn't, not only is it dangerous, but it ends up being more trouble than it's worth.
Of course, we all start a camping trip with a sharp blade.
But only some people -- and I hope you will be one of these people after you read this article -- finish the hike with a blade that's as capable as it was when you first started out.
Proper maintenance of your camp knife is almost as important as bringing it along with you in the first place.
Here's a tip that will save you a lot of trouble in the field: The best way to keep your knife's edge maintained in the wilderness is to use a knife with a Scandinavian grind.
This time-tested edge profile is not quite as razor sharp as an expensive kitchen knife that has been sharpened by a high-tech robot.
Nevertheless, it is plenty sharp for everyday use.
And it is tough and resilient.
And most important, a Scandi grind is very simple for anyone to keep sharp with minimal equipment.
Many of the fancy, modern edge profiles are maintainable only by experts or by knife enthusiasts who relentlessly practice their sharpening skills.
But a Scandi grind, on the other hand, is almost impossible to mess up.
Since the Scandi grind is flat, rather than convex or hollow-ground, sharpening it back to a hair-popping edge is as simple as laying the knife edge against a hone and gently working the knife until a burr forms.
There is no way to err, because the flat of the knife rests against the stone.
When you flip the knife over to remove the burr, there is no guesswork is involved in creating the edge.
This makes it a simple process to sharpen your knife.
And this is true even under the more demanding conditions imposed by being in the bush instead of in a well-lit, fully-equipped cutlery shop.
So while it's tempting to buy the latest celebrity-endorsed camping knife, with its fancy sheath and color-coordinated accessories, the simple truth remains: the best knife for your hiking and bushcraft needs is the one that is simple to keep sharp even when you are far from home.
But those of us who travel with nothing more than a pack and a good pair of hiking boots know that the one indispensable piece of equipment we'd hate to be without is a good camp knife.
However, a camp knife needs to be sharp.
If it isn't, not only is it dangerous, but it ends up being more trouble than it's worth.
Of course, we all start a camping trip with a sharp blade.
But only some people -- and I hope you will be one of these people after you read this article -- finish the hike with a blade that's as capable as it was when you first started out.
Proper maintenance of your camp knife is almost as important as bringing it along with you in the first place.
Here's a tip that will save you a lot of trouble in the field: The best way to keep your knife's edge maintained in the wilderness is to use a knife with a Scandinavian grind.
This time-tested edge profile is not quite as razor sharp as an expensive kitchen knife that has been sharpened by a high-tech robot.
Nevertheless, it is plenty sharp for everyday use.
And it is tough and resilient.
And most important, a Scandi grind is very simple for anyone to keep sharp with minimal equipment.
Many of the fancy, modern edge profiles are maintainable only by experts or by knife enthusiasts who relentlessly practice their sharpening skills.
But a Scandi grind, on the other hand, is almost impossible to mess up.
Since the Scandi grind is flat, rather than convex or hollow-ground, sharpening it back to a hair-popping edge is as simple as laying the knife edge against a hone and gently working the knife until a burr forms.
There is no way to err, because the flat of the knife rests against the stone.
When you flip the knife over to remove the burr, there is no guesswork is involved in creating the edge.
This makes it a simple process to sharpen your knife.
And this is true even under the more demanding conditions imposed by being in the bush instead of in a well-lit, fully-equipped cutlery shop.
So while it's tempting to buy the latest celebrity-endorsed camping knife, with its fancy sheath and color-coordinated accessories, the simple truth remains: the best knife for your hiking and bushcraft needs is the one that is simple to keep sharp even when you are far from home.
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