The absolute God of survival. I really enjoy watching Ray. No vlog, entertainment and ridicule type of videos. Just straight handy info from years and years of true experience without sleeping in a hotel at night. Crack on!
Dragonfly wings do work great but try wet frog skin. Wet frog skin will give it that extra extra extra perfect perfect perfect edge that will make your knife illegal to carry.
Ahh, the frog skin gives it a nice finish. However, a little trick I learned to give it that extra added sharpness is to wave the knife through the air - just a few centuries, and the edge is perfectly sharp for your carving. You can also just simply repeat the process after that one first slice brings down the edge again.
Waving your knife through the air is a good way to give your knife an extra extra extra extra, perfect perfect perfect perfect edge, but have you have tried waving your knife through the vacuum of space? The grit in the vacuum is so fine, that it will give you that extra extra extra extra extra, perfect perfect perfect perfect perfect edge that will give your knife the ability to cut through the molecules of whatever the blade touches.
@@aaroncarapace8054 I think you have skills, but if you were a true master, you would blow cigarette smoke in front of you before doing that. Just saying
I've been hand sharpening for over 15 years, he's using the best type of stones and he has done his homework. But I warn you this method usually only works well with a scandy grind, which is typical for bushcraft. This will be much more difficult with a full flat grind or sabre grind but the chisel grind would be perfect for this method! All BS aside Ray Mears is one of my Hero's!
For some reason I've never got sharpening right. After watching this and putting some of these techniques to practice my edge sharpening has improved a ton! Still got a way to go but very glad found this. Growing (still living as adult) poor conditions I couldn't afford gear and often felt bad about it so I didn't really go outdoors so ray mears is ani aspiration to me. Now as an adult I don't get down about what I don't have I remember ray demonstrating ancient people success in nature. Love all rays videos and shows!
Deeno if you want a set of sharpeners on a budget, a good tip is to get some emery paper (used for car bodywork repairs etc) in different grits and glue it to some strips of plywood. I've found it's giving me much better results on flat grinds. I managed to scrounge everything except the glue. Also, get outside whenever you can mate. Even just a walk in the local woods or park. Whenever my head is doing me in, it always helps to get outside and away from everything.
Budget is a budget, make the best situations with the gear you've got, but go out and enjoy. We've all had or bought crappy gear at some point, but you learn how to use it to its best potential, when the opportunity arises, you'll up grade, that's when you sell your kit on to someone who's in the situation you were in 1,2, 5, 10years ago.
Ray truly a good video, and beautiful knife. I do have one slight point that I'd like to bring up, and that is the stropping. I've found that stropping works much better for me if it is done on a flat hard surface. In the past I noticed that the blade was not as sharp as it was before I stropped when I stropped just holding one end with the other secured. After analyzing what was happening at the blade edge point of contact it was apparent that the strop was wrapping a bit on the blade edge. I've since attached the strop to a board. You're the expert though. All the Best TJ
I'm really pleased with this! It works like a charm ruclips.net/user/postUgkxDcr-y2Pf6xdnrFHrSP7dl9kpKaCozcSQ Takes less time than my old electric sharpener because it can take more off the knife faster, and then it smooths out nicely with the finer grit polisher. I don't know how long it will last before the grit wears away, but I wouldn't mind having to replace it every once in a while.
faultroy In order to truly sharpen your knife you must first use 5 different stones. In order to find 2 of them, you have to travel to the magical world of Narnia, and one is hidden in the astral realm. Once you have collected the stones, you must also find a whale-glass elephant toothpick in order to make the edge even finer. Once you are done with that, you can use some diamonds disk-shaped diamond grindstones for a reflective finish and rhinoceros heart balsam for a stainless coating. Or you can just, I don't know, rub it on a rock or something.
The video isnt titled how to sharpen a knife using minimal kit on the edge of Everest. 'Base Camp' for Ray Mears and many others basically means home, or your 'civilisation' away from home, you have access to tools and materials you wouldn't have access to on an expedition, . But you carry your puck of grit and enjoy your shitty working edge, hope your knife edge rolls and when you get your arm trapped behind a bolder for 3 days youll be begging you had some waterstones so you dont have to tear your arm off.
You sound like a joke yourself 3 decades of training to sharpen knives lol well at least I can agree Ray Mears is the best in my eye but to degrade Canadian bushcraft like it's nothing demonstrates your idiocy. It ain't cold in the UK like it is here in Canada where we use Swedish knives.. but go figure
You can see why Ray Mears is so popular. This is the best scandi knife sharpening tutorial on here. Ray describes everything so well, simply& yet very precisely.
I don’t think I’ve seen a blade sharpening video before or since this one which recommends using a fine grit to remove the oxidation from a bevel to give a mirror finish. Thank you Mr Mears.
Fantastic Ray Thanks for your Technique.. appreciated. I keep a Nagura Stone with my DC-4 to remove the Tannins in the Field as a compromise between both methods and to keep my weight and kit down. -Mitch (New England)
And that, ladies & gentlemen, is why you should choose a knife with a Scandi grind. Since the edge bevel is large enough to easily feel when it's on the stone it dramatically simplifies the sharpening process. Using stones with any other type of grind takes a great deal more skill, something that most people never seem to develop. Of course it also helps to have Ray Mears' level of skill & expertise!
thoughts on the below.. James Ritchie James Ritchie 2 years ago The windshield of your car, and that ceramic rod, is not stropping. That's honing, and useless on an already sharp knife. Stropping means removing the burr and polishing. Honing means straightening microscopic bent places on the edge that have been bent through hard use. You can actually shorten the life pf a blade by honing when you should be stropping. Honing rips off a burr. Stropping polishes the burr off. Honing of for bent places on the edge, and does not remove them, it merely straightens them. It's amazing how many on RUclips, including Dave Canterbury, who don't know the difference between honing and stropping. They are NOT the same thing, and doing one when you should be doing the other really can shorten the life of any knife that's used very often because you'll have to sharpen that knife far more often. Anyway, it's impossible to hone a knife you just sharpened because there are no bent edges to straighten, and using a rod, o honing steel, or the windshield of your car, just scratches an already straight edge. Stropping, whether with leather or sandpaper, polishes the edge, and helps a knife you just sharpened, as long as you don't overdo it.
As an avid knife user, I find the scandi grind far more problematic to maintain and sharpen. When you get a knick, it requires far more material be removed to repair, and also, since the scandi grind provides such a fine fragile edge, it gets damaged far faster than say, a convex grind.
It's the Alan Wood "Woodlore" knife. Ray designed it and Alan Wood produced them. I think he's stopped now, and Wilkinson Sword make cheaper, lower quality versions. He still makes similar knives, and sells them on his website. You can even find the Woodlore knives for sale, but they are REALLY expensive because they are a limited edition, made by a respected maker and have a celebrity connection.
It's interesting to see how Ray prefers a scandi grind, while other bushcrafters (with definitely less actual survival experience than Ray) often prefer convex or even hollow saber grinds. Personally I love scandi and it's variations for bushcrafting/woodworking. The maintenance too is very low IQ because 95% of all maintenance of your edge can be done on strops with or without stropping compounds. I made a double sided paddle strop with the fine side of the leather on top, roughed up a bit with 800 grit sandpaper and loaded with grit 5000 and 7000 compound. My edges are absolutely polished to perfection. Whetstones is only for really dull, really crooked or chipped blades. Or when you want to change the grind angle on your knife. EDIT: thinking about Ray's technique is interesting because he uses a non-stabilized strop (leather belt) that effectively rolls the edge around a little. It makes it a bit more of a convex micro-bevel but it also removes some of the absolute sharpness of a full scandi. The honing on the car window (comparable to honing on a ceramic honing rod/stone) doesn't conform to the form of the bevel like the flexible leather does, so that allows Ray to re-adjust the micro-micro bevel to a level of sharpness that I think he missed after the leather belt stropping. I must try this extra glass honing step after my next round of sharpening my scandi ground bushcrafting blades.
@@Dirkietje8 It's a matter of preference. Hadzabe use knives with V grinds and secondary bevel. Yakut use flat on one side convex on the other. Nordics use flat grinds edge angle becoming more obtuse going from east to west (Ruusuvuori, A. 2009. History of Puukko). And to be honest it's more about the edge angle that the profile of the grind. Moreover Mears falsely states that the finer the polish the longer the edge lasts which is completely the opposite. Polished edge doesn't last as long as coarse edge but it goes through wood more smoothly in push cuts because the microscopic edge surface area is smaller than in more coarsely ground edge. Edit. Dude has 30 degrees on his knife. Whatever handfeel skandigrind gives you is lost in that axe edge angle. Of course it's his preference.
@@ReasonAboveEverything thank you for giving me an interesting paper to read! Also, I agree with most what you're saying. Although I would like to add, some tasks are better suited to a certain grind style. Like, for butchering I prefer a hollow ground knife over scandis, V-edges and convex grinds. But I haven't yet used it on anything really substantial. Also, Cedric & Ada's channel has shown that for some types of steel a high polished edge (up to 16,000+ grit) can actually make a big difference. But I suspect Ray wouldn't even know about those steels in the early 2000's. Lots of placebo effects going on in what people prefer as well I think.
For the final, final step, Ray travels to middle-earth and slays the dragon-beast Smaug, whereupon he removes the hardest material in all the realm...a scale from the wretched beast's dying body. Sharpening his knife against the dragon scale Mears proclaims " by the power of greyskull...I HAVE THE POWER!!" and deals the final blow. His enemy now vanquished, Mears stands alone, exhausted, blade in hand ...the sharpest blade the world as ever known...the sheer power of it...it's, it's too much for even he. THE POWER CONSUMES HIM!!!!.... Mears is no more. He is now BLAGOROTH SLAYER OF DRAGONS!!! The evil force emanating from him destroys everything in its path, shielding only the blade...the precious. Only the flames of Mordor can give him respite, the cursed blade it ...it must be cast... into the flames of Mt. Doom! But vomit not in terror, dear viewer, for in this age of evil a group of heroes shall arise to take up the challenge! A daring band of plucky hobbits armed only with their superior knowledge of bushcraft....and so they shall be the FELLOWSHIP OF THE BUSH!!! (sorry i was watching this at work and had 5 minutes to kill, Ray Mears is badass, but kinda ocd with his knife)
_"The evil force emanating from him destroys everything in its path,"_ ... while simultaneously sharpening all blades nearby in a 10km radius, to +70 sharpness.
I'd go with the combo you mentioned if I were to get two. If I was going to get a third, I'd go with a much courser grit, like 250 for blades that are damaged or need reprofiling. But I don't think most knives require something courser than a 1000 grit, as long as they're well maintained. And I've been told that, if you're using a strop, something as fine as 6000 grit is really unnecessary. I only have a 1000 grit wetstone and a strop, so I can't testify to that, but those work for me.
They are both good in their own right imho. Ray is the finished bushcraft article, there is probably nothing in the art of bushcraft he doesn't know as well as knowing an impeccable level of history in the art as well as making it look effortlessly easy when it is not. Whereas Bear is a different beast, he is the survivalist who prefers to teach via the trial of being stranded and in complete desperation type of situation, he will do what ever it takes to survive while only carrying nothing but the absolute basics, the basics always being in the form of a daypack, water bottle, metal cup, paracord, fire steel and a sturdy knife. As well as the odd extras he finds on the way. I enjoy both, but to be fair, I feel I learn more from the calm, slower pace of Ray. I wish both were my scout master's as a kid.
I didn't mention him to be disrespectful, it's just that i haven't seen much of his stuff or know what he is all about but to be honest. I have heard a lot about him. So might pull up a few of his episodes on RUclips to see what he is like.
Some of these top comments are ridiculous, he clearly says at the very beginning of the video, "At home or at the expedition base camp". Yes, you could easily have wet stones at your home or at an expedition camp - do you realise how much equipment crews take on expedition?
you can't expect people to still be paying attention, that far into the video. It was a massive 6 seconds. Who can concentrate for that lo... ooh, a cat
it's pretty much one of the best things you can do at a base camp.. especially it a woodland or jungle scenario... extremely sharp tools work more efficiently and last longer.
I always take a wash basin, 10 x stones, a huge aluminium box, 20ltr of pure Highland clear spring water and an ol' rusty jeep door when i'm out in the woods to sharpen me knife. Me, i'm easy going but the wifes starting to complain of backache. One day i'll give her a hand to carry it if she stops nagging. Cheers Ray.
Every video about this subject has a bunch of "experts" in the comments. If you were an expert, you'd never have even typed it in the search-bar. You are here because you don't know shit. Knife gets sharp = you did it right. No matter which technique you used. There's no arguing with that. All you are doing is grinding metal for fucks sake. It's not alchemy..
Depends on how often you use them and how well you treat them. For the sharpening needs of the average Joe, they should last at least ten years. When they start to get thinner, it is a good idea to glue them to a backing so that they won't break on you.
Excellent video. My bug out bag is based on Ray Mears philosophy of survival and it will serve me well. 1 Four Cans of wifebeater 2 As many packs of bensons as I can carry 3 Mars Bars, lots of them 4 Some Bic lighters 5 A GIANT FUCKING JAPANESE WATERSTONE, WITH A METAL HOLDER, A KINGSTONE, AND A LOWER GRIT FUCKING JAPANESE WATERSTONE. I mean why bring one small sharpener to the party, when you can bring 3 FUCKING KILOS OF FUCKING SHARPENING STONES TO THE PARTY. I was so inspired by this video that I actually decided to throw out my "heavy" and "pointless" water bottles, and 90% of my food, so that I could make room for a japanese knife sharpening kit. Genius. Big thumbs up from me Ray! thanks again!
hahaha a yes... the legendary Stella Lager, the cause of half the domestic abuse calls the British police get. Cant be beat (unlike their spouses apparently)
I enjoy how all the negative comments missed the fact that he said "At home or expedition base camp." He's not carrying them around in his pack, out in the wilderness.
Since my knives don't have such prominent bevels its a lot harder to get a consistent angle. Compounded further if you have a curved blade as you have to try to rotate the knife so that the movement is always perpendicular to the tangent of the point of contact with the stone, while also maintaining a constant angle of attack. In short, you need a lot of practice to build up the muscle memory to sharpen a knife this way.
Great vid on getting a perfect edge - but I wouldn't call it sharpening a knife 'at camp'. This is likely something I would do at home, in the fall, before stowing my gear for the winter.
Confirmed! That's how I've always done it. Plank of wood, cement bench, glass top table it's all the same, one wet towel between is all you need. Never had a stone slip on me yet.
Here is my thoughts. If you have a base camp or your suv and you can carry the gear then what just happened was historic and also the true way to sharpen the most used item in the field. Good job. And thanks for the post.
I used to sharpen my Katana this way when I was living in a forest as the Alpha male of a Wolfpack. I prefer sharpening it now using another method which involves slicing my enemies in half. Their bones sharpen my Katana better than anything ive ever tried
Hey Fedoreo, you should get together with Berta Lovejoy. You could post vlogs about your marriage and make little fedoras for your kids. >2kawaii4me xD
Can't believe people are upset that he's using proper equipment to sharpen a knife. He's talking about sharpening at Camp (Home), not out in the field. There's a separate video for that. Watch it instead if it bothers you. Great Video, Ray Mears.
My father taught me to count strokes, and to "see" an edge. However, when I trained as a Luthier, and Musical Instrument Technician, I spent a whole week learning to sharpen by hand, using an oil stone (my oil stone was an antique Tam O' Shanter (Water of Ayr) Cut Throat Razor stone, I still have it, and it sets a better edge than my fancy expensive Lansky set, or Japanese stones 🤣
Did you even read my 1st comment in this feed?! The one about me really enjoying his techniques? If you want to introduce a million different scenarios (vehicles bringing gear in, staying at a base camp for a month etc...) then anything is possible. The title says "Bushcraft Survival", not "Base Camp Survival with Unlimited Carrying Capabilities with $3000 worth of Japanese Sharpening Stones". Let's just agree that Ray is awesome!
Listen to all these hecklers, has he not explained himself properly? He said "When at home, or at a base camp...", meaning at such a time when you CAN have these heavy stones easily available...when you DO have a car window available. Just because he has filmed this in the woods does not mean anything. Where else would you visualise Ray Mears, standing in a workshop at a bench? In a kitchen with a chef hat on? I think this guy is great, always enjoy his programmes.
RiverBlakeful I always thought survival as plane crash survivor alone in the wilds type scenario, living off the land with bare essentials. Man your practically talking about having a kitchen sink in your kit.
Ray I grew up on a farm in Canada. You know ,hunting, fishing, camping and logging and working as a carpenter as well in Toronto for 30 yrs . Your playing Ray. I use those Japanese water stones for plains and chisels! The Lanski sharpening system is good for hunting knives etc and portable. Good channel all n all though. Do you have a deer processing film. I'll get the popcorn 🍿 .LOL
stop before the end of the stroke so you dont run your knife tip over the edge of the stone which can chip and round the tip of your knife...just an FYI
Superb advice from the best. Although you don't need a $400 knife in the wilderness. Any mora or helle will do. Or opinel if you prefer a folding knife.
Great vid man! Picked up the exact stones you have in the vid. A little costly, but no file can get your knife to this kind of sharp! well worth it! thanks again!
You can do it either way. A lot of people prefer a backwards stroke but it really doesn't matter. Especially on water or oil stones, where any materials are being lifted by the liquid out of the way.
Very good, Ray, but, instead of pulling towards me, I simply swap hands and push away with both sides. It takes some practice, but allows equal pressure and I can use the centre of my thumbs to control the angles.
Those stones are intended for when a person is at home or is not actively camping and moving about. You can however get a field sharpening kit, pocket-sized and simple to use. You can find it on Ray's website.
Respect for Ray, but how long do people go camping for? A few days, a week, two weeks? If my knives (x2) won't stay sharp for two weeks, then I'm looking for new ones.
I said 'IF' my knives won't stay sharp - like Rays appear not to. I have had cheap knives and expensive ones. Some of the cheaper ones are better than the expensive ones. Mora for example - not the best, but good value and unless abused only need sharpening every few months.
Ah you mean like that i see, and yes i agree expensive doesnt always mean better. Thought you really ment you threw them away every time ;-).Cause my handmade sami knife is over 6 years old and still going strong. I will still own it when im an old man for sure.
Clive, you have to understand he's just doing this for his show & instructional purposes. I'm betting Ray sharpened his knife so beautifully before he went camping, as sharp as Steven Hawking's intellect. But this obviously is just to show the lay-person the method.
Based on the title and content of this video I searched to see if he had a video titled 'Ray Mears - How to cook a meal at camp, Bushcraft Survival. Complete with gas Bar-B-Q and a small Asian chef!
Sharkfat haha I was thinking the same thing. I was interested to see how he sharpens knives at camp, I didn't realize you had to bring a whole tote full of gear to do it lol
I noticed your technique of sharpening. Which is the superior method? Some people I have seen sharpen with the edge facing away.They swear that their way is tried and true and will not discuss any other method. And then your method which takes the blade into a slice pattern. With the exception of the strop. And behold! So color me confused. Thanks!
I like Ray Mears, I do...but check out the Wilderness Outfitters video. He has a small diamond rod, Arkansas wet stone and uses his leather belt as a strop...does just fine, and it's two small things in his kit and something he wears anyway. Much more practical.
Great to know you can get a knife sharp like that. I personally have only required 1, 10cm long sharpening stone and my spit if a small stream or river has not been available when I have been hunting. Everything bigger than that is just pointless, unless you go "camping" driving a pickup druck in the woods.
'At camp' here means anywhere you have access to water, flat spaces, and the freedom to carry a couple pounds worth of extra gear - in this case, the stones/mount. Watch his other video 'How to sharpen a knife in the field' if that's what you're looking for.
Nice! Next time I go camping, I'll pack up my whole fucking garage. Lol. I'm kidding but, seriously, good job. I carry stones on me when I go fishing, let alone camping.
That's the Ray Mears designed Woodlore. It's very expensive and has a long waiting list. If you like the looks of it, I suggest looking up the Condor Bushlore. It's a great knife and is only about $30. Send me a PM if you want some more information.
This is the best method for sharpening knives.Period. I have also tried the vehicle window trick-when on the road it is a great touch up for I knife that is not too dull.
It's a Ray Mears Woodlore knife, the knife was designed by Ray and is handmade in England by Alan Wood. They are the "bombduffa" but there is a huge waiting list.
Great for sushi....but as soon as you use it in the wild the perfect edge will be destroyed. 800 grit wet n dry paper run over a few times regularly will be just as good for all practical purposes.
+supersesqui oh your so right, it would be much better to start out with a dull blade, because its only going to get buggered any way, I mean why would you want to set out with your tools in good order, come to think of it, you may as well drink all your water before you go, I mean your only going to drink it at some point anyway...twonk
NoVAPunkLover I am well aware of the excellent and experienced carpenter Paul Sellars. In fact he is the one, in a few of his excellent tutorials, who says that.......touching up blades for general woodwork with 800 grit is perfect.
No one said there's anything wrong with the finish 800 grit leaves. But going beyond this grit will not make a more 'fragile' edge, in fact the opposite is true. The most important thing is having the correct bevel angle for the tool.
supersesqui you crack me up, such a fine tuned grasp of the English language and nope I know not a thing about carpentry, never claimed to, I use my knife for gralloching deer, so I'll always head out with a finely honed blade. As for being an imbecile, well I guess my Degree from St Georges medical school must be a fake, but hey at least I can spell dumbest, all the best....twonk ;-)
I find knife sharpening to be therapeutic. This morning I used waterstones to sharpen my Mora Clipper. It took me about half an hour. I think there are far faster ways to do just as good a job, but I really enjoyed it. Also, if you are serious about bushcraft, a very sharp knife (or axe) is a must. I suggest any bush enthusiast try it. I'll bet you don't go back.
you'll also need Gary, say hello Gary... howdy yall. Gary is a professional knife sharpener you can hire for $200 a day when shtf. keep in mind he has a family and bugout plans of his own but he will be indispensable for those carrying 50 pounds of knife sharpening shit with them!
Any good reason to use a fine stone and strop to get a polished edge and then roughen it up with the glass window? Can't you just use slightly coarser stones and skip the stropping part if you don't want it crazy sharp?
I carry a DTM diafold. 325 on one side, 600 on the other. ALWAYS flat. Light weight, almost unbreakable in your pack. Mirror finish? No, but sharp and the 325 is course enough to repair any minor damage. If you must have a mirror finish, carry a sliver of 400 and 800 grit wet and dry sandpaper and use the DTM as a base. Almost no extra hassle and also unbreakable unless you are on fire. I'd love to have those stones for my straight razor but I'd not want to take anything that fragile to the woods even to a base camp I got to by truck. I have another diafold that is 1200 and 8000 I use for my razor. Tried it on my knife but it takes FOREVER. But this guy really knows how to use those stones and I'm sure that knife is sharp when he is finished.
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I have watched this video every time it shows up on my Home page, for ten years. I love this moment in time.
Magical isn't it, he ignited a fire in me. Love his books but there's nothing like watching the boss at work is there 👊
The absolute God of survival. I really enjoy watching Ray. No vlog, entertainment and ridicule type of videos. Just straight handy info from years and years of true experience without sleeping in a hotel at night. Crack on!
Spot on.
Ray Mears couldn't survive in a tescos.
@@thegingerpowerranger lol
@@thegingerpowerranger That was what Lofty said to his wife!
@@boffingeorge I know. I still laugh at it. Cheeky Focker that lofty!
His window was rolled up, he just used it as whetstone that often.
I thought he cut the window in half to demonstrate how sharp the knife is
After the car window, I like to use the edge of a dragonfly(crane fly optional) wing just to give it that extra perfect perfect edge
Dragonfly wings do work great but try wet frog skin. Wet frog skin will give it that extra extra extra perfect perfect perfect edge that will make your knife illegal to carry.
Ahh, the frog skin gives it a nice finish. However, a little trick I learned to give it that extra added sharpness is to wave the knife through the air - just a few centuries, and the edge is perfectly sharp for your carving. You can also just simply repeat the process after that one first slice brings down the edge again.
Waving your knife through the air is a good way to give your knife an extra extra extra extra, perfect perfect perfect perfect edge, but have you have tried waving your knife through the vacuum of space? The grit in the vacuum is so fine, that it will give you that extra extra extra extra extra, perfect perfect perfect perfect perfect edge that will give your knife the ability to cut through the molecules of whatever the blade touches.
Aaron Stevens Yeah, did that once; cut myself in 4,5 parallel universes - never again. But you’re right, vacuum grit whetstone is the bomb.
@@aaroncarapace8054 I think you have skills, but if you were a true master, you would blow cigarette smoke in front of you before doing that. Just saying
I've been hand sharpening for over 15 years, he's using the best type of stones and he has done his homework. But I warn you this method usually only works well with a scandy grind, which is typical for bushcraft. This will be much more difficult with a full flat grind or sabre grind but the chisel grind would be perfect for this method! All BS aside Ray Mears is one of my Hero's!
For some reason I've never got sharpening right. After watching this and putting some of these techniques to practice my edge sharpening has improved a ton! Still got a way to go but very glad found this. Growing (still living as adult) poor conditions I couldn't afford gear and often felt bad about it so I didn't really go outdoors so ray mears is ani aspiration to me. Now as an adult I don't get down about what I don't have I remember ray demonstrating ancient people success in nature. Love all rays videos and shows!
Deeno if you want a set of sharpeners on a budget, a good tip is to get some emery paper (used for car bodywork repairs etc) in different grits and glue it to some strips of plywood. I've found it's giving me much better results on flat grinds. I managed to scrounge everything except the glue. Also, get outside whenever you can mate. Even just a walk in the local woods or park. Whenever my head is doing me in, it always helps to get outside and away from everything.
Budget is a budget, make the best situations with the gear you've got, but go out and enjoy.
We've all had or bought crappy gear at some point, but you learn how to use it to its best potential, when the opportunity arises, you'll up grade, that's when you sell your kit on to someone who's in the situation you were in 1,2, 5, 10years ago.
Ray truly a good video, and beautiful knife. I do have one slight point that I'd like to bring up, and that is the stropping. I've found that stropping works much better for me if it is done on a flat hard surface. In the past I noticed that the blade was not as sharp as it was before I stropped when I stropped just holding one end with the other secured. After analyzing what was happening at the blade edge point of contact it was apparent that the strop was wrapping a bit on the blade edge. I've since attached the strop to a board. You're the expert though. All the Best TJ
I'm really pleased with this! It works like a charm ruclips.net/user/postUgkxDcr-y2Pf6xdnrFHrSP7dl9kpKaCozcSQ Takes less time than my old electric sharpener because it can take more off the knife faster, and then it smooths out nicely with the finer grit polisher. I don't know how long it will last before the grit wears away, but I wouldn't mind having to replace it every once in a while.
best advice on knife sharpening on youtube. ray is a legend.
faultroy In order to truly sharpen your knife you must first use 5 different stones. In order to find 2 of them, you have to travel to the magical world of Narnia, and one is hidden in the astral realm. Once you have collected the stones, you must also find a whale-glass elephant toothpick in order to make the edge even finer. Once you are done with that, you can use some diamonds disk-shaped diamond grindstones for a reflective finish and rhinoceros heart balsam for a stainless coating.
Or you can just, I don't know, rub it on a rock or something.
Close, I believe you mean leg end
The video isnt titled how to sharpen a knife using minimal kit on the edge of Everest. 'Base Camp' for Ray Mears and many others basically means home, or your 'civilisation' away from home, you have access to tools and materials you wouldn't have access to on an expedition, . But you carry your puck of grit and enjoy your shitty working edge, hope your knife edge rolls and when you get your arm trapped behind a bolder for 3 days youll be begging you had some waterstones so you dont have to tear your arm off.
You sound like a joke yourself 3 decades of training to sharpen knives lol well at least I can agree Ray Mears is the best in my eye but to degrade Canadian bushcraft like it's nothing demonstrates your idiocy. It ain't cold in the UK like it is here in Canada where we use Swedish knives.. but go figure
Love this man. Impressive skils and great demonstration. A really skilled teacher and a legend in bushcrafting! A giant among us!
Dear ray mears you are a legend in my eyes your videos are awesome and your bushcraft book is amazing. I love survival hunting and fishing
You can see why Ray Mears is so popular. This is the best scandi knife sharpening tutorial on here. Ray describes everything so well, simply& yet very precisely.
I don’t think I’ve seen a blade sharpening video before or since this one which recommends using a fine grit to remove the oxidation from a bevel to give a mirror finish. Thank you Mr Mears.
That's one sharp nice. I love Ray's videos, everything is just so calm and nice.
Fantastic Ray Thanks for your Technique.. appreciated. I keep a Nagura Stone with my DC-4 to remove the Tannins in the Field as a compromise between both methods and to keep my weight and kit down.
-Mitch
(New England)
I have these stones that belonged to my grandfather. Thanks for motivating me to get them out again. Brilliant mate! Cheers.
And that, ladies & gentlemen, is why you should choose a knife with a Scandi grind. Since the edge bevel is large enough to easily feel when it's on the stone it dramatically simplifies the sharpening process. Using stones with any other type of grind takes a great deal more skill, something that most people never seem to develop.
Of course it also helps to have Ray Mears' level of skill & expertise!
...and a brand new knife, Ray Mears and skill and expertise in the same sentence.
Kim Jong Il If you are Kim Jong Il, you could've gotten your minions to do it for you :)
thoughts on the below..
James Ritchie
James Ritchie
2 years ago
The windshield of your car, and that ceramic rod, is not stropping. That's honing, and useless on an already sharp knife. Stropping means removing the burr and polishing. Honing means straightening microscopic bent places on the edge that have been bent through hard use. You can actually shorten the life pf a blade by honing when you should be stropping. Honing rips off a burr. Stropping polishes the burr off. Honing of for bent places on the edge, and does not remove them, it merely straightens them. It's amazing how many on RUclips, including Dave Canterbury, who don't know the difference between honing and stropping. They are NOT the same thing, and doing one when you should be doing the other really can shorten the life of any knife that's used very often because you'll have to sharpen that knife far more often. Anyway, it's impossible to hone a knife you just sharpened because there are no bent edges to straighten, and using a rod, o honing steel, or the windshield of your car, just scratches an already straight edge. Stropping, whether with leather or sandpaper, polishes the edge, and helps a knife you just sharpened, as long as you don't overdo it.
As an avid knife user, I find the scandi grind far more problematic to maintain and sharpen. When you get a knick, it requires far more material be removed to repair, and also, since the scandi grind provides such a fine fragile edge, it gets damaged far faster than say, a convex grind.
Whether or not this will truly prove useful to me, this video was super satisfying. I appreciate your polishing and aim for beauty and shine
Proper way of sharpening a knife with water stones, stropping and removing the burrr. You don't see that everyday. Thank you, Ray!
It's the Alan Wood "Woodlore" knife. Ray designed it and Alan Wood produced them. I think he's stopped now, and Wilkinson Sword make cheaper, lower quality versions. He still makes similar knives, and sells them on his website. You can even find the Woodlore knives for sale, but they are REALLY expensive because they are a limited edition, made by a respected maker and have a celebrity connection.
It's interesting to see how Ray prefers a scandi grind, while other bushcrafters (with definitely less actual survival experience than Ray) often prefer convex or even hollow saber grinds. Personally I love scandi and it's variations for bushcrafting/woodworking. The maintenance too is very low IQ because 95% of all maintenance of your edge can be done on strops with or without stropping compounds. I made a double sided paddle strop with the fine side of the leather on top, roughed up a bit with 800 grit sandpaper and loaded with grit 5000 and 7000 compound. My edges are absolutely polished to perfection.
Whetstones is only for really dull, really crooked or chipped blades. Or when you want to change the grind angle on your knife.
EDIT: thinking about Ray's technique is interesting because he uses a non-stabilized strop (leather belt) that effectively rolls the edge around a little. It makes it a bit more of a convex micro-bevel but it also removes some of the absolute sharpness of a full scandi. The honing on the car window (comparable to honing on a ceramic honing rod/stone) doesn't conform to the form of the bevel like the flexible leather does, so that allows Ray to re-adjust the micro-micro bevel to a level of sharpness that I think he missed after the leather belt stropping. I must try this extra glass honing step after my next round of sharpening my scandi ground bushcrafting blades.
@@Dirkietje8 It's a matter of preference. Hadzabe use knives with V grinds and secondary bevel. Yakut use flat on one side convex on the other. Nordics use flat grinds edge angle becoming more obtuse going from east to west (Ruusuvuori, A. 2009. History of Puukko). And to be honest it's more about the edge angle that the profile of the grind. Moreover Mears falsely states that the finer the polish the longer the edge lasts which is completely the opposite. Polished edge doesn't last as long as coarse edge but it goes through wood more smoothly in push cuts because the microscopic edge surface area is smaller than in more coarsely ground edge.
Edit. Dude has 30 degrees on his knife. Whatever handfeel skandigrind gives you is lost in that axe edge angle. Of course it's his preference.
@@ReasonAboveEverything thank you for giving me an interesting paper to read! Also, I agree with most what you're saying. Although I would like to add, some tasks are better suited to a certain grind style. Like, for butchering I prefer a hollow ground knife over scandis, V-edges and convex grinds. But I haven't yet used it on anything really substantial. Also, Cedric & Ada's channel has shown that for some types of steel a high polished edge (up to 16,000+ grit) can actually make a big difference. But I suspect Ray wouldn't even know about those steels in the early 2000's.
Lots of placebo effects going on in what people prefer as well I think.
I don't know why but I love the sound it makes when the blade of the knife is running along the stone
For the final, final step, Ray travels to middle-earth and slays the dragon-beast Smaug, whereupon he removes the hardest material in all the realm...a scale from the wretched beast's dying body. Sharpening his knife against the dragon scale Mears proclaims " by the power of greyskull...I HAVE THE POWER!!" and deals the final blow. His enemy now vanquished, Mears stands alone, exhausted, blade in hand ...the sharpest blade the world as ever known...the sheer power of it...it's, it's too much for even he. THE POWER CONSUMES HIM!!!!.... Mears is no more. He is now BLAGOROTH SLAYER OF DRAGONS!!! The evil force emanating from him destroys everything in its path, shielding only the blade...the precious. Only the flames of Mordor can give him respite, the cursed blade it ...it must be cast... into the flames of Mt. Doom! But vomit not in terror, dear viewer, for in this age of evil a group of heroes shall arise to take up the challenge! A daring band of plucky hobbits armed only with their superior knowledge of bushcraft....and so they shall be the FELLOWSHIP OF THE BUSH!!!
(sorry i was watching this at work and had 5 minutes to kill, Ray Mears is badass, but kinda ocd with his knife)
_"The evil force emanating from him destroys everything in its path,"_
... while simultaneously sharpening all blades nearby in a 10km radius, to +70 sharpness.
auto sharpen aura wtf, this cracked me up
Jordan V this band of hobbits, do you speak of the DBK Boys?
No.. You pay the Dragon to heat treat it. Adds an extra $300.00 to the cost..Heat treated with Dragon Fire!
The OCD is the counting...
How to sharpen a knife at camp...bring your sharpening stones.
He specifically says "at home or expedition base camp"
your belt, and your Land Rover :-D
but the title is very misleading
says nothing about home in the tittle misleading whatever on to something useful
The use of slurry is a revelation, superb to watch, as always Ray. Many thanks.
ah, so shiny, amazing. I am always impressed and captivated by Ray Mears,
This was way way better than all the other videos on RUclips on sharpening. Ray knows.
I'd go with the combo you mentioned if I were to get two. If I was going to get a third, I'd go with a much courser grit, like 250 for blades that are damaged or need reprofiling. But I don't think most knives require something courser than a 1000 grit, as long as they're well maintained. And I've been told that, if you're using a strop, something as fine as 6000 grit is really unnecessary. I only have a 1000 grit wetstone and a strop, so I can't testify to that, but those work for me.
I was actually really amazed when you started to cut the paper :D That really got my attention :D
the best man out there is Ray, Humble, full of knowledge, not like Bear Greylls
ed stafford
ed stafford took a challenge, Ray is the challenge an expert in all conditions.
They are both good in their own right imho. Ray is the finished bushcraft article, there is probably nothing in the art of bushcraft he doesn't know as well as knowing an impeccable level of history in the art as well as making it look effortlessly easy when it is not. Whereas Bear is a different beast, he is the survivalist who prefers to teach via the trial of being stranded and in complete desperation type of situation, he will do what ever it takes to survive while only carrying nothing but the absolute basics, the basics always being in the form of a daypack, water bottle, metal cup, paracord, fire steel and a sturdy knife. As well as the odd extras he finds on the way.
I enjoy both, but to be fair, I feel I learn more from the calm, slower pace of Ray.
I wish both were my scout master's as a kid.
05Rudey tbf ed stafford deserves some recognition
I didn't mention him to be disrespectful, it's just that i haven't seen much of his stuff or know what he is all about but to be honest. I have heard a lot about him. So might pull up a few of his episodes on RUclips to see what he is like.
And again, total respect for Ray and all he does. He could have (and probably has) demonstrated the field sharpening technique.
Some of these top comments are ridiculous, he clearly says at the very beginning of the video, "At home or at the expedition base camp". Yes, you could easily have wet stones at your home or at an expedition camp - do you realise how much equipment crews take on expedition?
you can't expect people to still be paying attention, that far into the video. It was a massive 6 seconds. Who can concentrate for that lo... ooh, a cat
+John Ottaway haha
+RiverBlakeful But why bring all that when all you need is an oil stone?
it's pretty much one of the best things you can do at a base camp.. especially it a woodland or jungle scenario... extremely sharp tools work more efficiently and last longer.
Exactly, how many people would go on an expedition without any means to sharpen one of their most important tools...
I always take a wash basin, 10 x stones, a huge aluminium box, 20ltr of pure Highland clear spring water and an ol' rusty jeep door when i'm out in the woods to sharpen me knife. Me, i'm easy going but the wifes starting to complain of backache. One day i'll give her a hand to carry it if she stops nagging. Cheers Ray.
Make sure your trousers don't fall down while stropping with your belt...
Every video about this subject has a bunch of "experts" in the comments. If you were an expert, you'd never have even typed it in the search-bar. You are here because you don't know shit. Knife gets sharp = you did it right. No matter which technique you used. There's no arguing with that. All you are doing is grinding metal for fucks sake. It's not alchemy..
Depends on how often you use them and how well you treat them. For the sharpening needs of the average Joe, they should last at least ten years.
When they start to get thinner, it is a good idea to glue them to a backing so that they won't break on you.
watched a ton of videos on this subject. Once again Ray tops them all.
Excellent video. My bug out bag is based on Ray Mears philosophy of survival and it will serve me well.
1 Four Cans of wifebeater
2 As many packs of bensons as I can carry
3 Mars Bars, lots of them
4 Some Bic lighters
5 A GIANT FUCKING JAPANESE WATERSTONE, WITH A METAL HOLDER, A KINGSTONE, AND A LOWER GRIT FUCKING JAPANESE WATERSTONE. I mean why bring one small sharpener to the party, when you can bring 3 FUCKING KILOS OF FUCKING SHARPENING STONES TO THE PARTY.
I was so inspired by this video that I actually decided to throw out my "heavy" and "pointless" water bottles, and 90% of my food, so that I could make room for a japanese knife sharpening kit. Genius.
Big thumbs up from me Ray! thanks again!
fucking lost it XD
XD
lmao, only read the first one and then spent 5min trying to figure out what canned wifebeater was on google
hahaha a yes... the legendary Stella Lager, the cause of half the domestic abuse calls the British police get. Cant be beat (unlike their spouses apparently)
Excellent! If youre drinking beer, that means you are preparing to survive!
I so miss your series, Mr. Mears. Please bring something back, RUclips channel or something.
So, to sharpen my knife I just need: 3 wet stones, leather belt and a car. Thanks. ;)
Survival minimalist :)
😂
I enjoy how all the negative comments missed the fact that he said "At home or expedition base camp."
He's not carrying them around in his pack, out in the wilderness.
Since my knives don't have such prominent bevels its a lot harder to get a consistent angle. Compounded further if you have a curved blade as you have to try to rotate the knife so that the movement is always perpendicular to the tangent of the point of contact with the stone, while also maintaining a constant angle of attack. In short, you need a lot of practice to build up the muscle memory to sharpen a knife this way.
Is he putting the edge flat to the window, or angling it more to give it a slight microbevel?
Great vid on getting a perfect edge - but I wouldn't call it sharpening a knife 'at camp'. This is likely something I would do at home, in the fall, before stowing my gear for the winter.
It shows that you've done it hundreds of times. I can't keep an edge this perfect with an angle guide...
you can also use a wet cloth in lieu of a clamp.
Confirmed! That's how I've always done it. Plank of wood, cement bench, glass top table it's all the same, one wet towel between is all you need. Never had a stone slip on me yet.
Here is my thoughts. If you have a base camp or your suv and you can carry the gear then what just happened was historic and also the true way to sharpen the most used item in the field. Good job. And thanks for the post.
I used to sharpen my Katana this way when I was living in a forest as the Alpha male of a Wolfpack. I prefer sharpening it now using another method which involves slicing my enemies in half. Their bones sharpen my Katana better than anything ive ever tried
Report Fedoreo he is a spammer raiding from a website.
reported for 4chen, ur gonna habe fbi at ur doorr xD
***** you misspelled "neckbeard".
Hey Fedoreo, you should get together with Berta Lovejoy. You could post vlogs about your marriage and make little fedoras for your kids. >2kawaii4me xD
***** Fedoreo IS Berta Lovejoy. I didn't get the memo and fed the troll. FUCK ME RIGHT!?
Can't believe people are upset that he's using proper equipment to sharpen a knife. He's talking about sharpening at Camp (Home), not out in the field. There's a separate video for that. Watch it instead if it bothers you. Great Video, Ray Mears.
Someone please help me! I have been searching this forest for hours but I still haven't found a japanese water stone! Please help me!
They grow near the automobile windows, out beyond the flat surfaces.
Maybe you have to travel to japan and search in a river
Very satisfying observing Rays process. Useful. ATB Mark.
My father taught me to count strokes, and to "see" an edge. However, when I trained as a Luthier, and Musical Instrument Technician, I spent a whole week learning to sharpen by hand, using an oil stone (my oil stone was an antique Tam O' Shanter (Water of Ayr) Cut Throat Razor stone, I still have it, and it sets a better edge than my fancy expensive Lansky set, or Japanese stones 🤣
Did you even read my 1st comment in this feed?! The one about me really enjoying his techniques? If you want to introduce a million different scenarios (vehicles bringing gear in, staying at a base camp for a month etc...) then anything is possible. The title says "Bushcraft Survival", not "Base Camp Survival with Unlimited Carrying Capabilities with $3000 worth of Japanese Sharpening Stones". Let's just agree that Ray is awesome!
How to sharpen a knife at camp:
Take your whole Home with you...
take the missus with you
... and don't forget your car
Very nice, I had never hear of that final step to use a car window. I will try that soon as it is almost time for my Scouts to have their winter camp.
Is there anything this guy isn't awesome at? Gots to loves some Ray Mears.
Yes, the's not very good at staying thin!
Not only was this super informative, it was crazy satisfying to watch O.o
At *HOME* or in the *EXPEDITION BASE CAMP*
Listen to all these hecklers, has he not explained himself properly? He said "When at home, or at a base camp...", meaning at such a time when you CAN have these heavy stones easily available...when you DO have a car window available. Just because he has filmed this in the woods does not mean anything. Where else would you visualise Ray Mears, standing in a workshop at a bench? In a kitchen with a chef hat on? I think this guy is great, always enjoy his programmes.
Erm....full set of Japanese wet stones in survival or even at camp? Is this a wind up?
+Diamond Geezer if you have a jeep at camp, wet stones wouldn't be that hard to bring...
MrLaurensio Yes you're right in that case. I was thinking more of back-packing on foot.
Then it isnt bushcraft in the sence of bushcraft. Nice video anyway :-)
He says "At home or in the expedition base camp". An expedition camp would have tonnes of equipment.
RiverBlakeful I always thought survival as plane crash survivor alone in the wilds type scenario, living off the land with bare essentials. Man your practically talking about having a kitchen sink in your kit.
Ray I grew up on a farm in Canada. You know ,hunting, fishing, camping and logging and working as a carpenter as well in Toronto for 30 yrs . Your playing Ray. I use those Japanese water stones for plains and chisels! The Lanski sharpening system is good for hunting knives etc and portable. Good channel all n all though. Do you have a deer processing film. I'll get the popcorn 🍿 .LOL
stop before the end of the stroke so you dont run your knife tip over the edge of the stone which can chip and round the tip of your knife...just an FYI
Ya, Made me cringe ever time he popped that edge!! Especially on a knife that nice.
haha RIGHT!?
AntwonDaBusiness it dies show you how much pressure to use if you're a beginner
Superb advice from the best. Although you don't need a $400 knife in the wilderness. Any mora or helle will do. Or opinel if you prefer a folding knife.
Great vid man! Picked up the exact stones you have in the vid. A little costly, but no file can get your knife to this kind of sharp! well worth it! thanks again!
Brilliant! Thank you Ray!! I have every episode on DVD!!
Well done! Gives me exact tips on what i need to do thank-you!
Great Demo on sharpening!
Just finished making my blade, now to put an edge on it.
Thanks!
I like to think that Ray takes all this equipment with him all the time, even popping down to buy a pint of milk. YOU NEVER KNOW
Awesome. I'll look forward to the next time I'm stuck in the woods with 2kg of Japanese whetstone and a Landrover Defender for stropping.
Don't forget the belt!
Great vid, thank you! Wished I had watched yours first. Easiest and simplest technique to get the job done, cheers!
You can do it either way. A lot of people prefer a backwards stroke but it really doesn't matter. Especially on water or oil stones, where any materials are being lifted by the liquid out of the way.
those stones r really expensive too
Surely not as a bad as the car though.
Very good, Ray, but, instead of pulling towards me, I simply swap hands and push away with both sides. It takes some practice, but allows equal pressure and I can use the centre of my thumbs to control the angles.
This method, while excellent, left little room for my camp food in my backpack. Had to leave my tent and air mattress at home.
Those stones are intended for when a person is at home or is not actively camping and moving about. You can however get a field sharpening kit, pocket-sized and simple to use. You can find it on Ray's website.
Respect for Ray, but how long do people go camping for? A few days, a week, two weeks? If my knives (x2) won't stay sharp for two weeks, then I'm looking for new ones.
Then you must have cheap plastic ones, a real knife is for life
I said 'IF' my knives won't stay sharp - like Rays appear not to. I have had cheap knives and expensive ones. Some of the cheaper ones are better than the expensive ones. Mora for example - not the best, but good value and unless abused only need sharpening every few months.
Ah you mean like that i see, and yes i agree expensive doesnt always mean better. Thought you really ment you threw them away every time ;-).Cause my handmade sami knife is over 6 years old and still going strong. I will still own it when im an old man for sure.
Clive, you have to understand he's just doing this for his show & instructional purposes. I'm betting Ray sharpened his knife so beautifully before he went camping, as sharp as Steven Hawking's intellect. But this obviously is just to show the lay-person the method.
faultroy
^^ What he said!
6.30 Ray in the woods alone telling us that he likes to ''Give it 50 strokes''
Based on the title and content of this video I searched to see if he had a video titled 'Ray Mears - How to cook a meal at camp, Bushcraft Survival. Complete with gas Bar-B-Q and a small Asian chef!
Sharkfat haha I was thinking the same thing. I was interested to see how he sharpens knives at camp, I didn't realize you had to bring a whole tote full of gear to do it lol
Well obviously one would have a AGA cooker and Nigella Lawson at base camp, gas BBQ and a small asian chef is for when you are travelling light.
Fun On Vancouver Island did you not watch the video and listen to what he says obviously not
Who Carrie's all this in the field lol
I noticed your technique of sharpening. Which is the superior method? Some people I have seen sharpen with the edge facing away.They swear that their way is tried and true and will not discuss any other method. And then your method which takes the blade into a slice pattern. With the exception of the strop. And behold! So color me confused. Thanks!
"At camp" is not the same as "in the field". The same guy has a video for that.
I like Ray Mears, I do...but check out the Wilderness Outfitters video.
He has a small diamond rod, Arkansas wet stone and uses his leather belt as a strop...does just fine, and it's two small things in his kit and something he wears anyway. Much more practical.
"At home, or in the expedition base camp ... " Literally the first 8 words of the video.
Amazing how many people haven't grasped that concept
Great to know you can get a knife sharp like that. I personally have only required 1, 10cm long sharpening stone and my spit if a small stream or river has not been available when I have been hunting. Everything bigger than that is just pointless, unless you go "camping" driving a pickup druck in the woods.
Jätkällä on kiviä tarpeeksi pihagrilliä varten.
that was relaxing
'At camp' here means anywhere you have access to water, flat spaces, and the freedom to carry a couple pounds worth of extra gear - in this case, the stones/mount. Watch his other video 'How to sharpen a knife in the field' if that's what you're looking for.
Nice! Next time I go camping, I'll pack up my whole fucking garage. Lol. I'm kidding but, seriously, good job. I carry stones on me when I go fishing, let alone camping.
That's the Ray Mears designed Woodlore. It's very expensive and has a long waiting list. If you like the looks of it, I suggest looking up the Condor Bushlore. It's a great knife and is only about $30. Send me a PM if you want some more information.
Scandi grinds don´t like stropping, it rounds out the edge, defeating the purpose of all the other steps.
This is the best method for sharpening knives.Period.
I have also tried the vehicle window trick-when on the road it is a great touch up for I knife that is not too dull.
To all the people bitching about the equipment used, you probably want to watch his video in his to sharpen a knife in the field
It's a Ray Mears Woodlore knife, the knife was designed by Ray and is handmade in England by Alan Wood. They are the "bombduffa" but there is a huge waiting list.
cool, now stay the hell away from my car...
yes if you carried a small stone in field just to keep edge nice what would you recommend thanks that edge looks great s sharp knife is a safe knife.
Great for sushi....but as soon as you use it in the wild the perfect edge will be destroyed.
800 grit wet n dry paper run over a few times regularly will be just as good for all practical purposes.
+supersesqui oh your so right, it would be much better to start out with a dull blade, because its only going to get buggered any way, I mean why would you want to set out with your tools in good order, come to think of it, you may as well drink all your water before you go, I mean your only going to drink it at some point anyway...twonk
Smelf36
You obviously know nothing about carpentry.
Or anything else really...you are an imbecile....and one of the bumbest fuckers on You Tube.
NoVAPunkLover
I am well aware of the excellent and experienced carpenter Paul Sellars.
In fact he is the one, in a few of his excellent tutorials, who says that.......touching up blades for general woodwork with 800 grit is perfect.
No one said there's anything wrong with the finish 800 grit leaves. But going beyond this grit will not make a more 'fragile' edge, in fact the opposite is true. The most important thing is having the correct bevel angle for the tool.
supersesqui you crack me up, such a fine tuned grasp of the English language and nope I know not a thing about carpentry, never claimed to, I use my knife for gralloching deer, so I'll always head out with a finely honed blade. As for being an imbecile, well I guess my Degree from St Georges medical school must be a fake, but hey at least I can spell dumbest, all the best....twonk ;-)
Many thanks for the excellent video.
Pleasure to watch.
rip paper hardly knew ye
I find knife sharpening to be therapeutic. This morning I used waterstones to sharpen my Mora Clipper. It took me about half an hour. I think there are far faster ways to do just as good a job, but I really enjoyed it. Also, if you are serious about bushcraft, a very sharp knife (or axe) is a must. I suggest any bush enthusiast try it. I'll bet you don't go back.
you'll also need Gary, say hello Gary... howdy yall. Gary is a professional knife sharpener you can hire for $200 a day when shtf. keep in mind he has a family and bugout plans of his own but he will be indispensable for those carrying 50 pounds of knife sharpening shit with them!
Each stone weighs in under a lb!!?
Any good reason to use a fine stone and strop to get a polished edge and then roughen it up with the glass window? Can't you just use slightly coarser stones and skip the stropping part if you don't want it crazy sharp?
how about carrying in your camping backpack a Japaneese chef, expert in sharpening knives?
hahaha...
Matthew M that’s the problem people don’t listen
I carry a DTM diafold. 325 on one side, 600 on the other. ALWAYS flat. Light weight, almost unbreakable in your pack. Mirror finish? No, but sharp and the 325 is course enough to repair any minor damage. If you must have a mirror finish, carry a sliver of 400 and 800 grit wet and dry sandpaper and use the DTM as a base. Almost no extra hassle and also unbreakable unless you are on fire. I'd love to have those stones for my straight razor but I'd not want to take anything that fragile to the woods even to a base camp I got to by truck. I have another diafold that is 1200 and 8000 I use for my razor. Tried it on my knife but it takes FOREVER. But this guy really knows how to use those stones and I'm sure that knife is sharp when he is finished.