How to Sharpen a Survival Knife?

Survival knives are essential tools for any situation because of their cutting ability. However, sharp knife with time and use, the blade and knife-edge will become dull, and the dull knife blade needs to be sharpened. How to sharpen a survival knife? You need to have some knife sharpening process that also needs to use some sharpening stones. Like Whetstone, Arkansas stone, and diamond stone. The sharpening process is actually quite simple. All you need are two sturdy surfaces to work on one of which should be more coarse than the other. You'll also need some water (to lubricate the blade), oil (to prevent rusting), metal polish or mineral oil stone, honing stone, and a lot of patience. Our website will give you more information about How to sharpening a survival knife at Apesurvival.com

Steps to Sharpen a Knife

You'll need the correct equipment for the job and, of course, know how to use it at the correct angle before you can learn how to sharpen your survival knife. Sharpening a knife is simple when you have the correct tools, and it only takes a few minutes to acquire that razor-sharp edge you'll need.

Here are some steps on How to sharpen a survival knife,

Step One: Begin by dragging the coarse side (usually leather) across the blade slowly. Then, at an angle of about 20-25 degrees, use the finer stone on both edges of each side in turn until you reach around 25 strokes per side or until the edge is sharp.

Step two: Place your fingers on the blade and gently move it away from you at a 20-25 degree angle, only tugging in one direction. Continually push both sides together in this manner.

Step three: Gently push down on one side and draw up as you move down the edge in short strokes until it is sharp, using a 20-25 degree angle on the blade. On the other side, repeat the operation. Remember, too much pressure will take out too much material from your blade.

Step four: After you've sharpened the blade, you'll need to keep it sharp. To do so, apply metal polish or mineral oil to each side of the blade in turn until they touch when pulled together, then wipe away any excess and store your knife and that's how you sharpen a survival knife. 

Softly Brush The Knife Across the Stone

Hold the knife and move it across the material. It's time to go to work once everything is set up and stable. Moving the knife up and down while pressing the blade on the rough side of the whetstone, slide the blade surface.

Make sure you're moving in the right direction by doing it in a circular motion. Small metal shavings should be seen along the blade's sharp edge. Wipe them away and carry on. Continue in this manner until the blade begins to sharpen. And see a difference on its cutting edge.

Sharpen the Back of the Blade

Sharpening a blade of a survival knife indicates that the edge has become dull. Steel is a type of metal that, after repeated use, can get worn out. The edge will get blunt, especially when cutting hard items like bones and wood.

It won't be visible to the human eye, but you'll see the difference if you look at it under a microscope. Sharpening the blade shaves off some of the steel on the blade's edge, resulting in a fresh sharp edge.

Turn the Stone So That The Fine Side is Upward

Use the Stone's Smooth-Side. Turn the stone over so that the fine side is facing up. When you use this part, your knife will be razor-sharp. The coarse side is for exceedingly dull knives. Make sure you're aware of your blade's angle. Every knife is unique, and the level of the blade dictates the knife's effectiveness and cutting shape.

Test Sharpness of the Knife

Holding up a piece of paper and slicing it down the center is the safest technique to test a knife's sharpness. If it doesn't, go through the sharpening step again. Another method is to rip a sheet of magazine paper in two and fold it in half to balance on a table. Then observe if the knife slices through it easily. This will make a cutting motion appear. Hold your knife up to the light to check for flaws. Some parts need to be cut down a little further if it reflects light.

What to Do If You Don’t Have a Stone

When you're out in the woods, how do you sharpen a survival knife if you don't have a stone. Having a survival knife on hand might be useful. However, one thing to keep in mind is that if your knife is dull, you won't be able to chop, hack, or slice with it. Even though having a dull blade is still preferable to having none at all, having a sharp edge can sometimes be the difference between life and death. The sharpening stone is ideal for any occasion, such as hunting, tactical, or bushcraft excursions, but what if you don't have one with you? Don't worry with a little creativity and imagination, you can utilize a variety of everyday things to keep that edge sharp and helpful. Such as river rocks or stones, concrete blocks, and Ceramic items.

River Rocks

You can sharpen your knife with a random stone or rocks instead of a sharpening stone, and while a sharpening stone would usually give you a superior outcome, using a rock can be a viable alternative if you don't have one on hand. Because you won't have to bring anything with you on your camping trip, this strategy can be incredibly useful. Finding a beautiful, relatively smooth, river rock to accomplish the task is crucial. If you lubricate the rock in water, which is a popular approach when utilizing sharpening stones, you might get a better outcome.

Here's what you need to do:

Step 1: Using water, clean a smooth, relatively rock. Even if it isn't unclean, clean it with water to moisten it like you would sharpening stones.

Step 2: Hold the knife at a 10° angle to the rock's surface, with the blade facing away from you.

Step 3: Stroke the knife away from you in one smooth motion, moving the stroke to span the entire length of the blade. To sharpen the other side of the blade, flip the knife over and drag it back towards you.

Step 4: Repeat until your blade is sharp, ensuring that both sides are baled's knife correctly is sharpened.

Concrete

Concrete is another typical material that is similar to a sharpening stone. In this method, you sharpen your knife with concrete in the same way you would with a regular sharpening stone, which means you use the same movements and techniques you would if you were sharpening your knife with actual sharpening equipment. If you don't have a sharpening stone, you can easily find one. The goal is to find any concrete that isn't too rough or too firm, as these will damage your blade.

Step 1: Using water, lubricate the concrete you've found.

Step 2: Place the knife on it with the blade pointing away from you, at a 10° angle to the block's surface.

Step 3: Drag the knife's edge away from you, along the concrete, in a smooth motion, maintaining the same sharpening angle throughout.

Step 4: Continue the stroke until you've covered the entire blade.

Step 5: To sharpen the opposite side of the blade, lift the knife, turn it over so that the blade faces you, and repeat the process.

Step 6: Sharpen the edge until it feels sharp, remembering to work each side of the blade equally and at the same angle.

Use ceramic dishes

Making use of your ceramics as your ceramic sharpener. You're undoubtedly familiar with this one. You utilize your ceramic coffee mug as a homemade sharpening stone in this one. While the majority of the mug's surface cup is polished, the bottom of the mug, the part that meets the table when placed on a table, is usually rather rough. Although this isn't true of all mugs, vintage mugs frequently have a sharp round surface on the bottom. Depending on how rough it is, this surface can be an improvised coarse, medium, or fine grit sharpening stone. It can also be used to sharpen your knife.

Here's how you do it,

Step 1: Get a ceramic empty mug that has a rough bottom.

Step 2: Place the mug on a hard surface upside down (a table usually does fine). Make sure the ground isn't too slick. If that's the case, a piece of cloth or a wooden cutting board can be placed under the cup. This is only to make things easy for you.

Step 3: Take your knife and hold it at a 10° angle against the mug's rough surface.

Step 4: Stroke the entire length of the blade, making sure the mug and knife are at the same angle.

Step 5: Lift the knife, turn it over, and do the same thing on the opposite side of the blade.

Step 6: Continue until the edge feels sharp, remembering to maintain the same angle and work both sides equally.