Smith’s mini-sharpener features two v-shaped slots with carbide blades and ceramic stones. The pocket pal, which can handle serrated and standard edges, also has a 400-grit diamond-tapered rod that flips out.
For $10, I can’t imagine this thing is amazing. But if you’re in the bush and need to liven up a blade just a little, it could be worth carrying.
[via Toolmonger]
I’m a cook, and I’m real fussy about knife edges…and beg to differ with Michael.
I treat my kitchen and pocket knives the same way I treat chisels and plane blades – sharpen/hone them with a jig against a relatively coarse, then very fine Japanese water stone. If you treat your blades well, you only need to do this a couple times a year, just steeling the edge occasionally.
All these crotch-shaped sharpeners will improve a bad edge into a mediocre one, but IMHO, just don’t “cut it” to get a good or great edge.
Boing Boing gadgets glorification of violence and knife culture is deplorable! How many children have to die before we end this insanity?! Shame on you!
I’m a violin maker and I’m real fussy about knife edges. This isn’t good enough to make a really sharp edge in the violin making sense, but most kitchen-type cutting tasks work best with something ragged (think “saw”) and for that it’s appropriate. I use one in my kitchen, but not in my shop, and for that it’s fine and brainless.
This is a plastic copy of our original Sterling Sharpener which was invented over 30 years ago. Our sharpener (completely made in the U.S.A.) is well made with an aluminum body and very high quality tungsten carbide which is why we offer a lifetime guarantee. Check us out at http://www.sterlingsharpener.com. Thanks! Bonnie
i actually picked one of these up a couple months ago and it’s surprisingly good. the carbide is pretty standard, but the ceramic hone is excellent for cleaning up an edge. also, ten bucks is a bit steep compared to what i’ve seen in your standard outdoor outfitters.
Ah this sharpener is crap. If I’m heading out some where in the wilderness, I’m making sure my knife is already sharpened. These stupid tools are made to super portable but end up just annoying the crap out of people. I would never carry around a sharpener.
Ziggyteg, no linkwhoring if you please.
I have a sharpener that uses the same stuff – ceramic and carbide – in a slightly different but equally portable implementation. My test for blade sharpness is whether or not the blade will catch on my thumbnail or slide off. Using my $4 sharpener, I was able to take a dull but beloved kitchen knife and restore it to nail-catching splendor with just a few minutes’ work. Further confirming the value of the sharpener, I was able to reduce a tomato to perfect, ribbon-thin slices with virtually no juice escaping.
So I dunno, I might not be so quick to dismiss this $10 version, either.