Bishop

You can reach apex at any tooth/grit. You;ll get razor sharp once you refine the edge, no matter at 200, 400, 800, 1,000 grit refined edge. Its just how easily it will be shave. Wood ... does not care over 200. The rest is for show, as are many knives.

From what I've learned, an ASP is a no go. Oddly, something flexible vs solid is legal from what I know. IE, a whip, and flexible slap MAY be legal. But, as usual, officer digression overrides all of that. NJ ... go figure.

sam, I'm not a big fan of Shuns. Only because they don't have their VG-10 down, it has air pockets, thus chips as it wears. Other than that, they are great for a variety of uses, but, IMHO, overpriced for what they are, You're paying for the look. Just my 2 cents.

Not trying to get into a spat, but I sharpen SS and carbon daily for a living and they go back with a sharper and more precise edge then they where new. Both can be sharpened over, and over and thinned and sharpened and thinned and sharpened and shaped and fixed. The Stainless edge is never the same, infact, it's better. If anything, Carbon is harder to maintain overall, thus the popularity of SS knives. The term Stainless Steel is very broad, and the hardness and quality vary according to the ingredients. Stainless is any knife with Chromium in it. There are also many Carbon Stainless Steels. In fact, the majority now are high carbon Stainless Steel ... Henckels, Wustoffs etc. BTW, you're never going to sharpen any knife quickly. You can hone them quickly, but not sharpen them.

Fine choice, its slimer, easier on the pocket and hand if you use the pocket, but still strong and will do the job. Biggest thing I like between that and the Emerson in the Emerson's fingered grip and the back pillar, plus its just a tank Bottom line, it'll get the job done just as well and you may carry it more because it fits you better. Twirling ... for knife, never big on it as its too small to really effect what your doing. Sticks ... at least the fast movement and spin keeps the eye not knowing which direction it will come from, helps hide the shoulder giveaway a bit. Just my 2 cents.

Nice find!

The leatherman will dull fast .. not the hardest steel, its a step up from a swiss. If you want the edge to have a bit more retention, maybe widen the angle a bit for more shoulders or put a secondary bevel on it. Just so much you can do with that blade .... its light utility. On the plus side, it sharpens easy as its soft. Sharpmaker may be the best out there for the price. Takes time, some learning curve, there are additional rods ... extra fine, coarse. Great traveler to boot. After all the hand machines I've used, if you want something more than that, and spend MORE .... Wicked Edge ... hands down the most control available, to the nth degree, expandable, modifiable, but at a price. Base model: https://www.wickededgeusa.com/product/wicked-edge-precision-sharpener/ Their forum would give you some great insite if interested to see what folks are actually doing with it. Cuts your sharpening time in half compared to Edgepro, which is a great Sharpener, but they seem to have stopped developing, with the WEPS just knocking it out of the park in the R&D. The new version .... all the bells and whistles and yes they are all that, but also, even guided and expensive ... learning curve: https://www.wickededgeusa.com/product/generation-3-pro/ For precision, its the Ferrari. We are talking about the highest end out there though. You want to do your Sebanzas? .... there's your answer. Overkill for a leatherman On the other hand, A harbor freight $30 1 x 30 belt sander, some quality belts ...... learning curve and work fast not to overheat, plenty of vids on YT ... and you can do more than you ever thought for the price. Worth it just to have a leather belt and compound for honing and fast touchup/deburr in the garage. Just keep it cool ... move smooth and fast ... keep a water bucket handy if you're reprofiling. All types of belts out there cheap. And like Splat says, RazorSharp wheels ..... mount them on a cheap harbor freight buffer. I actually think the wheels run truer and smoother on the faster 3200 rpm. You get good on it, you're making slight hollow grind razors in no time out of old kitchen knives. You can even first sharpen on the 1 x 30, changing belts to get where you want. Then use the slotted paper wheel with compound to deburr and polish .... cheap, fast ... but you have to be careful and learn on them. You're moving at around 3200 rpm with them. The grit wheel is no nonsense either, with a good hand you can get a lot done, especially on the not so special stuff. Both systems though, you have both hands on the knife and you are the guide, which IMHO, is the better option if you're not clamped. More flexibility. More room. More control .... just step away. Rounding then is not a problem. Other than that, a slower 1750 rpm 1 x 42 Kalamazoo ... bolder moter ... bullet proof .. lasts for ever ... doesn't break the bank ..... ? $240???? ish. 1 x 42 gives you a good variety of belts to play with .. into the sub micron category even. A great workhorse for lots and lots of things. That's about it, besides the WEPS, in the "don't break the bank" category. Tormex, better for the carpenter but nice as its a water bath, no dust .. but pricey and only semi-guided. Also limited for knife use. Then there's always stones. More loot will give you more control and quality tools, but all else pretty much remains the same. You either go guided, or freehand, or combo. Just my 2 cents worth.

The SOG is effective, well made and a bargain if you hunt around. Always seemes to go on sale. For something more traditional, I like these guys, price points are good, some wait time, nice variety: http://www.hbforge.com/hand-forged-hawks-and-axes

x3 Trained Escrima for years, had a variety of them. Quality of the piece, feel, wave feature works great. One note, Emerson grinds are a trick to pull off, especially on the recurve of the karambit. Point being, don't waste the edge on opening boxes etc. Its hard to get the chisel grind right with that recurve.

I see a Kalamazoo in your future http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INSRAR2&PMAKA=505-1371&PMPXNO=952569

"Good Inexpensive" .... 2 words that rarely work well together I'm not positve, but give Dave a call: http://www.japaneseknifesharpening.com/index.html He May do swords. If he does, I'm pretty sure it won't be inexpensive, but it will be done right. He studied in Japan and learned his trade for high end Japanese knives. Don't kow how if he takes on swords, but he would know where to steer you if he doesn't. Hope it helps, zig

lead - SCUBA diving weights. The old ones without the plastic coating preferred.

Man, that reminds me of my old favorite AFCK in a way. Got to keep an eye open for it and see if I can snag it. Lots of the ergos a very similar. Nice knife.

Just saw that myself. I don't mind the steel ammo and 62 a plus. grabbed 500, lowest price I've seen in a while. Thanks!

Yep can happen, but they inform you, give you a time frame and I get emails from them with a simple click. Waited a year for .223 but even with 3 notices and all the crazyness buying, it can in the other week at .23 cents a round. Thay have beens pretty solid, just keep an eye on the emails from them.

Anytime. Yeah, plus they don't charge till they ship so win win. As long as its still together here in the states by Oct and we can get ammo over the internet .22lr has just been crazy. Nice to all copper plus a can for .06 cents. I grabbed 2 myself.

I paid more just as the panic was getting going.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/1575rd-22lr-40gr-plated-lrn.aspx?a=1330626&CJ=1&cjaffilid=4084797&cjaffsite=adrian+laza&cjadv=CJTSGUSA&cjadvid=1522857&utm_source=adrian+laza&utm_medium=CJ&utm_campaign=SPG+Product+Catalog+-+SportsmansGuide.com add code SG2561 for another $10 off Yeah, you gotta wait but Sportsman has always come through, even if they do have to delay. At .06 cents for a decent round, no limit, you can't go wrong.

Finally picked up a Thorntail. Thanks, its a perfect fit. Just right!

Not to beat a dead horse, but Nickjc is right. That said, if your determined to go down the DVD path or whatever, go for it. They make plastic and wooden practice knives. After a while, replace them with markers or virtual blade knives. One understands quickly what its about after that.

Bertus, where do you live, look around there. There are various instructors that teach a variety of applicable things, and you can go to many on a pay-per-class basis. Meet folks there and try getting together on your own time to review what you learned in class. Limit the moves you learn and learn them real well if time is a factor. I remember a competition I was at, MMA. A guy who was obviously physically handicapped new 3 punches only, and knew them well. Jab, right cross,left hook. It took a while and a beating but guess what .. he won. Goes on all the time with many martial arts. I've trained for the better part of my life. Getting together somewhere else or even at the dojo on our time we reviewed and trained. Eventually core groups would form. Look into kali/escrima as it crosses over. It'll give you footwork too. Look into russian systema as it has much knife involved, both offensive and defensive. Both teach disarming. Nickjc is ultimately right ... no getting around time put in ..but how you get there is up to you. You don't need to know it all, just more than the guy you have to defend against, and they rarely are the ones who train. Just my 2 cents.

I love the sharpmaker. Only problem is it really can't regrind. Once you set the angle on something else, bur prepped, its a great honer, especially the finer ceramics.

For checking sharpness, dry shave is good, nail test at the right angle with a solid bite, slicing paper cleanly (push and pull) all work. Next level up, hair popping sharp ... passing the knife through say your arm hair and you feel them catch the edge and pull pop/get sliced, thin glossly catalog paper cutting ... keep you ears open and let the knife slide through and even whittle, the quieter and cleaner the cut the sharper. Another level up, take the glossy paper, lightly fold it so it circular and test the knife lightly like you would trying to get it to bite your nail, see if it can catch and slace cleanly leaving a circle in the page .. now your getting sharp. Also hair wittling. But in the end, its all relative to the task. There is such a thing as too sharp as you'll dull the blade real fast. Food, I like a little tooth. Enough to grab a tomatoe skin just a tad and glide through the body. One real good test for sharpness and relation to durability, grab a thick catalog or phonebook. take a bit of the corner before sharpening and carefully push down till it bottoms out ..... check how many pages you got through. Sharpen it and try it again ... see how many more you got through than the unsharpened time. Repeat till you start hitting the same # of pages from the first test. Tells you a lot about your angle, the steel, the knife's function. Cardboard works to. Sharpen and push cut a page from a catalog. Then get a piece of cardboard and slice it ... check against paper .. repeat. Soon, you'll get a feel what you need that knife for and how sharp you really need to go with it. just my 2 cents.

They work pretty well but have 1 serious downfall. Designed primarily for kitchen knives, they did not take the knive's bolster, if it has one, into consideration. Henckles, Wustoffs and forged blades have them. If your just honing, you probably will not have it happen. However if sharpening regularly or using the coarse grind, the bolster does not fit in the well, and just get so close. Eventually, you will eat away the blade past the bolster. At that point, you can no longer properly chop/dice etc. Unless you hang the bolster off the block.