New to knives and could use some guidance...

Hi,

I currently live and work in Central America and usually get back home to the US once or twice a year. Until recently I’ve had only a SAK and a machete (standard for yard work here).


I decided to get a new knife and have fallen into the vortex, spending a lot of time watching videos and reading A LOT of posts on this forum. I’ll be going to the US for work next week and have the following waiting for me as my first knives as a hobbyist:

-Ontario Rat 2 in D2 (for beater/EDC purposes)

-FF/Massdrop Gent (S35vn) (for when I need something more gentlemanly than Rat 2)

-Ohta FK7 Higo in D2 (because I fell in love with the look and simplicity)

And the following accessories:

-Wiha torx set

-Lansky diamond/ceramic 4 rod turn box

-Strop block (the green one)

Since there is no reliable mail service here, what I bring back with me will be all I have for at least the next 8 months or so. The knives will be EDC but will not see heavy use at all.

My questions:

-Am I set? Is there anything obvious that I’m overlooking that I will need?

-Is the Lansky and strop block sufficient for keeping these knives sharp for a novice? Am I short sighted in buying the Lansky and not the Sharpmaker?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!


You're a fast learner. You made some very impressive first picks getting into this stuff. As you go on you'll narrow down what you like more and more.
The only thing I'd change on that list is to get some diamond paste and make some strops using denim or linen glued to a flat board using 3M spray or equivalent. You'll see a much greater result than pre loaded strops with green paste. Honestly, unless you're looking to refine and polish an edge bevel all you need is a good piece of leather to remove the remants of a burr and to occasionally clean the apex with. Much easier to travel with and keep isolated than a big hunk of wood with paste all over it. A lot of times i find all i need to do is take my belt off, stretch it tight, and make several good passes on it after my final stone and it does the trick. After several uses do it again. Does well until you start trying to go past 1500 grit or so and you're wanting to go a lot higher. Hard to decently inexpensive stones over 1500 grit or so. I doubt you'd want or need to travel with high end waterstones.

As far as the sharpmaker, it's good for occasional quick touch ups but for anything else I'm unimpressed. Much better sharpeners you can get for that price, though the sharpmaker type of setup is very portable and it'll work, just don't make it do serious work to an edge bevel. It'll take forever and many tedious passes where you're trying to hold the knife just so. It gets old quick. For a beginner I'd rather see someone go with a basic lansky kit. It's somewhat limited but fairly inexpensive and portable. Once you figure out what you're doing the lansky will yield results that rival most other sharpening systems, just without as much range in choosing your angles and whatnot.
 
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A multitool would also be useful or a swiss army knife. They come in very handy in a pinch.
 
Lots of great info here to add to your well rounded research.

One thing I will throw out there, that doesn't get much love, the smith's 3-way sharpening system. It's a poor man's sharpmaker, but also has a built in diamond plate for when more then just a touchup is needed, as well as the dreaded pull through sharpeners, which aren't ideal, but still come in handy if you're in a hurry and need a quick edge. I bring it up because it is quite affordable, and travels well...

All in all though, you seem pretty set. Maybe pick up a lansky puck for your machete edges?
 
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