Sharpmaker vs Wusthof 2 stage knife sharpener

[JohnWayne360]

Hi, thanks to you guys I just pulled the trigger on a RAT RC-5 SERE. Now I just want your views on whether I should get the Spyderco Sharpmaker or Wusthof 2 stage knife sharpener. They're both relatively cheap, and seem to get good reviews.

What worries me is that some people say the sharpmaker takes a while to learn and it's too fragile, and I'm looking for it to be part of a proper backpacking system.

The sharpening system should also be able to keep my scissors and multitool sharp (I dont see how any of those wouldn't be able to handle said tasks)

I'm a total tool when it comes to sharpening and I don't know which one would suit me better. Please advice. Thanks.

 

[unit]

Based on what I see here a lot (and what I don't see here), I think MANY people are familiar with the Sharpmaker, and fewer are familiar with the Wusthof.

I am one of those people. The Sharpmaker will work for all the tasks you mention, and once you learn how to sharpen, it will do all of those tasks quite well. No device I know of will give you great results without some learning on your part....the best you can hope for is a device that simplifys this learning process.

Sorry, I can not give you an objective comparison of the two devices you mention. However, there is a reasonable chance that neither device will be the last sharpening tools you buy...just as your last knife will also not likely be the last knife you will ever buy.

Please understand that I am not saying that anything discussed is bad...it just sort of works that way...I will probably only quit buying "better" stuff when I die.

 

[LawyerSam]

Good question. I was torn between the Spyderco setup, and a Lansky system that they say costs $25, and then maybe a couple of just plain old stones, something to take a blade that is less than sharp to a fully sharp edge, and then maybe something that will take dull to a less than sharp. That is, maybe one stone that will take kitchen knives and scissors that have never been sharpened to a point where it would approximate where my Spyderco knife might be if I used it 10 times to open boxes and cut the cardboard up and just needed to sharpen a decently keen knife.