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knife sharpening in the backcountry...

Been using a Lansky,ceramic & steel sharpeners with ceramic straight edge & folding steel rod too.
I do carry a dual diamond that folds & is very light.
I love sharp tools.
 
I carry a victorinox paring knife or two, no sharpener, and have been content even on elk. One less thing to clutter the random stuff pouch.
 
I might get beat up over this, but I really like the cheap, light weight easy sharpeners like the one below. I have deboned a number of animals in the field and its easy to use while your hands are covered in blood and if anything happens to it, I can easily replace it for cheap.

Outdoor-pocket-hunting-2-stage-knife-sharpener.jpg
 
I used to carry a small diamond stick in my pack. However, these days I do everything with a Havalon and just replace the blades. It's so easy, and I don't see myself going back to a traditional knife and sharpener
 
I used to carry a small diamond stick in my pack. However, these days I do everything with a Havalon and just replace the blades. It's so easy, and I don't see myself going back to a traditional knife and sharpener

x100000 . I could not agree more. I even use my havalon to debone and break down my elk and deer at the house. A havalon and a few spare blades is so much easier than jacking with sharpening a knife midway through gutting/quartering......but then again I was just talking about the old school ways of doing things that seem so prevalent on this board...lol
 
I might get beat up over this, but I really like the cheap, light weight easy sharpeners like the one below. I have deboned a number of animals in the field and its easy to use while your hands are covered in blood and if anything happens to it, I can easily replace it for cheap.

View attachment 73260

That's what I use too. Light and easy. I can do the real honing while I'm sitting on the couch at home.
 
I prefer the little, yellow Smith's Jiff Sharpeners also. Small, lightweight, cheap, and bring a good edge back quickly with a few swipes.
 
I use a mix of old and new thinking I guess. I tried the Havalon and Outdoor Edge replaceable blade knives and they work great on game. I found that I still carried a pocket or belt knife for all the other things I find to do with a knife while out hunting that I want a sturdier blade for. Carrying two knives is wasted weight I figured. I ended up buying an old Gerber Bolt Action Exchange blade knife off Ebay. I also bought a spare hunting blade for it. Now I carry the knife in my pocket with the utility blade, and have the two hunting blades (one gut-hook, one drop point) in my game processing kit. The whole set-up weighs 5.5oz and gives me 3 real knife blades I can switch out as they dull and sharpen at camp or home. I probably don't need 3 blades even for an elk but I like having them, I hate using a dull knife. I have a saw blade for it I can throw in too if I ever feel it is necessary.

I used to always carry a fixed blade on my belt and a Cabelas ceramic steel that weighed 2.8oz. It worked well also if I used it before a knife became to dull. It will also restore the blade on an Outdoor Edge in a couple strokes. I used the same replaceable blade all last winter in one of my knives cutting net wrap off round bales. A time or two each week I'd bring it to the house and hit it on the ceramic steel and it was razor sharp again. Some days we cut over 30 bales with it, it cut hundreds over the winter.

Nate Simmons gear list turned me on to Benchmade's little sharpener too. It's called the mini tactical pro and works like the yellow sharpeners listed above but is smaller and weighs .6oz.
 
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