Hello,
I've never really done much bush 'craft' in the past, it's more bush 'destruction' for the purpose of setting fire to it once I've broken it up, and then drinking beer while I watch it disappear.
Consequently I am a tremendously fat man and I want to get more in to this kind of stuff to get fit, and one thing I'd really like to get my head around is sharpening a knife competently. I can sometimes, and I stress sometimes, get a knife shaving-sharp, but it never lasts.
I've got some decent enough knives (more decent that I deserve given my incompetence at looking after them). But when I read people's writings about their knives which are 'shaving sharp', then spend a day in the woods beating the hell out of trees, then are still 'shaving sharp' at the end of the day, it strikes me as completely alien to any experience I've ever had with any knife.
My experience with all outdoor type knives, regardless of expense, type of metal, type of grind or angle of grind is this: 'It was shaving sharp at the start of the day, then I split a couple of logs, feathered a few sticks, and now when I try to shave with it one or two hairs come off my arm if I press hard enough, but I don't want to press that hard because I don't like hospitals'.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks and hello. I have nothing to contribute to this forum but questions, I hope that's okay. I may try to pass other people's expertise off as my own later on when I've learned some stuff from you.
I've never really done much bush 'craft' in the past, it's more bush 'destruction' for the purpose of setting fire to it once I've broken it up, and then drinking beer while I watch it disappear.
Consequently I am a tremendously fat man and I want to get more in to this kind of stuff to get fit, and one thing I'd really like to get my head around is sharpening a knife competently. I can sometimes, and I stress sometimes, get a knife shaving-sharp, but it never lasts.
I've got some decent enough knives (more decent that I deserve given my incompetence at looking after them). But when I read people's writings about their knives which are 'shaving sharp', then spend a day in the woods beating the hell out of trees, then are still 'shaving sharp' at the end of the day, it strikes me as completely alien to any experience I've ever had with any knife.
My experience with all outdoor type knives, regardless of expense, type of metal, type of grind or angle of grind is this: 'It was shaving sharp at the start of the day, then I split a couple of logs, feathered a few sticks, and now when I try to shave with it one or two hairs come off my arm if I press hard enough, but I don't want to press that hard because I don't like hospitals'.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks and hello. I have nothing to contribute to this forum but questions, I hope that's okay. I may try to pass other people's expertise off as my own later on when I've learned some stuff from you.