Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Honing Steel

Looking for recommendations on a good honing steel. Ceramic? Flat? Round? Thinking 12-14 inches long.

I've had 2 ceramics, one was high dollar...I am not impressed.

Just an old dexter russell.

I have this one, works great.


Hone

Japanese natural whetstone (several different brands)- Kinda pricey but the best.

after that a shapton stone (I settled for one of these) glass or ceramic, they're both really good.

very very distant 3rd is an Arkansas waterstone.

all can be found on amazon or ebay

Several months ago I decided to learn how to sharpen a knife. I have worn out several knives trying to sharpen them and was never satisfied with the results. I have a Lansky sharpening set and realized how sharp a knife can be but it is not always handy or feasible. I am by no means an expert or even very good at it. After using stones to acquire an edge, hones are the next step. I like diamond hones. The one referenced above at Amazon works well. I also have a razor hone like barbers used to use. It is a very fine stone, not a strop. If I don't let the edge get too bad I can restore it with a hone and a leather strop. I have not been satisfied with ceramic or steel. I know butchers use a steel all the time and keep their knives very sharp. I have just not acquired that talent, yet.

Do you keep a leather strop handy?
Most of the time, that's all you need to do.

I put honing compound on the edges of my knife sheaths.

Go to a restaurant supply store they have all kinds of sharpening equipment. I gave my SIL a diamond sharpening rod and a good steel for his birthday. I can get a very dull knife sharp enough to shave with in just a few minutes but he can't figure out how to use them.

Do what Roger said. After he put his axe to a strop and shaved off a chitload of whiskers.

Thanks for the info. I use a set of whetstones for sharpening along with a strop. Just looking for something to keep knives sharp in between sharpening.

These work pretty good.

it seems a lot of folks are confused about what a honing steel actually is. It is a steel rod, not ceramic, diamond or glass. It's a steel rod

......and as I understand it, it does not remove any metal only straightens out a rolled edge. Many things sold as "steels" are actually sharpening rods that remove metal.

I use the steel that came with my Henkel knives to roll the edge back, but would merely refer to it as a steel. It will not sharpen, hone or anything but square up the edge. With that said, I'm 4 years into these knives and NEVER used anything to sharpen them.....and i own a ton of sharpening equipment.

Stropping can be counterproductive if done wrong. If too much pressure is applied, the edge gets eroded.

I have an old Schrade Old-Timer Honesteel, model HS-1. Probably had it over 30 yrs, haven't used it most of them years. Never did learn proper technique to use it.

I have an old (70s) Gerber honing steel that's fairly large size. The flat one with the folding leather "handle/sheath". Quite good. I also have an old Schrade USA Honesteel, which is much smaller (and more packable, for sure).

I am a big fan of honing steels now. I have to use the flat ones, and I know I use them in an unconventional manner, but they work well for me. I don't care for the round rods, and never could do the thing like you see butchers do to hone their knives.

And yes, they are abrasive, and they will remove steel from the blade. Not much, but a little bit.

Something from a farm or estate sale.
The older the better.