Almost as important as the tools and knives that you bring with you is a sharpening kit. Maintenance is very important. You will want to keep your knives, machetes, hatchets, tomahawks and axes sharp to minimize your effort to do the job at hand. 30 chops is better than 90 chops for the same piece of firewood.
Our Bug Out Sharpening Kit
Our basic sharpening kit starts off with a canvas zip bag. You do not want a bag or container that will hold in moisture and contribute to rust so the bag will need to be independently water resistant or inside another pack, bag, tote etc that is. Our base camp sharpening kit is in a large ammo box. This bug out sharpening kit is for maintenance. If you maintain your edge, it will be less effort and less time to get the job done. Letting the edge go can cost you at least half a day in valuable time when you could be doing something else, not to mention costing material off of your knife, machete, ax etc to regain the edge.
Contents Of The Bug Out Sharpening Kit
Our kit contains a fresnel lense (plastic card shaped magnifier) in order to see your edge, a Worksharp guided field sharpener, a pair of cut resistant gloves, a pair of Knipex cobra mini pliers, a sharpie marker (to mark your edge for beginner sharpeners), a bottle of 3 in 1 oil to treat the tool being sharpened and keep rust away, a Super Eraser rust remover and a Fallkniven DC4 sharpening stone. New addition today to this kit was a Nicholson 6″ Triangular slim tapered file (In our larger kit, we have the Lansky Dual Grit Sharpener for the axes.) and some homemade Fixin’ Wax.
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Each Item
Fresnel Lense- This one came from one of our favorite sites at www.bepreparedtosurvive.com. This enables you to see the edge of the knife in detail.
Cut Resistant Gloves – small cuts and scrapes become a big deal when you bug out, infection can set in quickly. Things aren’t as sanitary as it would be at home. Medical supplies and personnel are not readily available. Wear protective equipment – always.
Knipex Cobra Mini pliers – to hold onto a knife or stone only if necessary.
Sharpie marker – to “paint” the edge in order to effectively sharpen exactly where you need to, ensuring that your angle is correct.
Worksharp Guided Field Sharpener – This is great to get the exact angle on the exact sharpening grit you need for each individual knife grind. It contains diamond plates, ceramic rods and a leather strop all in one with angle guides.
3 in 1 Oil – useful for many things, but keeping a knife, ax or machete from rusting after treatment is ideal. I have used Frog Lube for this as well, and I think I like it a bit better.
Super Eraser Rust remover – feels like a rubber eraser, but cleans up rust off a knife, ax, machete or tool so it can be treated with 3 in 1 oil or Frog Lube.
Fallkniven DC4 Sharpening stone – diamond/ceramic wet stone. Perfect for the perfect edge maintenance. This stone can be used on larger knives and tools that do not fit within the confines of the field sharpener as well.
Nicholson 6″ triangle tapered file – for any aggressive material removal on a tool – try not to have to use it!