lansky

LANSKY

When I was a young lad one of my first knife sharpeners ( I have no idea what my first knife was-my dad shared my stand that one couldn’t own enough knives and made sure I had my share, plus warded off any unwarranted attention from my mother- no, dear, it’s a guy thing, you wouldn’t understand.  Something quite primal and good in blades ) was a regular stone.  Of course I had no success with it, but just chalked it up to younger age energy and a complete lack of mechanical skills.  Later in life, as I learned how to relax and take my time ( that’s what she said! ), and I became far more experienced in the manly arts of actually doing rather than reading, I still couldn’t get the hang of a stone.  My second knife sharpener was a Lansky, one of the original ones ( or close enough ) usually only found in malls and NOT inexpensive!  The Lansky is the stones you attach to a metal guiding rod, place the rod the knife clamp and you get the correct angle, no guessing.  That Lansky didn’t last long.  I have no idea why.  Too much patience required, I moved and got rid of everything, whatever.  I don’t know what I did in the intervening eight or ten years for a sharpener, my memory has never been stellar with mundane life details, but mid-90’s I came across a homemade craft product at a Preparedness Expo which offered a sharpener I’d never encountered before.  The carbide V in a strip of metal that was placed on the key ring. 

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Since then, of course, everybody and their Chinese brother has ripped off that idea, but back then I was quite enamored with the new found freedom of being able to sharpen a knife without any skill or effort required.  Now, I’m with you- a sharpening stone is the optimal solution.  When the store bought runs out, nature has plenty of rocks you can improvise on.  It is a forever tool.  But if you can’t adequately use a tool, the best thing to do is find another way.  I barely pass as adequate at firing a rifle, and knowing my limitations I don’t try for shooting long distance.  So with my adequate replacement I promptly forgot about the Lansky and whatever else I had been using.  You use a knife, high carbon steel or stainless, cheap or spendy, and with a few swipes it is nice and sharp again.  And that is where I’ve been for the last twenty years, collecting and using the same type of sharpener ( I‘ve also used the kitchen types, the two wheels overlapping or the round stone between two wheels, but the basic principle is the same-the manufacturer fixes the angle for you AND they are darn cheap ).  Until this year. 

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A loyal generous minion offered a Lansky but not thinking very clearly I politely declined.  I was okay with my multitude of new V sharpeners.  Then, weeks later, working subconsciously from his mention, I got to thinking that there were some knives I hadn’t been able to sharpen.  I had promptly forgotten the issue, filing them under “worry about that later”.  In retrospect, that was kind of retarded.  I have one and half Lee-Enfields worth of bayonets ( in other words, what one and a half rifles cost me back when they were affordable is what I now have in a collection of pig stickers-six or eight knife types and ten or twelve tent stake types ) that need a real sharpener.  This is what happens when you get older.  You convince yourself you can still remember mental notes.  To acknowledge this isn’t true is to in effect accept onrushing death.  So we lie to ourselves and still think we can remember important details ( and hell, I know better, having probably forgotten more article ideas than I’ve actually written-and I’ve written around three thousand ). 

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So I promptly ordered a basic $25 Lansky unit, just the standard stone attachments.  And it took about five minutes to get a nice sharp bayonet.  Of course, in fifteen minutes I STILL couldn’t sharpen the little whore of a boot knife which started this whole process of realizing poor quality control can also happen in the knife industry ( a little 4 inch $12 boot knife, “Raider II”.  A nice looking leather sheath for dressing up, and made in Taiwan which is surprising.  My first one was fine but its replacement seems to be un-sharpen-able.  I shan’t be ordering another ).  I’ve almost always had great luck buying inexpensive stainless steel knives, but not that one.

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The Lansky doesn’t really look like it could last a lifetime, what with the un-reinforced plastic hole to place the guide rod.  And it isn’t exactly top notch performance with the rod screw loosening during use.  But it sure gets the job done and I’m not using it for everyday sharpening.  For that I’ve ordered several Rada Cutlery R119 sharpeners-I swear by these and at $7 each I plan on having about another half dozen.  The Lansky is for putting a new, correct angel ( I use the 25 degree slot, your mileage may vary ) on a dull blade and then the Rada will keep the edge on.  For travel, or bug-outs I have a Lansky brand key ring carbide sharpener.  It goes with me all the time.  For longevity, I’ve also ordered the diamond stone course attachment for the Lansky.  Diamond works quicker than regular stone and should last a lot longer.  Not cheap-two were more expensive than the whole Lansky kit ( just the “course“ stones, not the whole set-I think a complete diamond set is double the cost of the traditional stone ).  But I think now I’ve completely licked the knife sharpening without skill issue ( I was missing the element of compensating for those knives not initially responsive to a carbide V use ).  Yes, it sucks that I’ve spent $47 on all the single units in the tool kit where a $7 stone should have sufficed.  But since a sharp knife is required to be a useful tool, it is the price you pay.  How much have I spent of all those knives over the years, anyway?  In the long run, a small price indeed.  Rush out and trade in those soon to be worthless Greenbacks for tangible goods-using my Amazon ads, of course.

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