PERSONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Rick Allnutt
51 Year old male
183 cm (6' 0'') in height
90 kg (198 lbs) in weight
Email address: rick (at) BackpackGearTest (dot) org
Homepage:  Risk's Ultralight Hiking Page
Trailname: "Risk"
I live in Dayton, Ohio

BACKPACKING BACKGROUND
Over the last several years, I have become an ultralight camper with a three-season base pack weight of about 17 lb (8 kg) and skin out weight of 25 lb (11 kg). I have completed many section hikes on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in all four seasons, with a total mileage of about 780 miles (1240 km). I am a gearhead, a hammock camper, and I make much of my own equipment.

PRODUCT INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Spyderco
Year Manufactured: 2005
Manufacturer's Link: http://www.spyderco.com
MSRP: US $74.95
Listed Weight: Not found on web pages
Measured Weight: system and case - 14.3 oz (405 g)
     single brown (coarse) grit triangular stone - 1.6 oz (45 g)
     single white (fine) grit triangular stone - 1.8 oz (51 g)

FIELD CONDITIONS

During March I tested the usefulness of the sharpener for a wide variety of sharpening tasks at my home. In April, I began a long hike on the AT. During this period, I carried one of the white ceramic stones as a knife sharpener. I used it to keep my neck knife sharpened like a razor.  Conditions ranged from a hectic indoor environment in March, to a more relaxed trail hiking life in April and early May. Temperatures ranged from freezing to T-shirt weather. Weather has run the range of dry to wet to snow and every stage between. Altitudes have been consistent with the wooded hills of Virginia and Pennsylvania.    

REVIEW

For a complete description of the sharpening system and the instructional video, please see my Initial Report.

The Sharpmaker system is proving to be one of the most useful tools in my gear closet. To most of my acquaintances, it is clear that I love working with knives. I own a number of knives bought especially for their light weight and suitability for camping and hiking trips. In addition, I have forged and built several knives of my own design.  Making sure these knives stay sharp is a matter of personal pride. Keeping them sharp has become an easier and faster task with this sharpener.

The directions included with the sharpening system, both video and written, are clear and easy to understand. From the first moments watching the video, I was already sharpening all sorts of knives and other items around my house.  The first project was to put a fresh edge on my outdoor knife collection. Among these knives are several with black anodized knife blades.  For the black blades, as well as highly polished blade surfaces, it is nice to be able to ensure the beauty of the blade surface is not marred by a careless use of a stone.  Occasionally, with stones which require holding the blade by hand, this can be difficult.  I had no episodes of an inadvertent scrape of the side of the blade with this sharpening system. 

The next project was sharpening a set of 12 highly polished steak knives in my wife's knife drawer.  These smooth edged stainless knives are the devil to sharpen without blade scrapes on a short stone.  Keeping them sharp has often turned into an ordeal of more than an hour of careful application of a stone.  Even then, with the hand held blade angle, I was never quite happy with the final edge.  With the Spyderco system, the steak knives can easily be honed to a razor edge before a dinner.  It is a matter of only a minute or two per knife.  The resulting smooth cutting of grain fed beef steak is a fitting reward for me and my guests, improving the whole ambiance of the meal. 

For at least 30 years, serrated edges have been offered on various household knives. As a compulsive knife sharpener, I have always stayed away from these blades because of the complexity of sharpening them.  The Spyderco Tri-Angle system is a perfect answer to my long-standing dilemma. As part of the sharpening system, the stones can be turned so the edge of the triangular stone is in the V shaped area designed for sharpening. The radius of the edge of the triangle is small enough that the sharpening edge easily rides down into the narrowest of serrations.  This allows the entire edge to be sharpened instead of the points only. It looks better and it works better to sharpen a serrated blade this way.  I was able to quickly sharpen a dozen serrated blades in my kitchen which had gone unsharpened for a decade.

One observation I would make about the sharpening process is an alternate method of sharpening with the stones in the base.  In the method described on the video and the instruction booklet, the user makes alternating single strokes of the knife on the stones.  I have found it is often faster to polish one side of the edge with circular motions for several seconds on one side and then the other.  Especially when using the flat sides of the stones, this circular motion is far more likely to be against the side of the stone than when it is simply drawn over the stone once.  It is relatively easy to ensure the blade stays at a constant angle because the blade is held vertical (which is easy to visually correct) while the stone is at a constant angle. 

The sharpening system is good for more than knives. I sew much of my own camping equipment. I often need to cut threads with the tip of a pair of scissors to eliminate unsightly thread pieces at the beginning and ending of a line of stitching.  This requires the utmost sharpness from a pair of scissors.  If they are not sharp, the scissors mangle the end of the thread, fraying it and leaving an unsightly mess at the end of a row of stitching.  By placing one of the Sharpmaker stones in the end of the baseplate, the proper angle for sharpening a pair of scissors is obtained.  This system works well and I have used it to maintain the sharpness of my sewing scissors.

When the BackpackGearTest.org test of this sharpener was being designed, it became clear that the system is not readily designed to be carried while backpacking. I confirm this opinion. With a weight of nearly a pint (half-liter) of water, I would not consider carrying the system in my ultralight pack. However, carrying a single sharpening stone from the kit is feasible. With that in mind, I have learned how to hold a knife blade with the back of the blade riding on my finger maintaining a constant angle while honing a blade to a super sharp edge. 

A photograph of this method of using a single stone appears at the top of this review.  I used this method of sharpening my knife many times during my hike. It is quick and easy to sharpen a knife using this method. The stone did not chip or break in a soft sided container in my pack.  

There is much more to be explored.  Scissors, nail clippers, fishing hooks, punches, potato peelers, and the repair of screw drivers.  I will work on these devices during the long term reporting period.

TEST PLANS AND FINDINGS

Here are a few things I said I would be interested in when I wrote my Initial Report:

I will be interested in finding out how well the sharpener works on smooth blades, serrated blades, scissors, and tools. This workhorse quickly sharpens all sorts of blades. I have never been able to sharpen knives as fast or any better.

I look forward to learning how to use the sharpener stone manually for field sharpening.  My findings are very encouraging. The sharpener component is worth while in my ultralight pack.