www.raymears.com/ Ray Mears shows his preferred method of sharpening an axe at camp, using a series of bench stones. This clip comes from the DVD extras of Ray Mears Bushcraft Survival Series 2.
This video demonstrates the use of bulky and heavy equipment, most people would not be able/willing to bring into the wild. This is a great technique for home, or if you're setting up a semi-permanent outpost in the woods.
As a modern logger, we use a similar Collins axe and cut the handle off at wrist to pit length. Then oil the handle. Used for driving wedges and occasional limb.
Unless I'm mistaken, I think you mean Fällkniven. Fjällraven sells backpacks. Ray used to carry my favorite folding knife, the Fällkniven TK4. I haven't seen him carry that anymore though since he now has his own branded knives.
Good geometry, steel and heat treat can produce a blade thats razor sharp at a low angle that wont roll or chip on knots. 1/2 axes and hatchets tend to keep razor sharpness longer due to less velocity in the swing and force on impact as compared to full size axes. -Blade geometry determines the functionality of steel and heat treat.
You sharpen your tools whenever you feel like it takes more power than normal to do your cuts/chops. A dull blade is more dangerous because of this. You try to compensate for the dullness by chopping harder, using more elbowgrease, if you know what i mean. I like to keep my knives razor sharp, it is a bit overkill, but it is so satisfying to sharpen blades :) Almost like meditation hehe..
to everyone his own, I prefer bringing 3 stones if I have the packing space. its not only good for your tools but also satisfying to do. the only problem with 3 wetstones is the volume, the weight is not even 1,5kg so when I go camping with a car or canoe its not a problem at all. a file and combination stone is field kit in my opinion.
@kaizoebara he is not teaching little child campers he is here to teach what to do in survival when you are out for weeks or even months away form civilization.
LOL! At first, I thought that you were offering to sell an axe for $75. Now I see that you're saying that you're very happy with the one you bought. I really need to start paying more attention to details. I've been getting in trouble at work lately. Anyway, thanks so much for the recommendation. Those are beautiful axes. You talked me into it! What length handle should I get? Cheers! -Scott
apparently every idiot here seems to think that "camp" means backpacking. If you were set up at a base camp where you literally drove in with one to two vehicles to set up a camp, especially for an week or two this wouldn't be a thing to even think about.
hello mr Ray Mears , I like all of your sharpening videos , and i think you do it better than many people :) so i'm gonna ask you some questions lol : I sharp since 4 years , loving it ... i have 2 japeneese waterstones ( 1st :grit 400/1000 40 $ . 2nd : Kasumi ,grit 3000/8000 120 $ ceramic ) .In your videos , your waterstones seem to be very smooth , regular and featureless , and they seem very resistant and sustainable... the question is, where did you buy it ? thanks !!! :p
How often should you sharpen your axe or is it a case of just when it starts to get not as sharp. Also what is a good weight to sharpen you axe when you are outdoors? Luke
Unfortunately I sharpen my knife and axe to such a degree that it is suicide to use them. They are so sharp that they actually cut atoms in the air in half causing large nuclear explosions every time I get them out so I can never use them.
I just use a short 2 inch coarse 800 grit pocket stone to take any nicks and dings out the blade. Axes don't need to be razor sharp at all, you risk damaging the blade if it hits a knot because the edge will be too thin.
Lately, I've just been grabbing a flattish rock whenever I need to sharpen my hatchet. Good to see the technique though, in case I ever want to do it right.
Tyler .. whetstone is the correct term and no whetstone is old english for any sharpening stone which could be a dry stone, oil stone or water stone... A water stone is used with water as a lubricant.
Bit late I know, but it looked like a camera or a lighting case. All about improvisation. Though I bet the tech who was responsible for it, was not happy about the slurry on it.
Very few of my knives have such a wide bevel,typically they come new with a bevel only maybe 1mm or less each side,as with my German Boker Lock Knife.Does the same apply to these,tilt them on the stone to find the correct angle,or would you recommend a huge amount of fileing untill such a pronounced bevel is achieved? My knives are usually of much more slender metal. Thanks,Neil.
The wide bevel in his knives is called a scandinavian grind and its not very recommendable to try to regrind your knives to that. You will most certainly ruin them. A good trick to find the right angle to sharpen regular grinds is to take a marker and "draw" a line on the bevel. When you stroke the knife over your stone, you will be able to check which part of the bevel had contact with the stone (because the sharpening will remove the colour) and so be able to adjust your angle. Alternatively there are "clips" beeing sold, for kitchen knives mostly, which you can put on the back of your knife to help hold the angle.
I would be happy to use a combination stone with a weak detergent as my lube at home, but carry a diamond sharpener or puck in the field, just to save weight in my pack. Japanese water stones are too expensive for most users, and are too easily damaged. You should also learn to sharpen ambidextrously so that you can always push the blade away from you from either side instead of pulling it towards you. The main benefit from the convex grind is that it reduces friction and edge wear when splitting wood along the grain. Trust me, I am a professional weapons technician, and I have been sharpening blades for >60 years now.
First of all, you did say it seems you said you were curious as to why all of them come from those countries. Secondly You told me to leave the page. I suggest you educate yourself.
I use carbide to sharpen most of my tools including one that is easy to carry about the size and shape of a hockey puck. I am not going to haul water stones anywhere using my own two feet. You have a good day now.
Don't try to give me that - how many expeditions of such an epic scale have you been on? Much more important for edge maintainence of axes and machetes would be a decent file. If the edge chips for whatever reason (especially machetes are prone to hit hidden stones/rocks etc in brush clearing) I want to see you take out that nick with an 800 grit stone, but I guess that is what you meant by passing the time.
You seem to mix up edge angle, edge thickness, and edge finish. An axe can have a quite substantial edge geometry (thickness+edge angle) to prevent chipping and still have a polished edge capable of shaving hair off the arm. Indeed, a polished edge will last longer when chopping than a coarse one. However, a medium (Japanese 800) grit stone will be sufficient for field sharpening. To improve the edge, you can strop on a belt or piece of wood even.
it all boils down to personal opinions and understandings. what you see as bushcraft(doing more with less) is survival in my opinion and when you camp without modern day equipment(nothing modern about wetstones, or canoe's) you're performing bushcraft, you dont go bushcrafting. I definetly see your point and I think you see mine, wich is good. in the end the only thing that matters is that we enjoy the great outdoors and treat it with respect :)
You could just bring a 2-sided stone with medium/fine or coarse/medium sides. No need to bring multiple stones, and quite frankly they're not all that dense so it won't be hard to pack. I for one have a small whetstone in my tackle box along with a fillet knife and a small carving knife.
Rethgore I have a vintage Course / fine oil stone course side for if the old axe has rust on the edge and then fine to make it sharp. Then you can always use ya jeans as a strop which has ya wallet under it.
instead of going camp with all those stones, and boxes, and stuff, bring 4 axes. once you can't cut anything with one, throw it away and get the other one. and so on... more practical...
Also, listen carefully to the first 20sec. of 'How to sharpen a knife in the field' I quote: "Whenever we sharpen a knife in the field, it's going to be a compromise, because we can't carry the large benchstones that we would use at home." Carrying all these stones would only be sensible if you were the dedicated sharpener for a unit of over 100men. The Japanese Military in WWII provided such for the upkeep of officers' swords, but for (even long term) bushcraft/survival? Gimme a break.
My *analogy* makes perfect sense and you are completely missing my point. I am not saying that Ray's technique sucks. If you do that, your axe will be sharp. He ist just going overboard with his tools. If you look at people who chopped wood for a living in the days of old, all they would carry for maintainance was a file and an small disc shaped hone - called an "axe stone". The DC4 that he uses in his "how to sharpen a knife in the field" vid would perfectly fit into that role.
@JustinJaybrown RE calling you "fanboy" - I'm not a native speaker, but AFAIK, there is no adult version of "fanboy". It also wasn't infantile to call you that, because it was just stating a fact: you're a fan of Ray (nothing wrong w/ that, so am I) and you blatantly put down my valid criticism because of that (the fanboy part). Others have also pointed out that the stones were a bit much or agreed with ppl who did. Jeez, I guess they also hate poor Ray, don't they?
@JustinJaybrown Yeah right, you believe that fanboy. If you had to rough it for months, you'd take a file and a pocket stone just like the pioneers did in the West. Bringing a whole set of stones would only weigh you down.
its a large base camp spastic... its to simulate what you could do at home before you go out on a hike... this equipment isn't "pulled out of a pack" its stored in the 4x4 you have or at home, and left there.
***** when ray mears goes into the woods he packs heavy...and sets up a base camp...it's no overnighter ultralight. ...he literally lives in the woods...hes not surviving and trying to get home..hes using primitive techniques, to live in the woods. ..completely different from the art of survival to get home.
@JustinJaybrown I shave with straight razor, so yes, I can sharpen a knife. The best part is I can even sharpen a knife w/o a whole set of stones. Do I prefer a collection of stones when I am at home? You bet! There's nothing better to get a real good finish on your knives. But when I am out and about, I can make do with a small pocket stone. And that is my critique here: big stones sure work best, but it just isn't a feasible way to sharpen @ the camp.
No matter whether it is bushcraft or survival this is not for the camp. This is what you do at home. During outings you'd just touch up the edge with a pocket stone.
Just to tease you a bit: Would you also be willing to admit that Gordon Ramsay is the authority on kitschen knife sharpening? I mean he got 13 Michelin Stars, has 18 restaurants and his own TV show - Look up his sharpening advice here on youtube and you'll see what I mean. If you want sound advice on sharpening axes, look for Bernie Weisgerber. He's forgot more about axes than Ray will ever know.
lovely idea, I will defiently carry few kilograms of stones to do camping to sharpen an axe. technically it will be lighter to throw the axe away and have few spare ...
At camp? With al those stones and stone holders? Really? Do you have slaves carrying your stuf around? You actually need a file to repair big damage and axe puk to maintain your axe edge. What about put stone to axe not axe to stone? I will never sharpen heavy axe like a knife on a stone. I will rather move 200g stone on axe blade. The way you do it is like splitting wood by throwing the logs on splitting axe edge instead of splitting with the axe itself.
Oh yes, really. You obviously have read nothing about african or native american bushcrafters. The difference is, in those places they use this skill to survive, not to play "survivor" and make videos. You live in a small world.
To save fuel maybe... Seriously though, a file and the small combination stone that he used to sharpen his parang (IIRC in the Thailand episode) would be much more useful than this set of stones. Also, it is my understanding of bushcraft, that you take only what you need with you in order to escape the clutter of the hectic, modern world. Sure Ray travels with a whole film crew, but what he shows in his show is supposed to be advice for the individual bushcrafter, isn't it?
If you want to take your stones even if it were a dozen, more power to you! Yet, Ray is doing a "bushcraft" series. My understanding of "bushcraft" is that you try to accomplish more with less. For me it is going to the woods in order to leave the clutter of modern hi-tech behind. Camping on the other hand is trying to enjoy nature with the comfort of hi-tech equipment instead of relying on "primitive methods". Nothing wrong with that, but it's a different approach.
+the oncoming storm - Awe man! Shut the fuck up already! A few posts up and you were fucking giving the thumbs up to sharpening axes with river stones and now you're talking more shit to lighten the fact that you're a true douche' bag.
You have read how much I enjoy a sense of humor, so I guess your remark is designed to be insulting and boring at the same time, right? How fiendishly clever you are, you should give yourself a pat on the back.
neohubris I'm inclined to say most expertly done instructional videos have that effect. In Ray Mears's case, his manner and voice soothe. His RU-vid video on proper handling of an axe has a certain above-it-all quality
I don't know if I can justify an axe. I feel that I can cross cut faster, safer, and easier with a saw, which is much smaller and lighter. I split wood only occasionally (the right size is usually available) with a large knife and baton. I'd love to buy a nice Wetterling axe, but I just don't know if it's worth it to carry the bulk and weight. Convince me that I'm wrong. I'm open...
