Getting Home – Part 2, by BF

First, I had to decide where to spend my time bargain hunting and then plan my trip to maximize opportunities. The places where I decided to shop for the remaining necessary “get home” items were:

  • Thrift shops
  • Estate auctions
  • Pawn shops
  • Tag sales
  • Craigslist.com online listings
  • Walmart
  • Dollar stores
  • Grocery stores

Thrift Stores

These are stores that serve as outlets for the donation of goods to support the charity’s mission. Goodwill, DAV, and Salvation Army are the mainstays in this area. These are generally good to browse at, but they can be hard places in which to find bargains, as they get smarter about what things are worth and also as they leverage the Internet to sell higher-end items.

I have found there are also two other generic types of thrift stores. One is run by an individual who is trying to make a profit to support themselves, maybe with a “charity” that they publicize a relationship with. I usually avoid these, as the goods generally seem to come from garage sales that the owner goes to, buys stuff from, and then marks up to near new prices. The other type is a cause related charity that is normally opened by folks in the area who truly want to make a difference. These are usually staffed by volunteers and supported by donations from some of the more well-off people in the area. They have the advantage of higher quality goods and a staff that is not overly knowledgeable about what used items are worth. You can find these supporting cancer, AIDS outreach and prevention, adoption support, and other causes. Many times these are the only sort of thrift store where you can offer less than the amount being asked and the staff will lower the price.

I did some research on the Internet and found two Goodwill stores and one Salvation Army relatively close to each other. I also found two cause-related stores in the area. I allocated an hour and a half to see what I could find at these stores.

From the thrift stores, I was able to procure the following items:

  • Army surplus rip stop woodland camo pants$1
  • A half dozen cowbells with a local school logo on them for $3 (to use as a warning device once it’s strung on tangle foot-type trip wires made from paracord at nights.)
  • Two quart Stanley thermos (the big green one) for $2.50
  • Half dozen taper candles (unscented) $1; these are useful both for light and as fire starters
  • Knife, fork, spoon at only $.10 each
  • Kelty Red Wing 3500 cu inch backpack $2 (These are close to $100 new, and I was able to find one that fit my torso.)

    The cost so far has been a mere $9.80.I have more than $90 remaining.

Dollar Store

Next I stopped at a dollar store. I don’t normally shop at one, as I have found that most of them don’t seem to sell much of what I want. I had been reading some blogs lately where folks had gotten some good value at them, and I thought I’d give it a try. Now, I am sure that some stores are better than others, but the one I stopped at really didn’t have much that I could use. I did find the following:

  • Blue 6×8 polypropylene tarp $4, and
  • Wasp spray with a 20-foot range for $2, to use for less than lethal self defense.

The total spent so far is $15.80.

Walmart

At Walmart, I was able to purchase the following:

My running total of what I’d spent so far was now $56.30. (I still had more than $43 remaining.)

Garage Sales

I usually try to avoid the wealthier neighborhoods, as the people who live there tend to believe that what they are selling should still be worth close to what they paid for it. Instead, I like middle class and blue collar neighborhoods, especially those that don’t have a lot of young families selling baby clothes and toys that their kids just outgrew. I used Craig’s list and the local newspaper online classified to search for neighborhood garage sales where there would be quite a few sales within walking distance of each other, and then I checked with some of my co-workers who were locals to find out what kind of neighborhood they were.

From the garage sales, I was able to obtain the following:

  • Garden trowel for $.50 (It’s perfect for cat holes or tending camp fires)
  • Camping tent with poles and stakes $5 (In this situation some might consider a tent to be a luxury, but on the other hand, a good night’s sleep away from mosquitos and out of the rain is invaluable.)
  • Self-inflating sleeping pad for $1
  • Ski poles for $1 (I can use these for trekking poles while back packing. I used a set for a 90-mile hike at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, and they work great. )
  • Four one-liter water bottles, which I got for free (A lot of folks set out a “free” box at their garage sale.)
  • An older Boy Scout camp kitchen pot and pan set for $5 (This set included a two-gallon pot and fry pan with handle, a two quart pot with lid, a smaller fry pan, four aluminum plates, a coffee pot, and four stacking cups. Also included was a cooking fork and spoon, spatula, kitchen knife, and cutting board. The kit is too heavy for backpacking, but I would take the small pot and leave the rest with the Jeep, if I had to start hiking.)
  • A 40 channel CB radio with antenna for $5 (I did hook this up in the Jeep to ensure it worked before buying it.)

My running total at this point is just $73.80. (This leaves me more than $26.)

Tag Sales

I also checked Craig’s list (craigslist.com) for tag sales. These have become my favorite sort of sale of late. If you don’t have them in your area, basically they are an estate or moving sale where the owners have hired someone to sell the contents of their home. Everything is for sale, and the person running the sale has no emotional attachment to the goods, so the prices are reasonable and they take offers. The best way to find out about these is by searching Craigslist or by looking for signs posted on corners. Most of the folks running the sale with keep email lists, so ask to be added so you will have advanced notice. I found two tag sales listed and used the GPS to navigate to them.

From the tag sales, I purchased:

  • D handle shovel for $1
  • bow saw for $1
  • small portable charcoal grill with football team logo for $2 (I figured on using wood found along the way, instead of charcoal.)
  • Two bath towels for $1
  • An assortment of dish soap, scrubbing sponges, dish towels, bath soap, and shampoo, all for only $1
  • 600 watt DC to AC inverter for $5 (I don’t usually see these.)
  • a large, old Samsonite suitcase for $5 (I didn’t need it for the bugging out trip, but I figured I would want to bring home most of what I bought with me as checked luggage.)
  • Five-gallon collapsible water jug for $2
  • Half a package (six rolls) of toilet paper and two rolls of paper towels for $1
  • A box with about 30 cans of food – Tuna, beans, vegetables for $5
  • Fishing rod and tackle box for $5 (I’m not sure if I would have time to fish on this trip or not, but some of the lures were antiques and there was also a Swedish fillet knife, needle nose pliers, and a couple of good hemostats.)
  • Machete for $1 (I am not a big fan of machetes, unless I am in a jungle; however, I did find one useful a few years ago when Uncle Sam asked me to go help invade Panama, but this one was only a dollar and it was an older brand made in Columbia, so I figured why not.)
  • Foxfire and Foxfire2 books for $1
  • Sleeping bag for $5 (I took it to the laundromat and read the Foxfire books while waiting for it to finish washing and drying.)

The grand total was $104.80! Honestly, I thought it would be less than this, but overall I think I did pretty good. At the end of my stay, I packed up the stuff I wanted to keep in the used Samsonite I bought and then I donated the food to a food pantry and the larger stuff (shovel, water jug, and so forth) to the local Salvation Army (for a tax write-off).

I did attend a farm/estate sale on Sunday in a nearby town. At that sale, I could have picked up a couple of five gallon plastic fuel cans for $2 each, as well as a 12ga Stevens pump shotgun with shells for $45. I passed on this because I really didn’t need the fuel cans since the trip was imaginary and it would have been a violation of federal law for me to buy a shotgun from a private party when in a state I was not a resident. In an emergency situation, I would not have worried about it.

Overall, I think I would have been able to make it home as planned. More food, especially dried camping food, would probably be a good idea, but that would have blown the budget. Maybe some day when I am retired I can try this for real. In the meantime, I might take a weekend and simulate the foot travel portion of this hypothetical journey, using the stuff I gathered for it to see how it works. Please feel free to let me know what you think I missed out on, including what I wasted money or time on, and what else I could have done better

Letter Re: Getting Home – Part 1, by BF

HJL,

I thought that live ammunition is banned from the US Mail. If so, would he to UPS his stuff to that address, with proper ORM-D labeling?

Or, could he mail the rifle and then carry the ammo in checked luggage? – C

HJL Responds: You can send a “long gun” or an antique through the U.S. mail, but you can not send a modern handgun or live ammunition. I have heard of people in the past sending things through that should not have been sent, but I would strongly encourage you NOT to do that. You never know when the contents of your package are going to be examined, either by physical inspection or other means, and the visit from the feds you will get will not be pleasant, nor will the all-expenses paid vacation in the Federal holding facility be any fun. It’s just not worth it when you have legal alternatives, such as FedEx or UPS available.

Economics and Investing:

8 Financial Experts That Are Warning That A Great Financial Crisis Is Imminent – B.B.

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Fed Finally Figures Out Soaring Student Debt Is Reason For Exploding College Costs

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Iceland Recovering Fastest in Europe After Jailing Bankers Instead of Bailing them Out – C.C.

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Comparing the cost of living between 1975 and 2015: You are being lied and fooled when it comes to inflation data and the cost of living.

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Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Video Interview: Chris Martenson-$40 Trillion Lost in Next Crash – Great interview worth listening if you can.

Readers’ Recommendations of the Week:

Sir, I have read through the movie list of recommended viewing and find it very good. However I did not see a series that I consider to be very instructive not only for post-nuclear living but general life in any SHTF scenario. Please consider viewing “Jericho: the series.” Our EMA office actually uses this series in our CERT training, as does the local Ham club. – C.Y.

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We have been small scale animal husbandry farming and gardening for years. Here are books we refer to over and over. – S.Y.

Practical hands on animal info/health treatment.
Handbook of Livestock Management Techniques by RA Battaglia and VB Mayrose

Preserving food.
Preserving the Fruits of the Earth by Stanley Schuler and Elizabeth Meriwether Schuler (This book is like having your grandmother or great-grandmother in your kitchen.)
Stocking Up; How to Preserve the Foods You Grow, Naturally by the staff of Organic Gardening and Farming. (This book gives detailed info, including blue prints to build various underground storage, with timetables on everything from canning to curing meats.)

Odds ‘n Sods:

This is why you don’t draw on a drawn gun! – JFJ

This is an excellent short training film using actual security camera footage. Warning: Very Graphic! Very Violent, but it makes the point quite well. – HJL

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50 Reasons Why Preppers Need Vinegar in Their Stockpiles – D.S.

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Former Merck Employee Targeted for Harassment, Intimidation After Speaking out Against Forced Vaccinations – H.L.

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35 acre farm in Virginia being raffled off for $200 and an essay. – J.C.

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2 immigrants in US illegally are named to city commissions – MtH

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Property taxes amount to, in practice, a kind of “rent” you have to pay the government each year to be allowed to keep living on your own property!” – Mary Ruwart

Notes for Tuesday – August 04, 2015

On August 4th, 1944, 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family were captured by the Nazi Gestapo. The Franks had taken shelter is a small space in a sealed off area of an Amsterdam warehouse, along with another Jewish family and a single Jewish man. They were aided by Christian friends who brought them food and supplies. Her diary survived the war, overlooked by the Gestapo, but Anne and nearly all of the others perished in the Nazi death camps.

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Camping Survival is still attempting to move as few heavy items in their relocation as they can. Today’s specials focus on Food Bars and Bridgford Foods. Get them while you can!

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Today, we present another entry for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  9. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  4. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  10. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 Lifestraws (a $200 value).

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 60 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Getting Home – Part 1, by BF

I recently had to travel for work to a large, Midwestern city with a population of about two million. I needed to spend two weeks there working with a team to help recover an IT development project that had gone “south”. I could have traveled back home for the middle weekend; however, I didn’t want to spend all the extra time traveling, waiting for connections in airports, and so forth, so I stayed in the city.

The Challenge

For fun, I decided to spend that weekend seeing what I could put together for a get home bag, with a target of spending under $100, as a challenge. This was in early fall, so I would need to account for warm days and cool nights but not worry about winter extremes.

The city I was in was a bit over 500 miles from home and further if I traveled secondary roads. The parameters of my challenge were to support a trip home via the roads using my rental car, with a contingency that I might have to go by foot or use an alternate means of travel for up to 100 miles. I would not stay in hotels or eat in restaurants. I figured I would also allow the use of the clothes and accessories that I usually pack when I travel rather than try to outfit fully from scratch. That might be a challenge for another article.

A Bit About Me and My Resources

I like to think of myself as thrifty, though my wife has a couple of different words for it. One of my favorite hobbies is bargain hunting. I was into buying inexpensive and reselling at a profit long before eBay or Craigslist came into being.

When traveling for more than overnight, I check one bag and have a small carry-on and a laptop case. I get a rental car if I am someplace for a week, and I also usually upgrade to a four-wheel drive vehicle. I have found that most of the time you can upgrade for free if you ask nicely at the counter. On this trip, I had a Jeep Wrangler.

First, let’s take inventory of what I brought.

On my person and in my pockets and laptop bag, I had the following:

  • Jeans and a sports coat
  • Mechanical wristwatch
  • Wallet with ID, credit cards, and emergency cash
  • a pair of current issue tan Army boots that I wear when I fly (I find them comfortable and wear them because they take up too much room in the bag. Now with TSA pre-check I don’t even have to take them off for screening.)
  • Cell Phone with AC and car chargers
  • Rechargeable external cell phone battery (I have a couple that were giveaway items at various conferences. These are each good for three charges of the phone. I have an automatic reminder on my calendar to use them to charge my cell or tablet, then recharge them every three weeks.)
  • Eton FRX3 hand-cranked AM/FM/Weather band radio that includes a built-in flashlight and a cell phone charger, which I purchased for $15 new at a pawn shop. I also have the right adapters to charge it from my laptop to avoid all the cranking. If you have one of these, be sure to read the instructions. They usually tell you to only crank for a few minutes before giving the mechanism a break to cool down. That’s good advice.
  • Key ring with Photon micro lite, p-38 can opener that I got in basic training back in 1976, Swiss Key folding scissors/knife, and Craftsman four in one screwdriver. It also has a brass grommet from an old wool 48 star American flag. It was given to me when the Boy Scout troop I was leading retired some old flags during a camp out.
  • Sun glasses (clip on)
  • Spare glasses, with small screwdriver and spare screws (giveaway items from conventions)
  • Small first aid kit (bandages, tweezers, triple ointment antibiotic, needle, hand cleaner)
  • Aspirin, Advil, and Pseudo-ephedrine,
  • Maglite 2AA cell flashlight (doubles as impact and compliance weapon, like a kubotan) In 30 years of flying with one, I have never had security look at it twice.
  • Surefire flashlight and spare CR123 batteries
  • Small sewing kit
  • Assorted pens, pencils, notebook, including a “tactical” pen that can be used for impact and pain compliance
  • GPS and printed maps of the area and of how to get home
  • Password protected thumb drives with various files including scans of important personal papers and “survival” manuals
  • Laptop and tablet
  • Reading material

In my carry-on bag, I had the following: (This bag is primarly intended to provide me with what I need for a day’s worth of meetings if my checked bag gets lost or delayed; if it hasn’t turned up by the end of the first day, I would buy clothes for the rest of the week.)

  • Two pairs wool socks and trail runners (light hiking boots)
  • Medium weight polyester khaki hiking pants
  • Poly long-sleeve T-shirt (silk weight)
  • Light weight long-sleeve shirt
  • Waterproof windbreaker with hood ($1.00 at a garage sale)
  • Polyester polo shirt, fleece jacket, t-shirt, and baseball cap with company logo (free)
  • Larger first aid kit
  • Water bottle (has to be empty going through airport security, but I fill it up once past security) I have a $20 one liter Sigg aluminum bottle that I picked up for 50 cents at Goodwill years ago
  • Lifestraw water filter (good in case I am in a location with questionable water as well as for bushwhacking
  • Mini DOP kit with razor, deodorant, and toothbrush
  • A half dozen granola bars and a Dak one pound canned ham from Walmart (You never know when you’ll get stuck overnight in an airport)

In my checked bag, I had the following:

Note that I don’t have a lot of money invested in the bug-out-type stuff in my checked baggage. This is because I don’t want to be out a lot of money, in case my bags don’t show up, although I will say that in 40 years of flying I have never had any bags lost, although a couple of times they were delayed a day or two. I have also noticed that once I started packing a hand ax, I tend to get the little note from the TSA that they have opened and inspected my bag on just about every trip. Maybe I need to start including a note to them along with a candy bar thanking them for keeping the skies safe when I fly.

In the past, I have packed a gun in my bag following the applicable airline and federal regulations. Lately, because of the chances of theft and other hassles, I have stopped doing that. On trips of a week or more, I will mail a rifle to myself in care of the hotel a few days in advance of the trip. This is legal, under federal law. In this case, I mailed a Ruger 10-22 with extra magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition to myself and planned to mail it back to myself at home at the end of the stay. The barrel has been shortened to just over 16 inches, and I have an aftermarket folding stock to allow for a smaller package. I used to mail myself a Charter Arms AR-7, but I find the Ruger to be a bit more accurate. I also include a copy of the FAQ from the ATF website explaining that this is a legal practice, just in case someone who thinks they know better raises a stink.

What More I Would Need to Get Home

So, after taking stock of what I had, I had to decide what I needed and figure out how to fill the gap, and do it for under $100.

There are a lot of novels all with different scenarios under which you may need to get home during a period of disruption of normal activities (aka TEOTWAWKI). Some of these include EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse), CME (Coronal Mass Ejection), terror attacks, natural disaster, governmental action, and others. I am not going to consider a specific situation in this article.

Figuring roads that permitted travel would do so at a slower than normal pace, maybe needing to travel on secondary roads plus the assumption above that I needed to plan for 100 miles on foot, I decided that I had between one and two weeks of travel that I needed to accommodate, which included a (maybe optimistic) 20 miles per day by foot.

With this in mind, I needed to address the following categories of supplies

  • Safety and personal protection
  • Fuel and transportation
  • Shelter
  • Water
  • Food
  • Clothing

Items To Buy:

  • CB Radio and Antenna
  • Fix a flat
  • Tent
  • Mosquito repellant
  • Food
  • Water jug (5 gal)
  • Drinking water (bottles)
  • Towel
  • Blanket(s)
  • Soap
  • Lighters and matches
  • Candles
  • Kerosene lantern
  • Trekking poles (ski poles)
  • Para cord for trip wires and stakes
  • Candles
  • Camp stove
  • Pots and pans
  • Wagon
  • Bow saw
  • Machete
  • Jumper cables
  • Plastic storage bin
  • Back pack (Arc’Teryx)
  • Eating utensils
  • Cooking utensils
  • Shovel
  • Garden trowel
  • Toilet paper
  • Scissors
  • Cooler
  • Cow bells

Letter: Zippo Lighters

HJL,

It has been mentioned that Zippo lighters tend to dry out. While this is true, the effect can be minimized by cutting a piece of bicycle inner tube to slip over the case, sealing the joint where the lid and the body come together. The lighter fluid is simply naphtha, and you can purchase that in quarts at WalMart much less expensively. – S.F.

News From The American Redoubt:

Glacier park fire 67 percent contained

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A new ammunition company has been launched in Montana, called Blackfoot Ammunition. Their initial offerings are all rifle calibers: .223 Remington., .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, 7mm Magnum, and .30-06. It’s top quality stuff and all made in Bonner, Montana.

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5-year-old Critically Injured when Salt Block Falls off Truck

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Grain mills crafted in the USA right here in the American Redoubt.

Economics and Investing:

Dutch king declares the end of the welfare state – P.S.

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Firm OPEC And U.S Production Keep Hopes For Higher Oil Prices Down

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The economy chugs along with consumers going into deep credit card debt: Credit card debt surges in top 25 US metro areas according to Equifax data.

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The Insanity that is San Francisco Real Estate: Median home price is 34% higher than previous peak bubble price and stands at $1,360,000. It is ironic that a place that was made unique by lower income artists and free spirits in the 1960s and 1970s is now pushing these people away in place of high income yuppies or suitcase wielding foreign buyers. The tech bubble is alive and well again and overflowing into real estate.

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Connecticut On Its Latest Cash Grab: It’s Not Greed When We Do It – D.S.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Many rely upon the Tor browser for anonymous browsing, but MIT researchers were able to identify 88% of anonymous websites – without breaking Tor’s encryption. Something to be aware of if you relying upon anonymous browsing. – S.C.

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Former S.F. inmates file claim that deputies forced them to fight – T.P.

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Report cites ‘Latinization of U.S.,’ warns of ‘backlash’ against whites – P.M

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Feds charge three men accused of prepping for martial law When I first read just the headline, I was not sure what to expect. Were peppers being persecuted? But after reading the article I can see why they were arrested. Straw purchase of a firearm for a convicted felon, making hand grenades and explosives. Although the “accused of stockpiling arms and ammunition” is a little disconcerting. Mixed emotions about this story. – M.P.

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How To Disable Google Location Tracking (Android+iOS+Web) – G.P.

Notes for Monday – August 03, 2015

August 3rd, 1846 was the day that the Donner party found a note warning the emigrants that their expected route through the mountains ahead was nearly impassable. Hastings, an unscrupulous trail guide, had created his own “short cut” route and wasn’t even at the meeting place at Fort Bridger but had left word for the party to continue on. Hastings had claimed easy passage through the rugged Wasatch Mountains, but he had left a note attached to a forked stick for the party explaining that the route was more difficult than he thought. Eventually reduced to cannibalism, only 45 of the original 89 emigrants reached California the following year.

Scot’s Product Review: Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System

It’s probably just me, but when I get a nice, sharp, new knife, my first response is glee at how well it cuts, but then fear creeps into my mind, the fear of dulling it. Making it dull means having to make it sharp again. Will it ever be as sharp as it was new? Sometimes I find myself trying to avoid using it and looking for a box cutter with a disposable blade instead. That kind of defeats the purpose of having a good knife, which led me to confront my fear of sharpening years ago. I’ve learned to do it and even enjoy putting a good edge on something once after it’s all over, but I still dread the prospect of having to do it. The basic idea is simple; remove the dull part of the blade and leave the sharp part, but the devil is in the details. The details have led me to try every sharpening method and tool I can get my hands on.

The best way to sharpen a knife, by the way, is to keep the edge it started with. Every knife blade is sharpened at an angle to generate a cutting edge, and that angle varies depending on the purpose of the knife. Something used for fine slicing will need a finer angle than something intended for chopping through bones. There is the issue of single vs. double bevels. A single bevel can produce a finer, sharper edge for precision work but at the expense of the durability a double bevel can provide. The type of abrasive device used to make the edge determines its shape. A flexible one, like a belt sander, produces a convex edge. A flat surface, like a stone or diamond plate, gives a flat edge, while a grinding wheel leaves a concave edge. Each angle, bevel, and shape has its place in the cutting world. A big part of the trick of sharpening is to recognize how your knife was made and determine the best strategy for sharpening it based on its purpose and original design. This is where the difficult part comes in, figuring out what a particular knife needs. Using a different method and angle will cause you more work, since you must first reshape the edge, which means removing more of the knife.

Last year I reviewed the $90 Work Sharp Original Knife & Tool Sharpener, which is kind of a handheld belt sander, and I found that it worked quite well, though one has to be careful to use good technique as the tip comes off of the belt. I do not appear to be the only one who managed to use bad technique and round a few knife tips before catching on. The chief problem for me was that it seemed natural to follow the curve of the blade, when it is actually correct to pull it straight across or even at a downward angle. Despite having to take some care with its use, I have grown fond of it, as it will provide a good edge on a lot of knives in a hurry. Besides knives, you can sharpen other things, like lawn mower blades, axes, and scissors with it. I also like to sharpen shovels, and it works well for that too. Remember that since it is a belt sander, it produces a convex edge. If you sharpen a knife with a different shape edge, you will be reshaping it the first time you sharpen it.

Work Sharp is an innovative firm, however, and they seem to create new products in rapid succession. One of their new products was the Guided Field Sharpener I touched on recently, not knowing they had a similar but greatly enhanced tool on the way, which is the Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System.

Just for a quick review, the $35 Guided Field Sharpener, as the name implies, is something you can easily take on hunting or camping trips. One of the biggest problems many of us have in sharpening is getting the edge at the wrong angle and then wobbling as we go. Getting the angle wrong can ruin the edge at worst and usually means removing more metal than necessary. Wobbling leads to enhanced dullness, which is not exactly our goal. The guide on this tool gets you started at a 20 degree angle, which is a good angle for most knives, and a good start can lead to a good finish to the stroke. You get coarse and fine diamond abrasive plates, a ceramic rod with coarse and fine surfaces, along with a grooved surface for fish hooks, a small diameter ceramic rod for serrated edges, and a leather strop. They even included a wrench for dealing with broad head arrows. All of the abrasives can be replaced when they wear out, and the diamond ones can be removed to use on tools that might not work with the holder. They did perplex me by putting the instructions inside the tool under one of the plates, but I failed to read the box that said where they were. Oops. It is a slick device with the caveat that if your knife has a different angle edge, you will reshape it the first time you use the tool. Since it uses flat plates for sharpening, you will get a flat edge, so if your knife started life with a convex or concave edge, you will be changing that too.

The Guided Sharpening System could be viewed as the Field Sharpener’s big brother. For me, its neatest new trick is the Pivot-Response System, which allows the sharpening surface to pivot as the knife is drawn across it, following the blade’s curve. The idea is that since the abrasive follows the knife edge, it maintains the same angle on the edge as it is stroked across the plates. You can do this manually, but it is harder. I like easier, so this feature pleased me. You can lock the plate in a fixed position for straight blades.

Another key to the tool’s ability to sharpen is the interchangeable abrasives. You start with a holder for diamond plates that are very similar to the ones on the Field Sharpener, but they’re larger, which makes it easier to sharpen longer knives. Work Sharp provides coarse (320 grit) and fine (600 grit) diamond plates, and if you buy the $35 upgrade kit you get extra coarse (220 grit) and extra fine (800 grit) diamond plates along with a leather strop plate. The strop includes a polishing compound to help refine the blade. The plates are held in the tool by magnets that do an excellent job of keeping them where they belong. With the basic tool, you get a great range of abrasive surfaces to deal with knives, whether they are in poor or good condition, but the upgrade kit lets you deal with even more and to create a razor’s edge with the strop.

The plate holder can be removed and replaced with a holder that has three ceramic rods for additional sharpening and serrated edges. The main rod can be rotated from coarse to fine and also has a spot for fishhooks. There are two shorter rods of different diameters that can be used with knives with small serrations.

The next key is the system of interchangeable guides. When you use the tool, you start the blade on a guide that gets you at the right angle. That– getting the starting angle correct– is one of the hardest problems for many of us. You still have to use diligence as you move the knife across the plates or rods, but at least you start right and you start consistently. Consistency is critical in sharpening. If you don’t keep each stroke at the same angle, you will not arrive at a sharp edge anytime soon.

Work Sharp gives you 17 and 20 degree guides, and this is one area where I would like to see more options. These two angles work well for most knives, but there are some that need different angles. Some blades, such as those with a Scandinavian grind, use a single bevel with smaller angles while some heavy duty knives intended for things like batoning fire wood have double bevels and larger angles. Finer angles are better for precise cutting while steeper angles are more durable and can handle abuse better. I have a couple of knives I plan to review in these categories that I need to keep at their original bevels to be able to better evaluate them and these angles, alas, do not match the ones available on the Work Sharp.

Something I have liked about all of the Work Sharp products I’ve used is how much they try to help you use their tools properly. The website has excellent and informative videos, and the instructions are clear and easy to follow. The Guided System includes a tree to help you determine how to use it for different sorts of knives and gives you a formula for how many strokes to use on each surface. While the formula is a good starting point, each knife will be different and may require more or fewer strokes.

When I did what I was supposed to do and didn’t take short cuts, I got excellent results. Some of my problems were using more pressure than Work Sharp suggests and forgetting to check for a burr before moving to the other side of the blade. Getting the burr indicates that you have reached the edge and pushed a bit of metal ahead of it, which usually folds to the other side of the knife. That’s when you get to flip it over and give the other side the same number of strokes, which should leave another burr on the opposite side at which point you can move up to the next abrasive. You want the burr to be even along the length of the edge, so you may work on parts of it more than others. Getting the burr is the true indicator that the blade has gotten enough strokes.

Before you start sharpening, you want to evaluate the state of the edge. Ideally, you have not pulled my stunt, which is to make the knife dull. It is easier to keep a knife sharp than it is to restore the edge. Sharpening removes metal, and the less you have to remove the better. Taking off metal is time consuming; the more you take off, the less knife you have left. If you take care of the knife, you may be able to get by with just the ceramic rods or strop. If the knife is dull or the blade is damaged, then you will be starting with the diamond plates. I usually try the fine one for a few strokes to see if it is doing the job, but if not I go to the coarse one. You will start to get a feel for just how dull your knife is and what you need to start with.

To restate, the first time you use a new sharpening tool, you may find that you have to reshape the edge to match what the tool produces. If your knife has a 22 degree bevel and you sharpen it on this tool, you will be reshaping the blade to 20 degrees; that may take extra work and require the use of coarse diamond plates. Another issue is that different types of tools create different edges. As noted above, you will also be making a flat edge, and if your knife is concave (hollow ground) or convex ground, you will be changing that shape too.

Using the tool is really simple. I was very surprised at how well it stayed in place while in use. It is just heavy enough and has rubber feet that stick well to many surfaces. It is important to get a good position in relation to the tool. I have been in the habit of standing at a kitchen counter while sharpening, and found with this sharpener that my initial position led to rocking the blade as I drew it back towards me. I did better seated at a table, though if I adjust the angle I positioned the tool at when standing, I could overcome the problem.

The pivot is used with curved blades and I felt it definitely improved performance. You can get the same effect by lifting the handle slightly as you move towards the tip, but the pivot worked better for me by injecting more consistency than I get by lifting the handle. You don’t use the pivot with straight blades. The pivot is engaged or disengaged by moving a slider. The slider also locks the plate or ceramic holder into the tool, which is good if you are moving it about.

As you stroke the knife across the plates, Work Sharp suggests that you stop before the tip comes off the plate. If you twist it and pull it all the way off, there is a potential to round it.

The diamond plates that come with the tool do an excellent job of shaping and basic sharpening. The extra coarse and extra fine plates in the upgrade kit add versatility. The extra coarse can quickly remove metal for reshaping, but I think it should be used sparingly. The extra fine plate refines the edge more and should save a little time with the ceramic rods.

The box it comes in can be used to store the sharpener, but I would really like to have a tool roll for it. I assume the box will eventually wear out and it’s not the best solution should you want to travel with it. The slots in a roll would keep the diamond plates and ceramic rods from banging together. Having a few extra slots would also allow for spare parts.

I’m not sure how long the plates and rods last. I’ve done about 15 knives, and the abrasives are still going strong. A couple of the knives needed a lot of work, but most were in decent shape. Sooner or later, you will probably wear something out, and Work Sharp says that you can get replacements for it, though they aren’t on the website as I write this. They told me you can just call and they will take care of you.

The most novel thing about this sharpener is probably the 42-year warranty. Work Sharp, a U.S. company based in Oregon, wanted to celebrate the fact they have been in business for that long and plan to be around a lot longer.

I like the tool, and it is now my primary sharpener for most knives. I’m still using the Original on some for speed and ease, but I have pretty well left other tools and methods behind.

– SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor, Scot Frank Eire