Sharpening company producing survival tools

The Arkansas Stone is well known throughout the outdoor world as a great sharpening tool. The company making the stone, Smith's, is located in Hot Springs, Arkansas and has been in business since 1886, making it 129 years old this year.

This family own business attends the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show every year. I had a chance to visit with the president a few years ago and ask him to pass along the most important components of sharpening a knife.

"There are three rules for sharpening a knife; consistency of angle, consistency of angle and consistency of angle," he said.

There are several ways to apply the knife to the stone. My father would work the knife in a circle, while moving the knife up and down the stone. I move the knife along the stone as if taking a slice of the stone with each stroke.

The second generation of the Buck Knife family, Al Buck, would tell people there were only three things to remember when sharpening a knife: "Always cut into the stone, never drag your knife edge back over the stone and always maintain your angle."

He also suggested this way of making sure the angle was maintained: Take a black felt pen and shade the bevel or sharpened edge of the knife. Then take two strokes on the stone and examine the edge. If you have maintained the proper angle then all the black will be gone. If you see black on the top of the edge it means you are holding the back of the knife too far from the stone. If there is black on the bottom of the edge, but the top is clean then you are laying the knife too flat on the stone. Repaint the edge and try it again.

Carrying a sharpening stone when in the Great Outdoors isn't always practical. They are too heavy. The new way to renew the edge on a knife is to use two pieces of carbide set at an angle to form a V. The knife blade is drawn across these carbide pieces to form an edge. Fine honing the blade is possible with ceramic pieces in another slot. Smith's offers several of these sharpeners as well as stones.

I visited the Smith's booth at the SHOT Show this year and noticed several new products, including several items which are survival tools. The idea of having the necessary tools when in a survival situation is of great interest to me. Smith's offers different tools for different situations.

The Pack Pal weighs less than an ounce, or so the package says. My kitchen food scale was put to use and, yes, it weighs less than an ounce.

This tool has a carabiner clip, a carbide knife sharpening slot, a fire starter rod and a whistle. It is a backpacker's friend.

The Pocket Pal X2 contains a diamond sharpening rod, used to sharpen serrated blades. Also there is a carbide and ceramic sharpening slot, a whistle, a fire starter rod, a LED light and a compass. The Pocket Pal is not advertised as a light tool, but it weighs in at only 1.7 ounces.

The Smith's Survival Knife contains the fire starting rod, a locking knife blade, a diamond sharpening rod and a whistle. This is a heavier tool intended for heavy survival usage.

The 10-N-1 Survival Multi-Tool comes in two separate pieces. It consists of 11 tools, thus the 10-N-1 tool designation, including: signal mirror, removable LED light, knife blade, paracord, compass, fire starter rod, storage compartment, whistle, carbide knife sharpener, tweezers and saw blade. The separate piece fits inside the main tool.

All of the Smith's tools would be valuable during a survival situation. The fire starting rod in each is very strong. At first it wouldn't spark, so I read the directions. Each rod has a black coating which must be removed before it will work.

The easiest way to remove the coating is to use the rod a couple of times. The strength of the resulting trail of sparks surprised me. I had to chase down and put out a couple of sparks as they danced along some papers in front of me.

The carbide and ceramic sharpeners are effective and replaceable when worn out. I keep a Smith's sharpener in the kitchen to use as needed and have used it for years, but have yet to wear out either of the sharpeners.

The 10-N-1 tool is the most complex. The storage compartment is rather small, but the package suggests it is a place to keep spare batteries. The removable LED light is strong with three settings: Bright, not so bright and blinking. It would be worth the effort to purchase and store extra batteries.

The least functional part of all these tools is the whistle. My efforts produce only a small tweet. I want a blaring, loud, ear-piercing sound, when I blow a survival whistle, so will take another whistle along.

Each outdoor minded person should look over these four Smith's tools before deciding which one is appropriate for you and your family members. Me? I have found a place for all four. The Pack Pal will be in my backpack during day hikes. The Pocket Pal X2 will be in my hunting pack. The Survival Knife will be placed in my Hideout travel trailer and the 10-N-1 tool is now and will remain in the Dodge Ram.