KNIFE SHARPENING TRICK For a Quick Edge

Another short video on a skillset that all elk and mule deer hunters should know. There are times when you are in the middle of gutting or quartering an elk and your fixed blade or replaceable blade knife goes dull. Instead of stopping to full-on sharpen your knife or replace the blade - do this trick!
#knives #knifesharpening #hunting #elkhunting #muledeerhunting #backpackhunting #adventure #selfreliance #pursuitwithcliff
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Below you will find Amazon Affiliate links to products discussed or used in the video. I make a commission from your use of these links, but using the link will not affect the price you pay for any items.
Buck 113
amzn.to/3rXkj7R
Havalon Replaceable Blade Knife
amzn.to/3QA40IG
DMT Paddle
amzn.to/454SCbR
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*Cliff no longer takes on new guided hunt or expedition clients. He sold all operating outfitting/guiding businesses prior to 2021.

[@paulellsworth7679]

That's a skill that has always amazed me that it's not taught or learned sooner. For guys it should be like peeing standing up.

[@CliffGray]

Haha! I agree!

[@scottblachly9353]

I was told by an old meat butcher the secret to a sharp knife was to never let it get dull. He touched his knife up constantly. Great video

[@CliffGray]

For sure

[@benjaminhamm3957]

Gold. I've carried a small DMT sharpener like that since the mid 90s. Course on one side fine on the other and folds up like a butterfly knife. Lightweight and they last. Worth every penny.

[@CliffGray]

for sure, they are great little tools. Thanks

[@bjjukes4969]

That is a great tip. I don't know how many times I have been 90% done with boning out an elk or deer and my knife just seems to give out. I hate braking out a new knife to finish the job, so I usually just start hacking my way to the end. This seems like a much more logical approach.

[@johnskitzis6540]

Great tip! Thank you!

[@andrewditommaso8407]

Cliff, Thanks for ALL the useful tips and tricks and the endless amount of experience. We are watching and taking notes from all your videos for our 2025 Elk hunt with Rivers Edge Outfitters!!

[@armands3001]

Shot a few moose, elk and deer up here in Canada the last 30 plus years and have always showed up for the hunt with a fully sharpened knife..but exactly as you have described we dulled our knife but finished our skinning and processing using the small hand held field sharpeners ( lansky or Fiskars or the equivalent) great explanation of what to do in this situation, Thanks Cliff

[@CliffGray]

thanks!

[@jeffsummitt4397]

Dude, I learn so much from your videos! much appreciation

[@zacktaylor3441]

Thanks Cliff.

[@IntenseAngler]

Now that's one awesome trick there Cliff! I'll definitely be using it this season for sure (provided we harvest some big game of course).

[@CliffGray]

thanks man!

[@ColeyRO]

thank you Cliff!

[@CliffGray]

Thanks man!

[@thefishinglor6931]

Putting on a quick micro bevel edge might be easy if the knife is clean but if it’s soaked in blood and fat, you might spend more time trying to clean the knife first before polishing the apex of your knife in which case you should always have a convex edge so you can just strop the apex really quick to get it back to a working edge and get you through the process

[@CliffGray]

I hear ya but in my experience most folks don’t keep a convex edge actually convex for very long… They end up micro beveling the convex edge. If some one strops the convex edge constantly, all good. But at some point they are gunna chip that knife, abuse it in someway, etc… And the stroping won’t get it back sharp. For MOST people that is when the edge gets a flat grind bevel added to it. Most people aren’t going to go through the process of sharpening the convex edge… mouse pads, sandpaper, etc…

[@thefeatheredfrontiersman8135]

As a chef in a restaurant ( and upland game hunter) I have a really good professional knife sharpener locally. I do touch ups daily and when the profile wears out, I take them back. I can sharpen pretty well but I don't have professional equipment or a half hour to completely re do a profile per knife. The point is you need to be able to do both touch up and major profiling.

[@adamjames1375]

Worksharp makes some excellent fairly budget friendly sharpeners which are capable of fully reprofiling as well as changing bevel angles. Their Ken Onion edition, 120v belt sander is well made, user friendly and fast, in the event of needing significant stock removal. They also have a couple other vice style systems with an interchangeable/replaceable "pad/stone" which fixes & travels on a rod at whatever angle you chose. They are a fair bit slower than a belt sander, though there is virtually no user input (i.e. they're idiot proof). With a few long lasting quality dmt abrasives they're capable of removing stock reasonably quickly as well as going all the way to a mirror polish, in a fixed stress free way. I find a certain zen-like quality in the motion & it'll come out perfect every time. The only error I've found is if you try and jump grits too soon, or too far. (I.e. not removing enough stock with the coarser grit, or more than doubling the subsequent grit number.) Anywho, I probably wanted to say all that more than you needed to hear it, and my points moot if you can't find the time, but if your ever in the market Worksharp is excellent at their "pro-sumer" price point & can really make sharpening quick & enjoyable.

[@NEFARIOUS_B.I.G.]

That Lansky diamond system is the bomb !!

[@maxpinson5002]

I use the same kind of arkansas natural stones or the manufactured Norton stones I've been using for decades.

[@adamjames1375]

The folding dmts are outstanding. I have a few Arkansas, India, and various cheap (aluminium oxide or whatever?) stones which I used for years & they got the job done...problem was sharpening my rough work 1" carpenters chisel would leave "channels/laps" or touching up scratch awls/nail sets e.t.c... Then I'd have to try and true them up with a belt sander or another stone. They also are brittle & don't travel in rough environments like a jobsite toolbox without some sort of sheathing/box. That...and they don't cut very well, an Arkansas can't be used for much but polishing up a soft steel. I picked up a Smiths brand dual grit (somewhere around 300 & 600) diamond stone a few years ago & for in the field work, it's been outstanding. Stays true, have pushed it hard when I should have had a full size file, packs down small and light and can take a beating. They're around $20 and highly reccomend them or any diamond stones for that matter.

[@squatch2461]

🍻

[@andyc.947]

Can also just carry a small lightweight sharpener that has the angle already set. They only weigh a few ounces and they are tiny

[@12390erock]

I have that same hat on right now

[@CliffGray]

Good deal. I don’t want to be the only one looking pretty damn good 😜👊

[@outdoorsmanofmichigan3858]

Best channel!! Any recommendations for custom knives? I want to get some etched with names for my friends

[@CliffGray]

Thanks for the support for the channel! Unfortunately I don’t have any good custom knife recommendations. Just haven’t used a lot of them over the years. I bet some other viewers can give you some leads 👍

[@craigholland2274]

If you had to pick one knife for everything, skinning deboning and caping. Can you recommend a good one?

[@CliffGray]

Hey Craig, I’ve skinning, quartered and cape, etc… dozens of big game animals with a Buck 113. It isn’t the best at any of those things, but decent at all of them.

[@ryngrd1]

That's why the Work Sharp field sharpener is set to 20 degrees coarse and 25 degrees fine.

[@matthewsalomone3800]

I carry a small knife sharpener that I just draw the knife blade through Am I cheating?

[@CliffGray]

Those small pull through sharpeners do basically the same thing. They are almost always at a much more obtuse angle than the edge of the knife being sharpened, so they end up putting a micro-bevel on the knife. They work great for the same situation I describe here, once or twice to get you through a project. After awhile they quit working until you re-edge you knife.

[@paraAA82]

Bla, bla, bla. Time wasted

[@mikemiller5226]

Watching the video or typing your comment??????

[@paraAA82]

Reading your comment @@mikemiller5226 😆😆😆