Sharpening

Sharpening is not a ritual, it's maintenance. Ten minutes on a stone, done regularly, beats an hour of grinding a knife back from blunt.

The three steps

coarse   raise a burr on one side
fine     chase the burr to the other
strop    polish the edge, remove the wire

Angle by task

20°    slicing, carving, kitchen work
22°    scandi grind, general bushcraft
25°+   chopping, splitting, abuse

The test

A sharp knife shaves a clean curl of paper. A really sharp knife shaves a clean curl of arm hair. If it skids, it's not sharp — it's just thin.