Let me ask you a weird question…
Have you ever tried shaving with a razor that’s like waaaaaaaay past the point you SHOULD have replaced it with a fresh one?
Now if you’re one of those tactical dudes who’s been sporting a “military contractor beard” since you were 11, then probably not.
But for the REST of us, it brings back painful memories of that common, “ACK!” response and spending the next 37 minutes staring into the bathroom mirror armed with a giant roll of toilet paper, desperately trying to stop that tiny nick’s never-ending “blood-fest” in time to get to work.
Bottom line… a blade (ANY blade) is only as effective as it is SHARP, right?
And when it comes to survival tools and weapons (like your knife and machete), keeping it’s edge “mission-ready” can be a real challenge if you’re in an extreme survival scenario where your blade is getting a lot of use, but resources are scarce and there’s no handy-dandy professional sharpening service down the block.
The bottom line is this…
Any Survival Blade Is Only As Effective As It Is Sharp – Especially In The Most Extreme Conditions, So…
Here Are 5 Improvised Knife And Machete-Sharpening Hacks For Extreme Urban Survival Scenarios…
#1 – Use A Car Window
The untreated edge of a car window can do a great job of sharpening the blade of your machete.
The top of the car window isn’t coated.
All you need to do is place the blade against the window edge while tilting it to match the window edge angle.
Then make at least three passes along the length of the blade.
(Flip it over and do the other side as well.)
Even if you don’t have a car, in an urban survival situation, finding a vehicle to sharpen your machete shouldn’t be a problem.
#2 – Use The Bottom Of A Ceramic Coffee Mug Or Plate
There are knife sharpeners made of ceramic.
Simply turn the ceramic coffee mug or plate over on a firm, flat surface.
Draw the blade across the unfinished edge of the bottom of the mug or plate and sharpen like in the instructions above.
#3 – Use A Smooth Stone
Yep, we’re gonna go all “Conan the Barbarian” on this one, Warrior!
A large, smooth stone can work just like a sharpening stone when nothing else is available.
This method works best if you’re near a moving water source, such as a river, where you’re more likely to find a larger, really, really smooth stone.
Your best sharpening stone will likely be in the water – close to a river’s edge – but if you can find one on dry land, take it in order to avoid a possible ankle twist as you wade around on the slippery, unstable rocks of the river bottom.
#4 – Use An Emery Board
I get it… a metal emery board used for your fingernails isn’t something most guys carry around.
But if you plan ahead, it’s light and hardly takes up any space in a bugout bag pocket.
But rather than holding the emery board and using it as a “file” while you keep your machete stationary, you want to flip this technique around…
Instead, simply place the emery board on a flat, surface and use the same technique as you would use with a smooth stone or stationary sharpening stone.
It probably works better on a knife, but for a machete it can work in a pinch.
Desperate times, right?
#5 – Use Another Knife
Being the prepared Warrior that you are, you’ll most likely have some other knife handy, right?
Simply draw the machete blade across the back spine of the knife.
Repeat this on both sides of the machete blade.
The Ultimate Way To Keep All Your Survival Blades Super Sharp…
Ok, obviously you won’t always have these sharpening options handy, right?
I mean, who carries a coffee mug into an urban survival situation anyway? (Other than someone with a serious caffeine addiction, that is. 🙂
When it all comes down to it, the words of my old Drill Sergeant rings true…
… you can’t polish a turd!
In other words, the main factor in having a sharp blade is to make sure you buy a knife or machete made of good quality steel to work with.
Most of the knives and machetes on the market – even those made by big-name manufacturers – are made of inferior quality steel: usually 420; 440; 3Cr13 or some other cheaper metal.
These metals are usually fine for everyday knives or for machetes used for chopping brush and sticks… but won’t hold up to more extreme conditions for survival purposes like in urban environments – and they’re not as easy to sharpen.
Look for a machete that uses “tool steel” like 1095 and you’ll have much more confidence it will perform the way you need it to when the chips are down!
I once had to cut plastic tablecloths to length, and my dull knife wasn’t suited to the task. I got chided by people there for having a dull knife, and I spotted a rolled up piece of carpet in the corner… a half dozen strokes on each side of the blade on the underside of that carpet, and I was back with a razor sharp edge that amazed all present.
LOVE this tip Fred! Great addition!
Whenever my dad thought a kitchen knife wasn’t sharp enough, he never reached for a stone or steel, he just raked it across a ceramic mixing bowl. I would think some convenient concrete (preferably some relatively-fresh-laid, rather than stuff worn halfway to gravel) would do the same job.
The Most EXTREME Thing I’ve Asked Of My Survival Blade … To also double as a ‘dive knife’. Which, of course, means it had to also stand up to the salt water environment.
I was raised by a father who always carried a pocketknife and who used knives axes and various other sharp tools. In his mind there were only two degrees of sharpness, razor and dull.
Ever wonder why you NEVER see anyone whittling with a straight razor?
I’ve considered going to a pottery shop and having someone make me a few smooth slabs (rectangles) or a rod from scrap clay.
I have used thin sheets or cardboard to strop a knife, without any polish or polishing compound, and it really does help, so with polishing compound it would work very well.
Awesome information, as usual. BB&B!
As a rule a of thumb, I keep a sharp blade. ” A dull knife does a man no good. Plus a dull knife is a sign of a lazy man.” Enuff Said !
So in a survival scenario you are going to insult someone who could help you because his sharp isn’t the same as yours? Grand dad sat for hours and whittled figurines. But you wouldn’t be to happy with the local barber if he tried to shave your neck with that blade? Not sure…take your straight razor out and whittle me up a hotdog stick? I’m not waiting cause I’m hungry. HAND.
Razor sharp is about good for One cut. I’ve always used a small file. Leaves a Ruffer blade but one that is usable over and over! Cutting Rope like soft Butter!
I have to disagree with that statement, yes blade with flat angle edge will dull quickly. However it is possible to obtain a razor sharp edge on a knife with a 25 or 30 degree angle that will last a fairly long time. The least I will sharpen a blade to is 17 degree, most I’ll use is about 30.
How about concrete? It’s just lying around everywhere. Bricks are nearly as ubiquitous.
P.S. Wow . I didn’t realize I’d already read and commented to this article. I hate it when people slap a new label on an old story.
When you use a 3×6 rough stone and medium stone, you finish up on a
Hard Arkansas Stone. When you can find these sharpening stones.
When you can’t , the bottom of a coffee cup and top of a ceramic tile,
will do just as well as Jeff stated.
You had me until mentioned #5. What an imbecility! Getting down to Physics, all you want from a sharpener is a higher hardness (called durytti in Europe and mostly elsewhere) than the thing you you want to sharpen. Scratching two knives together will only take the silt off and sharpen none. My PhD in Mathematics friend used to do that and keep complaining his kitchen knives keep be dull. My stupid Dad used welding stick electrodes to sharp his knives with their coating, and never had a real sharp one… In the end, all goes to the Mohs scale, where Talc has #1, and Diamond has #10. The higher the #, the togher material is. Now, on Mochs scale, the toughest steel used for knives or swords ( excepting the Damascus Steel) stands at around#5.5.Glass, even the common one stands at #6, or over. No wonder my Grandma always had God damned sharp knives without having a car… She just used the top of a glass jar to sharpen her knives!
And if you wonder how Diamonds are cut ( mechanically), there’s Boron Nitride which scales on Mohs scale at #10.8. Anyway, this days are other technologies which don’t imply using mechanical contact. But they don’t apply to regular knives. For now, abrasive sharpening is the best what a knife can get. Just do it right!
This is meant to give ideas as to what alternates may work if that is all you have! It’s not a rocket science lesson. If I have to wrap n roll some wire fencing…the spine of that alternate blade will get it better than it presently is? There just may not be any of that durytti or mohs around. May not need to cut a diamond ( even mechanically). Nor be able to find any Moron Nitride! Don’t be an _ _ _! If you don’t like the idea…round file it. That’s what we survival people do with any info we aren’t down with. But we don’t really feel the need to go all Fouchi on the tender of the ideas. Pretty sure Jeff doesn’t do this to seek out folks that are smarter than he is? Just passing along some knowledge learned without a phd. HAND.
Alibaba, you misuse the two terms: tough and hard. They are not the same characteristics regarding steel alloys. Extreme hard steel can be more brittle and break. Where as a steel with high toughness is more resistant to impact damage but not take or hold a sharp edge as well.
There is a video by a young guy that I watched years ago and he used s concrete block and also a brick. They work, but I think you need and would prefer something ceramic, or a fine emery board or sandpaper to give your blade a nice, smooth finished edge.
This article again proves the point that if you have items and supplies you need then you can accomplish a task or serve a need effectively and with less effort. They make pocket stones, flat short stone sharpeners, pocket diamond sharpeners and anyone can use glue or double-sided tape to create “sharpeners” with paint stir sticks or as one Australian guy did was to tape sandpaper to short lengths of PVC pipe to sharpen his machete.
You can choose stones or sandpaper with just the right grit instead of searching for bricks, concrete blocks, stones, etc., with enough roughness and then something smooth enough to finish. And even polishing compounds come in small tubes
I’ve used cardboard and with a few strokes it improves the blade, but not as good as when I do it right with the right tools.
1065 grade carbon is a better choice as it resists corrosion.
A leather belt will work! Hook the buckle on something fixed and Bob is your answer.
I rewired an old house years ago and removed all the knob and tubes, (ceramic), and still use them today. Their small and round so pack easily.
Have to agree with the leather belt. Best to use the roughest side for the quickest sharpen.