Sharpening Tools
Whetstone
The gold standard when it comes to knife sharpening. Heavy, though, so not a practical option when it comes to sharpening your knife in the field.
Pocket Sharpener
These sorts of tools are great in that they’re nice and light. Unfortunately, they don’t offer the same control as a stone and they’re nowhere near as durable.
Pocket Sharpening Stone
A small, portable whetstone.
Using a Stone
You need to apply water to some stones, and oil to others, before use. Many are used dry. Applying pressure to the blade, run it across the stone following the grind of the edge. Do this equally across the blade.
Using a Sharpener
Just run your blade through the thing a few times.
Stropping
The final stage: we strop the edge of the blade to polish it. Again following the grind of the blade, run it across your strop, this time away from the cutting edge so you don’t cut into your strop.