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![the table top precision adjust angle sharpener by work sharp](https://knifeinformer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/madmikeedc_thetabletoppreccisionadjustanglesharpenerbyworksharp-1024x597.jpg)
Whether you are preparing for your next hunt or celebrating your success out in the backcountry, having an easy-to-use and reliable knife sharpening system is essential. The common saying for knives applies well to sharpeners as well. The best one is the one you have with you. I have researched and personally tested the sharpeners included in this article, to bring you an in-depth guide to some of the best hunting knife sharpeners available today.
Key Takeaways
- The Overall Best Hunting Knife Sharpener is the Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener, because of its guided sharpening features and portable size.
- The Best Handheld Hunting Knife Sharpener is the Dull Boy Blades Whole Enchilada. It has an incredibly easy-to-use sharpening system, a small size, a lightweight design, and additional storage features.
- The easy-to-use design, precision angle adjustments, and great price make the Work Sharp Precision Adjust Angle sharpener The Best Tabletop Hunting Knife Sharpener.
- The Most Versatile Hunting Knife Sharpener is the Argali Kodiak Knife Sharpener Belt because it is a great emergency knife sharpener that doubles as a hunting belt.
- The Lansky Quad Sharp, with its simple and easy-to-use design, is the Best Pull-Through Hunting Knife Sharpener.
- Best Hunting Knife Sharpener Honorable Mention is the Spyderco Pocket Stone, which has an ultra small footprint but is somewhat lacking in ease of use.
Top Picks
- Best Overall: Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener
- Best Handheld Hunting Knife Sharpener: Dull Boy Blades 3D Printed Whole Enchilada Sharpener System
- Best Tabletop Hunting Knife Sharpener: Work Sharp Precision Adjust Angle Set Knife Sharpener
- Most Versatile: Argali Kodiak Knife Sharpener Belt
- Best Pull-Through: Lansky Quad Sharp Carbide/Ceramic Sharpener Blue Polymer
- Honorable Mention: Spyderco Pocket Stone Sharpener
![man sharpening a knife using the Argali Kodiak Belt](https://knifeinformer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/argali_official_mansharpeningaknifeusingtheArgaliKodiakBelt.jpg)
Best Overall: Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener (Ceramic/Diamond/Strop)
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If you are looking for a great knife sharpener for hunting knives, or any knife for that matter, the Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener has been a go-to option for so many hunters and outdoorsmen for years. Why? Because of its simple design, it is incredibly easy to use and extremely versatile for a variety of knives. The guided bevels help you hold your knife blade at the correct angle to ensure that you get that edge as sharp as possible every single time.
The Guided Field Sharpener was intended to be used out in the field like the name suggests, especially during the skinning and cleaning stage of the hunt, when you don’t have time to set up a cumbersome tabletop style knife sharpener or whetstone. The sharpener includes two different diamond sharpening plates (coarse and cine), two additional ceramic honing rods for sharpening any serrations, and a leather strop for taking your edge sharpness to the extreme.
Best Handheld Hunting Knife Sharpener: Dull Boy Blades 3D Printed Whole Enchilada Sharpener System
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When you’re looking for the best knife sharpener to use in the field, you want it to be the Whole Enchilada. You can’t bring extra stones, edge angle guides, or ceramic rods with you out into the backcountry. Keeping the overall size and weight of your gear to a minimum is absolutely essential. So bringing tools that have more than one function built in is always a no-brainer for me. Well, the Whole Enchilada is just that, the whole enchilada. This incredibly simple sharpener is designed to be a fool-proof way to get a sharp edge back on your knife in a hurry. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, so you can take the Whole Enchilada with you anywhere you go. Put it in your pocket, backpack, gun bag, glove box, you name it. This sharpener fits into just about any gear loadout imaginable.
To use it, simply slide out the self-contained 600-grit diamond stone, flip it over, slide it back into the housing, and start swiping your blade. The Whole Enchilada is designed to be handheld. So to keep your fingers safely out of the way of your knife blade, the housing is designed to hold the stone for you, giving your fingers some safe space below the knife. To get an even sharper edge, or touch up your blade in between uses, flip the stone over to access the included leather strop. A big, yet underappreciated addition to the design is the included storage compartment. In here you can store extra matches, kindling, or anything small that you need to keep track of.
The Whole Enchilada is by far my favorite knife sharpener for all knives, including hunting knives. I highly recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a pocket-sized knife sharpener. However, because it lacks integrated edge angle guides, I can’t put it as the best overall hunting knife sharpener. The Whole Enchilada is better suited to those who have experience sharpening knives using a flat stone. If you’re not careful, you can easily dull your knife if you hold it at the wrong angle. So some skill and practice are required to get the most out of the Whole Enchilada.
Best Tabletop Hunting Knife Sharpener: Work Sharp Precision Adjust Angle Set Knife Sharpener
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Although the last two hunting knife sharpeners were more geared towards use while on the go, the Best Tabletop Hunting Knife Sharpener is easily the Work Sharp Precision Adjust Sharpener. For around $60, you can get such a precise, ultra-sharp edge on your knife that it is actually quite unbelievable. You get arguably the same performance you would get using a much more expensive option like a KME or Wicked Edge sharpener at a fraction of the price. When you are trying to get the sharpest edge possible on your hunting knives, you want to be sure that you can hit the correct angle with multiple grit levels. Working your way up Coarse to Fine will ensure that your blade is as sharp as it possibly can be.
The Work Sharp Precision Adjust Sharpener makes this process so easy. Just lock your knife blade into the clamp. Then set your desired sharpening angle; for most hunting knives this is somewhere around 15 degrees per side. Then just sharpen away. Easily flip the blade over and hit the other side to make sure that your edge is symmetrical. The Work Sharp Precision Adjust Sharpener is probably the easiest-to-use sharpener on this list and yields the best results. If you are looking for a great tabletop hunting knife sharpener, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Most Versatile: Argali Kodiak Knife Sharpener Belt Large (Midnight Black)
An easy way to make sure to always have a knife sharpener with you at all times is to simply just wear it as a belt. That’s exactly what the Argali Kodiak Knife sharpener is. No it’s not the best hunting knife sharpener available, as it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of features. However, if you needed a sharpener for an emergency, or you just forgot your other one back at camp, then the Argali Kodiak will come in clutch for you. The buckle doubles as sharpening stone, and the leather belt doubles as a strop. Simple enough? The fact that this is a belt with a built-in knife sharpener is novel at least and good redundancy at most. I chose this as the most versatile knife sharpener because no other knife sharpener can hold your pants up as well as this one does. A great bonus to have while hiking through the backcountry.
Best Pull-Through: Lansky Quad Sharp Carbide/Ceramic Sharpener Blue Polymer
If you need just a dead simple, no-nonsense knife sharpener that is guaranteed to work, get the Lansky Quad Sharp. It functions as a simple pull-through knife sharpener, which helps make sure that you are sharpening your knives at the proper angle. However, pull-through sharpeners are very hard on your knives. They remove a lot of material from the blade unnecessarily and very easily. In fact, the fastest way to remove the fine point from your knife is to use a pull-through sharpener incorrectly.
But just because a pull-through sharpener is not the most ideal sharpening method out there, it doesn’t mean it’s not effective. It will put an edge on your blade – maybe not the best edge ever, but it will work. Just be extra careful not to overuse it or use it incorrectly.
Honorable Mention: Spyderco Pocket Stone Sharpener (Fine)
I wanted to include an honorable mention in this list: the Spyderco Pocket Stone. I’ve used it a bit in the past, and it worked great. It would make for a fine hunting knife sharpener. However, if you don’t have a flat area to rest the stone on during sharpening, it’s going to be extremely difficult to use. There’s no real way to hold it in your hand during use, either. So in the right circumstances, this can be a very effective and simple sharpening tool. But it just isn’t quite as versatile as the other options on this list.
![a spyderco knife with the pocket stone sharpener](https://knifeinformer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/spyderco_inc_aspydercoknifewiwththepocketstonesharpener-1024x1024.jpg)
How To Choose A Hunting Knife Sharpener
Pretty simple: It all comes down to how you want to use it. Do you want to precisely sharpen or hone your blades before you go out on the hunt and do that sharpening from the comfort of your own home? Or do you need a sharpening system that you can bring with you to skin and clean your trophy buck? In either case, you’ll need to find a system that works for your budget and gear limitations. Usually the most affordable options are not the best long-term options. So consider investing for the future in a hunting knife sharpener that will last for a long time.
Why Trust Us
I have tested dozens of different knife sharpening systems in the last four to five years. It was a necessity for my job while I worked behind the scenes at various knife brands and retailers. I have grown accustomed to a variety of different sharpening methods and learned the ropes on how to sharpen a lot of different types of blades. I have compiled a list of some of my personal favorites and most effective sharpening systems that are perfect for the hunt. My expertise is your gain.
![a disassembled ace pocket knife and a work sharp guided field sharpener](https://knifeinformer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/edc.knifeandtool_adisassembledacepocketknifeandaworksharpguidedfieldsharpener-819x1024.jpg)
Final Thoughts
Although you can get by with a dull knife, it isn’t ideal. Especially because a dull knife is a dangerous knife, as they say. So when you’re way out in the mountains, its probably a good idea to keep that knife sharp to avoid any preventable injuries. Also sharp knives are just so much more satisfying to use. Consider a new knife sharpener as a huge quality of life improvement more than a necessary chore. Either way, if you choose a sharpener recommended in this article. I’m sure that you will find yourself pulling out every knife in your collection to give it a quick touch-up in no time!
FAQ’s
Question: What company makes the best knife sharpeners?
Answer: Work Sharp makes a ton of different types of knife sharpeners at various different price points for a wide variety of users. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned veteran bladesmith, Work Sharp makes a sharpening system for you.
Question: Are pull-through sharpeners good?
Answer: Short answer is: No. Longer answer: They are good if you need a quick, usable edge to bring your blade back to life. They, however, remove a lot of material from the blade overtime and will severely alter the geometry of your blade. Pull-through sharpeners are best kept as a Plan B, or as a short-term option.