Old Timer HS1 Honesteel Knife Sharpener - High Carbon Steel Construction with Brown Leather Sheath - Perfect for Outdoor Survival, Hunting & Camping Gear - Keep Blades, Knives & Tools Razor Sharp for Wilderness Adventures

For a very long time I have had a Honesteel by Schrade-Walden and I actually considered getting a back-up in case I lost mine in the late 90's and I guess it was discontinued.Moving forward Taylor Cutlery re-released this sharpening tool and I figured why not and bought one.For starters I don't understand the 'most helpful reviewer'(fisherman)'s input on the sides are rounded on this China model and so was the USA version.In fact if you look at a new old stock version by Schrade USA you'll notice it's smooth on it's flat surface and no texturing just like the China model.Take it out of the box not shocking people will find that the HS1 doesn't work.So how do you make this function?You need to create lines in the steel.It doesn't matter if it's random vertical straight lines extending across the width and going down the bar.Or if it's a criss-cross pattern extending across and all the way down the bar.But thorough coverage for when the edge sweeps across the bar of carbon steel.After that modification the Honesteel does work in two functions.The first the bringing back an edge effectively on certain steels.The second is putting a finishing touch on a steel after it's taken to a sharpening stone which will take out burrs and/or put a smoother edge on it.What steels does the Schrade HS1 work on?In my opinion it works the best on 1075 and 1095 Carbon Tool Steel.420HC,440A,Sandvik,AUS-8...fine grained steels.You get a knife out of the box and it has bad edge geometry or just doesn't feel sharp as you like...take it to the Honesteel.You're hunting or hiking with a low maintenance steel and you notice your blade is a little dull...take it to the Honesteel.Regardless of mentioned steels though if it's really dull,edge roll or chipped edge repair a traditional stone will give you the maintenance results you need.The HS1 was designed more or less to be a field sharpening tool without the risk of breaking a stone in transport.And for that reason as a piece of carbon steel is why it doubles as a small log splitting chisel.Sheath:The belt sheath is well stitched and designed accurately to the original.A little thinner in material and pondering from texture if it's real leather or not.This model still has the protruded button end that goes through the hole in the bar so you can hold this by the sheath end when sharpening if desired.You can actually button down the bar with this in the sheath so if it's attached to your backpack it won't fall out.Conclusion:It's a useful sharpening tool.But unless you mod it as suggested it's going to strike newcomers to the HS1 as useless.It won't replace a diamond rod or a traditional stone but it is a good companion to either tool.Your blade just needs a light sharpening this will do the trick.