How To Protect Your Knife From Misfiring And Getting Dull - Otf Knife Maintenance Tips
What’s the most horrifying thing you can think of in a survival situation? You got it. A jammed automatic OTF knife.
Imagine you desperately needing to cut a tangled rope around you but your blade won’t jump out. Or you flick it open to realize the blade’s too dull. These are survival horrors we all dread.
Automatic OTF knives fail, even the best of knives can do. It’s not an everyday thing but they happen. 9/10 cheap automatic OTF knives will fail irrespective of what you do.
However, if you own a switchblade from a reputed maker, the top-notch mechanism will help deploy the blade even in its worst beaten shape.
But why face the danger when you can alleviate the risks altogether? Marines, expert hunters, fishermen and outdoor campers all know the importance of knife maintenance. They know a blade in first-rate condition can mean the difference between life and death, eating and starving.
And here’s how you can do it too.
How To Keep Your Automatic Otf Knives Razor-Sharp
I already wrote a separate article on how to keep your automatic OTF knives razor sharp. Basically, blades will go dull at some point depending on the usage. It’s a natural process of steel erosion. As you cut, something, tiny bits of the metal fall out and some stick around the blade.
When sharpening your knife, you’re doing the same, removing tiny bits of the steel and rearranging them.
Use a whetstone stone to sharpen your blade. This is the most basic sharpening tool you can find and the best in my opinion. It’s easy to carry, costs next to nothing, you don’t need power (use it in the forest) and can bring the zing back to the best of knives.
Sharpening stones are two-sided. One side is more abrasive than the other, use that side first if your knife edge is too dull. Then use the smoother side to give it a sharp silky finish.
