When it comes to a pocket knife, no other knife can be as useful and as easily carried as this one. When you start carrying one with you, soon it becomes your companion and you feel as if it has become your right hand. I am not exaggerating, trust me, it’s really true! But in order to keep your pocket knives working properly and serving you well, you need to take care of it and properly maintain it.
The three basic principles of maintaining your knife are to clean it, sharpen it and store it properly. All of these three steps are necessary for keeping your knife up to the mark, otherwise, it won’t stay effective for too long. And you would not want to let your investment go in vain, would you? It is better to maintain your knife instead of buying new ones every other day.
And if you are like me, then you may also have the habit of getting attached to your possessions and don’t like changing them often. Let us now have a look at some tips with which you can properly maintain your pocket knife.
1- Cleaning the Knife
First of all, you should keep the knife dry at all times. Even if it gets wet or had contact with some sort of liquid during the task you were performing with it, then dry the knife with a dry cloth or something. As far as cleaning is concerned, all of us know that the blades of the knives are made up of steel. The two most common ones are carbon steel and stainless steel.
Steel oxidizes and this is why it is more prone to rusting especially carbon steel. Therefore, you must keep the blade of your pocket knife well oiled, cleaned and dry. Pocket knives are folding knives and sometimes dirt gets accumulated inside of them. So, make sure to remove it from time to time, otherwise, your knife won’t open and close properly.
2- Sharpening the Blade
The blade of your pocket knife will not always remain sharp. No matter how premium quality knife you possess, the blade is bound to lose its edge sooner or later, much sooner if the blade is made up of stainless steel. In that case, you must know how to sharpen your blade so it can keep working properly. For that, you will need to do grinding and honing which will sharpen the blade and make it fine as well.
3- Storing the Knife
The last step is to store the knife. It also plays a vital role in the maintenance of your pocket knife. Storing a knife in the proper place will prevent it from corroding early as well. If you store your knife in a place which is damp and dirty, then surely it will rust faster than usual and soon it will be of no use to you. It is recommended to store your pocket knife in a cool and dry place and not in a sheath as well for a long time as sheath also attracts moisture.
Just follow the above mentioned three steps and your knife will surely last longer than other cool knives.
