[jimmontg]

I bought one for my uncle who I made a knife for as he said he didn't know how to sharpen a knife. He loves the thing, says it's the best thing ever and he used it to sharpen all his knives. There is a similar product called a Smith's pocket pal. The Smith is about $10, no kidding. The Lansky, 2 x Lansky PS-MED01 BladeMedic is $25, they have raised the price, but I'm sure you can get one or the other at Walmart. Lansky makes a stick sharpener as well for about $40.

I would stay away from some of the machines as some may harm your knife. If you can do it by hand a nice diamond stone is the way to go as I've had mine since 2002 and it's as good as ever.

Lansky has a sharpening system that has very good reviews called the Lansky Standard Coarse Sharpening System with Fine Hones for $24 on Amazon, you might want to check out, it uses guides and you can get a good edge with it without costing a ton of money like some systems are. They have a diamond version of it for about $54. If you use a sharpener that use carbide in a Vee be careful as some of them take a lot of material off. The Lansky has the carbide Vee and a ceramic Vee for finishing. Also a round sharpener for serrated knives. The Lansky is better quality than the Smith's Pocket Pal by the way and heavier, but they both do the same thing.