Smith's PP1 Pocket Pal Knife Sharpener Preset Carbide & Ceramic Stone Sharpeners Fold-Out Diamond Coated Rod Outdoor Hunting Knife & Hook Sharpener, Handheld, Compact, Lightweight, Multiuse

What can I say? It's a pocket-sized blade sharpener, exactly what is advertised. Sharpened the knives that I needed done without having to break out the industrial-sized grinder. The name of the product could be changed, though. "Pocket Pal"? That makes it sound like a...well, you know.

Sharpens all of my knives great!

It’s small and fast, but it was a little hard for me to hold onto well and the finger hold area was a little too small for my hand. It gives the same quality it gives the same quantity sharpness as a standard pull through sharpener.

This Smith's PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener is probably not the absolute best or most precision method to sharpen a high quality knife blade, but it is certainly among the handiest, especially when one has a specialized task to perform.Knife purists will tell you that you need an "oil stone" or a "water stone" to put the best edge on high-quality kitchen knives, and I can personally agree with my J.A. Henckels or Victorinox kitchen knives. For those I use a Woodstock SteeleX D1130 1000 Grit and 6000 Grit Japanese Waterstone that I luckily found brand new at a garage sale. But we're talking about speed and convenience here, and that's where the Smith's PP1 sharpener works well.Likes:* Very small footprint; easy to carry in a pocket, briefcase or camera bag* Carbide blades and ceramic finishing stones are reversible and replaceable* Tapered diamond rod; very convenient for sharpening serrated blade edges* Package has easy to follow sharpening directions on the back* Nicely constructed; ergonomic, lightweight and durableDislikes:- Preset sharpening angles on V-shaped sharpening slots may or may not be good for certain blades.Quick Note on Sharpening Angles:There are plenty of discussions on the `Net regarding which sharpening angle is best for a given knife. Some say that you should choose an angle of 10° to 30° on each side. Shallower angles make a sharper edge that doesn't last as long, while steeper angles are more durable; I compromise between 17° and 22.5° with my better knives, but the choice is yours. Don't know what angle the Smith's PP1 Pocket Pal Sharpener uses, as I haven't see it posted in their description. In any case, if you have an exceptionally good knife, check with the manufacturer's suggestions and specs.In Use:In my particular case, I needed to sharpen the serrated blade of my Victorinox Swiss Army One Hand Trekker, an excellent knife that I purchased here in 2008 and finally reviewed in early 2010. This particular knife made me put my other Swiss Army knives away as far as day-to-day functionality goes, yet the serrated blade was losing its effectiveness, probably from too much use over time. It was also gummed up a bit from cutting through packaging tape (and Amazon boxes, etc.) over time.First cleaned the serrated blade with WD-40, wiped it with a paper towel, then washed, rinsed and dried it. Following the directions on the package, I extended the tapered diamond rod and drew it through each serration, rotating it as the instructions noted. Within minutes the serrated blade was restored. Did the same with the serrated blade on my Gerber Suspension Butterfly Opening Multi-Plier, and the sharpness on that blade was easily refurbished as well.As noted earlier, it's always better to use a water stone on high-quality kitchen knives, but when you need speed and expedience, and the Smith's PP1 sharpener does its job. For a quick touch up with good cutlery, just remember to use the V-shaped slot with the ceramic finishing stones, and do it gently.I have also used the Smith's Edgeware V-Slot 10-Second Knife and Scissors Sharpener for years as a household handy item for sharpening scissors. Have also used it reshaping a few worn out kitchen knives, and it did the job quite well.Summary:For quick and dirty sharpening, the Smith's PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener does the job and does it well. For this user, it has worked very well, especially when sharpening a serrated blade by hand, and with that it's a 5-star product. For sharpening straight blades, you may wish learn to use a stone, but as admitted above, I do use this PP1 Pocket Pal when taking the time to use a wet stone is not convenient. If your need is for convenience and speed, then this one is highly recommended.9/22/2012

Used this on all of my kitchen knives, I was pleasantly surprised how good it worked.

Wonderfull sharpener. Small enough you can carry it with you. It is really capable of giving a razor sharp edge on virtually any blade.

This little sharpener is "OKAY" at best. This is not a precision sharpener. This is one of those sharpeners you would use if you were out in the field somewhere and needed a quick 'Temporary' fix until you get the chance to resharpen your knives properly. I've tested this on 2 of my Knives. The first test was on my small "Black Sheffield 2.75 Inch Partially Serrated Pocket Knife" and my second test was on my "Navy Seal Tactical Folding Knife by Frost Cutlery."Test 1) My Sheffield blade was getting kind of dull on the non-serrated part, so I first pulled it through the Carbide slot a few times and it shaved little pieces of metal off. I noticed it does leave some scratches on the edge no matter how carefully you try to do it so just bare in mind, its not going to look perfect. So after the carbide pull was done and noticed my angles seemed pretty good. I then put it through the Ceramic part (Fine edge), quite a few times which smoothed it out a bit. It didn't seem to scratch as much as the Carbide did however I noticed if you put a magnifying glass to the edge you will see that, its still not going to have the smoothest edge. It will look more like a Sharpened Rough Edge making it grip as if there are very very tiny serrations on it. That is the best way to describe it. Its not going to be very smooth but it will refine the edge to the angles set on the sharpener. So basically this method of sharpening is NOT for long term maintenance and you will end up wearing down the blade. Its only for the short term when you need your blade sharpened quick and don't have the time to sharpen it properly! Anyway, My Sheffield knife took to the sharpener decently and it performed a little bit better than what it was.Unfortunately can't say same thing for my other 'beater knife.' The Navy Seal Tactical Folding Knife...Test 2) And so for my 'Navy Seal Tactical Folding Knife'... Things didn't go so well for this one. The non-serrated part of the knife was always pretty dull ever since I bought it. It was a cheaply constructed beater knife made in China that I bought in a smoke shop.So it being a beater knife I had no problem with really going at it trying to sharpen it. So again I first ran it through the Carbide slot quite a bit because I couldn't get the edge to center for a while because its not a centered blade design so I just kept at it until finally I got it centered. After that I ran it through the Ceramic (Fine edge) multiple times until it seemed smoothed enough. After doing all I could it turns out, it didn't improve much at all. No matter what I did, I could not get this Knife to sharpen properly. I don't know if it was the angle it had on the blade edge, it could be just straight crap steel, or maybe the angles on the sharpener just aren't good for this kind of knife, no clue!? So at best it was almost as dull as before trying the sharpener, only now with different angles and more grip due to the slight rough edge it has now.After trying a few more tests and still getting the same results I finally gave up on it. I just couldn't get any good results from the sharpener on this particular knife at all...In fact, I was happier with the previous dull edge because it wasnt roughed up like it is now.This leads me to the conclusion that Not Every Knife you have is going to work with this tool, and I would advise you not to test this Item on any knife that you may value. I would only recommend testing this sharpener on an overly dull blade or a cheap knife that wont cost you more than 10 bucks to replace or on just some beater knife you don't care so much about. This product does have its uses but I feel it has to be used on thicker blades that carry wider angles like maybe a small axe or a thick knife. To be honest if your really looking into more quality sharpening for your knives, then you might want to look elsewhere and skip these Pull through Sharpeners. It just seems like a hit or miss ordeal with this type of tool.I'd really recommend maybe trying the 'Smiths Precision Sharpener Kit' or even the 'Lanskys Sharpener Kit'They're both around $40-45 and they use a clamp and guide rods with better angles and sharpen quite well.You can also look into the 'Smiths Tri-Hone Sharpening System' which are about $20-25. It uses 3 different stones that you slide your knife against. Its pretty decent!I only recommend a pull thru sharpener for as an emergency or for a Go Bag!Hope this review helps, Good Luck!

Good sharpener, bought this for a friend having had one myself for many years.