Kershaw 9900 Series 9-inch Stainless-Steel Sharpening Steel

A honing steel is used to straighten the tiny rolls in a knife's edge. About 6-12 passes on each side of the knife will be sufficient for most knives to bring the slightly rolled edge back in line and return the knife to razor sharp. This only works if you don't allow your knife to get very dull. If it gets sufficiently dull you have to sharpen (remove metal) on stones or diamond plates/paddles, ceramic rods, or with another sharpening method. Honing, in contrast, does not remove metal. It straightens the rolled parts of the edge. If you hone each time after you've washed and dried your knife you will maintain the edge and won't have to sharpen it very many times per year.

This honing steel does NOT have diamonds in the surface. It is a hardened steel rod that, being harder than the knife blade, is able to straighten the rolled edge. Honing steels with diamond particles remove metal and thus sharpen while straightening the edge as well. I recommend this type of honing steel because it allows you to simply straighten the edge instead of constantly removing metal, which shortens the life of a knife. I'm sure some people prefer a sharpening steel with diamonds, but I prefer one without them. If I want to sharpen I use 3M wet/dry silicon carbide sandpaper, a Wicked Edge Precision Sharpener or my Spyderco Sharpmaker. Using this honing steel after washing and drying the knife after use for food prep maintains the razor sharp edge. When the edge has been damaged too much to respond to honing it's time to resharpen the knife. Depending on the edge geometry and steel used in your knife you might need to sharpen once a month or as infrequently as once a year or less.

This Kershaw steel is decently heavy, which is something you want. If the steel is too light you have to be careful to not let the knife move the steel, which could lead to accidental injury. If the steel is too thin it will wear out sooner. This one has a comfortable handle and the steel has good length and diameter to allow for easy, safe honing and for long term use. I got this on sale for $15. I wouldn't pay more than $20 for a honing steel when one like this can be had inexpensively and it will work well.

Kershaw is a name brand of pocket knives. The brand is owned by KAI, which produces Shun kitchen knives, Kershaw pocket knives, and their more "tactical" line of pocket knives called Zero Tolerance, among other things.

Product worked as it should for a sharpening steel (it really just takes of the rolled edge of a blade, honing). The handle is the only complaint very bulky feel, but it does serve its purpose in regards to making your grip easier when honing. You really can not go wrong with Kershaw every knife I have is my blade of choice when cooking, rather than my four stars.

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