Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Lansky Deluxe 5 Hone Sharpening System

Lansky Deluxe 5 Hone Sharpening System
By Mike Bell, Sportsmen Portal Field Staff


Cost
$32.49 online

Product features
  • Patented, precision-engineered, multi-angle flip-over knife clamp
  • Sharpening hones on color-coated, finger-grooved safety holders
  • One guide rod for each honing stone
  • Specially formulated honing oil
  • Extra long knife clamp screws
  • Custom molded storage/carrying case to hold all system components
  • Complete easy-to-follow multi-lingual instructions

Lansky sharpening angles
  • 17 degree – A severe angle recommended for razor blades, X-Acto blades, scalpels or similar tools.  Provides an extremely sharp but delicate edge.
  • 20 degree – A commonly used angle for higher quality blades and provides an excellent edge for kitchen cutlery and filet knives
  • 25 degree – The recommended angle for most knives that need a durable, sharp edge.  Ideal for hunting and outdoor knives
  • 30 degree – An outstanding angle for knives that see the heavy use of cutting cardboard, wire or carpets.  Recommended for heavy duty use.

Personal Assessment of product

Until coming across the Lansky Sharpening System, I was never able to put a sharp durable edge on my knives.  I’ve tried whetstones and though I could put a serviceable edge on my knife, it was never truly sharp.  I had friends, and family who were willing to sharpen my knives for me, but I was always bothered by not being able to do it myself.  I came across the Lansky Sharpening System from a co-worker.  He was telling me about his knife sharpening kit and offered to let me try one of my knives on it.  After receiving the kit and a few instructions from my friend, I gave it a shot.  I took the system home that evening and brought my dull hunting knife to a razor sharp edge on my first try.  This was the first time I was able to get a truly sharp edge on my hunting knife.  I was amazed at how easy this system was to use and purchased a Lansky that night.  After receiving my system in the mail, I had all my hunting knives honed and ready for the upcoming hunting season.  The great thing about this sharpening system is that it takes the “art” out of sharpening knives.  Just put your knife in the clamp, decide what angle you want on your blade, attach the rods to the hones, and use the slots built into the clamp to bring you knife to a razor sharp finish.  Though I already had an idea how to use the sharpening kit, the instructions were thorough and easy to follow.


Product Limitations

There are only a couple of things I could mention as “limitations” when using the Lansky Knife Sharpening Systems.  This system is used by running a hone over the knife as the fixed surface, as compared to running a knife over a whetstone as the fixed surface.  A little more care is needed when using the Lansky Sharpening System. The same friend, who introduced me to this kit, also cut himself bad when the hone slipped off the blade and ran his finger into the knife edge.  This is completely avoidable ,and the system is safe to use, but always use care when dealing with knives.  Also when doing large knives (above 6-7 inches) it is recommended to do ½ of the knife at a time.  When trying to sharpen the whole knife at once, the angle changes too much and the rods might not be long enough.  I have done our chef’s kitchen knife ½ at a time, and though it took a little longer, the end result was great.

Recommendation

The Lansky Sharpening System is easy to use and has brought out razor sharp edges on knives I have never been able to get sharp before.  The process of sharpening my knives before owning the Lansky Sharpening System had been frustrating and often times impossible.  After using this system, I believe this product would work great in any outdoorsmen’s home.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Carter's Hunting Lodge

Date: November 7-14, 2009

Location: Milton, Illinois, Pike County

Species: Whitetail

This year I met with Carter’s Hunting Lodge at the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show. During that time I made arrangements with Randy Hall and Nathan Carter to hunt with them during the rut.  Carter’s Hunting Lodge offers TROPHY whitetail archery hunts in Pike County, Illinois. (You can see the story of my hunt under my Field Journals) Needless to say, I was in for a true hunter’s delight.
Lodge: They offer a comfortable laid back stay at their hunting Lodge. When entering the Lodge you can’t help but be astonished at the big Pike County bucks hanging all over the walls. Not to mention the wall plaques of pictures of hunters with bucks taken over the years. That alone gets you excited for getting in the woods. The Lodge is roomy yet cozy and comfortable. When you came home from hunting the ladies would have a wonderful warm meal ready with all the fixings!  Catered from the local eatery Dink’s Diner.





Food: When you came home from hunting the ladies would have a wonderful warm meal ready with all the fixings!  Catered from the local eatery Dink’s Diner. The food was delicious and there was plenty to go around! They provide you with two meals per day Noon and Night. A complimentary breakfast will be provided the morning of the hunt. The food was delicious and there was plenty to go around!

Stands: Carter’s has over 8000 acres of prime hunting ground managed with various food sources. There was no need to worry about being crowded by other hunter’s there was plenty of room.  They have over 250 stands anywhere from 20-24 feet.  All stands are double hung stands mostly done for the purpose of filming.  They were either a hang on stand or a permanent built stand. All stands had a ladder which made climbing easy.  Carter's can place you in a stand giving the hunter every opportunity according to wind direction and deer movement. Guides will take you to your stand locations and pick you up mid-morning to go in for lunch then back out in the evening. Or you can opt to stay out all day and hunt as we did.


Deer: Carter’s does have an antler restriction of a 140 inch minimum and there is a fee assessed if you choose to shoot less than 140 class bucks.  That is why it is TROPHY hunting. By having this restriction Carter’s assures that their bucks are reaching their full potential and maturing.  Thus providing the hunter with quite possibly a buck of a lifetime! The big bucks we saw were in the body size of up over 200 pounds with massive antlers.  The bucks have interesting characteristics of kickers, drop tines, split brows and so on. A lot of character running around their property!  The bucks were big, healthy, big, and did I say they were BIG??




Guides: Carter’s has a Guide for everyone. Some of the return hunters chose to go to their stands on their own and so forth. Which is an option to those repeat clients that are familiar with the stands, property, etc. The Guides will take you and drop you off to your stand each day, recovery and processing of your deer and give you guidance according to your feedback from each days hunt. I know there wasn’t a Guide at Carter’s that you wouldn’t like. All the guys were personable and made you feel welcome as soon as you introduced yourself.

Carter’s has over a 76% return rate with their clients.  Which is totally understandable. I know I wanted to go back before I even left! During the week Don and I saw around 50 bucks and more does and fawns than we could count. The stands were comfortable and numerous!  They have food plots and water sources all through the property. I absolutely loved my hunt with Carter’s. Everyone treated you like you were family and the Lodge was laid back, comfortable, good food and fun.  These boys know how to manage deer!  We saw proof of that!

Carter’s also offer hunting property and land for sale in Pike County and surrounding areas with their Real Estate Company, Carter Realty Network.
If you are looking to harvest a Trophy Whitetail in the mid-west with a great group of people, I would highly recommend Carter’s Hunting Lodge.

They are at the Eastern Sports and Outdoor show  each year in February, or you can contact Them at:
Randy Hall  1-217-779-0404,     P.O. Box 259, Milton, Illinois 62352     randy@carternetworkrealty.com