Arkansas Ceramic Rod

handy sized, no grit/ grade on the rod, will keep in tackle box to maintain the knives in the box.

I found the smaller rod to be not really long enough to be of use unless you are honing a blade of under 4 inches - hence the “better than nothing” bit in the title. The longer rod certainly does a good job, and is going at an unbelievable price, definitely recommended. The problem I have with these, is that there is no grit rating with them. You wouldn’t buy a whetstone without knowing what grit It was, and a ceramic rod isn’t any different. However, I again direct your attention to the price!

I bought a couple of the longer rods just to make an order up to £30 and get free postage, and for the price I wasn't expecting much, but I have to say I'm seriously impressed by their effectiveness. Now, these are honing rods for fine sharpening, so don't expect them to restore a completely dull blade, but if you're aiming to take a knife from fairly sharp to extremely sharp, a few strokes on each side of the rod plus a bit of a polish with a steel and/or strop will do the job. To be honest, I don't know why the makers don't put a nice handle on these and charge ten times the price. But since they don't, get one and put your own handle on “ a file handle will do nicely. An absolute bargain “ but nothing to do with Arkansas, either the place or the sharpening stones, as far as I can tell!

I bought the large version and find it well made and keeps a wonderful edge on my schrade and casstrom knives , leaves a nice finish and keen edge :-)

I bought both sizes. I found when sharpening the knife it kept catching on the surface of the rod, the odd small bump can be felt along it`s length. I smoothed the surface with a diamond stone and it feels a lot better. John.