Reddit mentions of Kotobuki King 250+1000/K-80 Combo

A knife is only as good as its edge, without sharpening supplies, you are powerless to keep even the finest knife in working order. I recommend you buy this Victorinox, and use the leftover money for this double sided sharpening/honing stone.

here's a pretty good tutorial for using your new stone, and a little more info about sharpening. Disregard butcher's steel, acquire mirror polish.

This will be a good start, use the coarse side to take out major blemishes, hone with the fine side after each use (like when you're through cutting, not after every slice)

Can't agree with you more. People buy really expensive knives thinking that they will stay sharp forever. Then after a couple months, the knife is as dull as every other knife in the drawer. The key is learning how to sharpen your own knives.

Get one of these to start

http://www.amazon.com/Kotobuki-King-1000-K-80-Combo/dp/B00200L90I/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1368758882&sr=1-2&keywords=king+sharpening+stone

Maybe a 3000k/6000k stone and a leather strop with green compound stone if you want scary sharp knives.

Then go to thrift stores until you find a knife with decent steel. Basically, anything that is not made in china, taiwan, or mexico will be OK. USA, Germany, or Japan are generally make excellent quality steel. The knives you buy will be as dull as your intro to physics professor. GOOD, watch some youtube (Virtuovice's early videos are good) and learn how to sharpen a knife using a water-stone. You know your good at sharpening once you can shave with your kitchen knives.

Years from now, the thrift store knives will be ready for the trash can. You'll be able to afford real BIFL knives and know how to care for them.

Those are some serious knives you're looking at. Don't go messing them up with some rinky-dink, as-seen-on-TV gadget. Get a good japanese waterstone. It's what the pros use. They are not all that expensive, nor should you be daunted by the prospect of learning how to use one.

The King k-80 has served me well. It gives you a coarser grit (250) on one side for serious sharpening jobs (e.g., sharpening out a nick in the blade, or putting a new edge on a very dull knife), and a finer grit (1000) for maintenance.

As for technique, this video shows a pretty foolproof basic technique. You may want to experiment with some other techniques, but once you find one that works for you you'll want to be consistent about it. Chances are you've got a friend who can show you how, or, failing that, offer to buy your preferred sushi chef a case of beer in return for a lesson.

If you don't mind spending the extra 10 bucks, the Wustof Tri-stone (250-100-3000) is a great all-round kit and value for money. I recommend this over the cheaper Smith's Arkansas Tri-hone kit because the Wusthof kit uses water stones and I don't have to futz around with oil. But if you don't mind using an oil stone, nothing wrong with the Smith's.

I use a 250-1000 combo King Kotobuki waterstone for sharpening , and a 6000 King Kotobuki waterstone for honing/polishing. But this kit is a little pricey in the total.

PS: Here's a great video for technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFhMGJYhYpU

I have to say that I avoided getting a wetstone for a while. I just bout this stone recently and found it was pretty easy to sharpen using it. To be fair, my knives were pretty beat up and dull before I sharpened them. So, I bought a pretty low grit stone. The only thing I'd recommend is getting something at least a little higher. Now that I've sharpened with both the 250 and 1000 sides once, it doesn't seem like the 250 side will be of much use anymore unless I want to change the edge angle entirely which is not likely.

It took about 10 minutes for my 8" chef knife and some other 5" knife that I found under my kitchen stove when I bought my house. :)

I've heard that the Lansky sharpening system is pretty easy to use, but the one common complaint is that it gets a bit tough for larger kitchen knives. There is a stone in it for serrated knives as well.

Knives are great. Sharp knives are better. It's not camping gear that you take with you, but it's gear that's essential for a camper (unless you want to be buying new knives all the time).

I know you said <$5, I promise if you gift a GC I'll put it toward this.

That's a lot of great info, thanks a lot! I was looking at this any thoughts? Is the difference between 1000 and 250 grit too much?

Try this then. If you think about how long you'll own your stones, the price is a few cents a year or less if you properly maintain it.
http://www.amazon.com/Kotobuki-King-1000-K-80-Combo/dp/B00200L90I/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1421365781&sr=8-10&keywords=whetstone

This one doesn't come with a case/stand. I'd recommend getting one to increase the lifespan and ease of use. If you're completely new to whetstones, look at getting sharpening guides to help you get a feel for the proper 15 degree angle.

I use a Kotobuki King 250+1000 and lay the bevel flat on the wet stone. I use water to keep it wet. I sharpen on the coarse until I have made and removed a burr on the whole edge. Then switch to fine. It does not come out quite as sharp as the factory edge, but is more than satisfactory. I typically make my very last pass on the fine side with more of an angle to make sure I have removed any bits of burr.

I would avoid something with an angle guard on this style of blade. The bevel is so significant that it guides for you.

edit: assuming only sharpening a mora

I have the puck, works great on axes and knives alike. I knew multiple fishing guides who even used it on their filet knives daily for years.

This also works great for my knives:
http://www.amazon.com/Kotobuki-King-1000-K-80-Combo/dp/B00200L90I/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top