Cardboard Strop

Honey Badger Knives by Western Active Sharpening with Cardboard Strop

If you don’t want to buy a leather strop you can make a very simple cardboard strop with components that you probably already have lying around at home.

Strops are probably one of the most simple tools to keep the edge on your Honey Badger Knives razor sharp. Stropping is a very non aggressive process and while it may take a few tries to master the process, it’s virtually impossible to damage a blade by stropping.

Keep in mind that stropping is to help you maintain the edge of a knife that has already been sharpened. If the knife is totally blunt it will need sharpening first before a strop will be of much use.

Use the strop every few days depending on how much use your knife gets and you will be surprised how long you can go between sharpenings using stones.

Using this cardboard strop will help you understand the concept of maintaining an angle as you draw the knife, with trailing edge, across the strop. You may even enjoy the process so much that the next progression will be to get yourself a bench stone and enter the world of freehand sharpening.

The purpose of this article is not to teach you to strop. There are many YouTube videos that explain the process far better than we can. Take a look at the excellent videos from Burrfection and this one in particular showing how good using a cardboard strop really can be.

We just used a piece of cardboard that we found in the office. You could use the backing of a legal pad, a piece of cut from a USPS priority mail envelope or whatever you can find lying around.

The D2 steel knife we used here had just cut up a bunch of cardboard boxes and while still sharp had lost it’s shaving sharp edge.

Honey Badger Knives by Western Active Sharpening with Cardboard Strop
Wood block, cardboard, craft knife, glue stick, green compound
Honey Badger Knives by Western Active Sharpening with Cardboard Strop
Cutting the cardboard to size
Honey Badger Knives by Western Active Sharpening with Cardboard Strop
Gluing the cardboard to the wood block

The cardboard strop will work just fine bare as you can see below

Honey Badger Knives by Western Active Sharpening with Cardboard Strop
Stropping on the bare cardboard

Some folks prefer to use some type of compound. We used a bar of green Dialux but there are many different ones out there that will do the job just as well. Just apply as if you are using a coloring crayon.

Honey Badger Knives by Western Active Sharpening with Cardboard Strop
Applying compound

These compounds have very fine abrasives in them and aid in really getting that fine edge. Note the black deposit on the cardboard strop below after a few strops as the compound gets to work. After about 10 strokes on each side the knife was again shaving arm hairs.

Honey Badger Knives by Western Active Sharpening with Cardboard Strop
Stropping with compound applied
4.9
Based on 1,384 Reviews
google

Amazing quality for the price!

Matt Koger
google

Great hard working knife that dosen't break the bank

Greg Pressley
google

Great looking knifes.

bassmaster
google

FANTASTIC KNIVES AND CONSISTENTLY EXCELLENT QUALITY AND SERVICE

Shane Edwards
google

I’m in the processing of picking my first honey badger knife and I chose them because of all of their Aeros e customization options! I will def be posting another review once I receive my amazing customized pick!

Gabe Saenz
google

Solid color selection and construction is out of this world.

Pat Zarola
google

Honey badger knives are amazing quality knives and are extremely satisfying to flick open.

Jandre Burgers
google

Great knife

Bruce Swales
google

Got the large Honey Badger Drop point. Great everyday carry knife. Super sharp! Happy with my purchase. Can only recommend it.

Bernd Grahl
google

Great budget knives that compete with other brands. Only complaint is that the finish on the edges of the scales could be nicer. Otherwise perfect.

AKS
google

Can’t say enough about my experience with honey badger. Knife was sharp out of the box and arrived quick. When I mistakenly ran my knife through the dryer I lost some parts and thought I would be buying a new one, when I contact customer service, they not only sent me the parts I needed but also helped me identify parts I didn’t know I was missing. All within the hour. Really can’t say enough, honey badger customer service is probably the best I’ve ever experienced

Brandon L
google

Just got my 1st knife yesterday, and I must say, from the ones I looked at and investigated, Honey Badger stood out for me and I am extremely happy with my choice.

Nico Britz
google

Only handled one and it was a great blade!

Lance Foslien
google

I had to leave a review. They are a knife company

Cody Edwards
google

Superb Craftsmanship and design, Excellent EDC Knife!

Fern Trujillo
google

Honey badger has some great knives give them a follow on instagram too.

Jake Petersen
google

The large drop point is my jam!! How perfectly this knife is engineered and appointed is almost an enigma to me! How did they get it to be so good and so budget friendly?

TERRELLTV Family
google

Honey Badger Knives are top notch for quality.

Donald Kern
google

I do not own a a Honey Badger knife at the moment but I’ve heard nothing but good about these guys! I’m a beginning knife enthusiast and I live for the more budget friendly and on the occasion one that is more expensive for my collection. I’m adding all knives from different brands and if I won a knife from Honey Badger then they will have a spot in my collection and hopefully grow with the other brands I have now. Here’s to winning giveaways 🤘

Erick Heim
google

I live in south Africa and love the Honey Badger knifes, excellent product competitive with ANY top tier name brands, parts and warrantee available easily. I will NEVER buy another top tier knife from abroad!!

Gram Parsons