I never use my EDC knives for cutting cardboard boxes, carving wood, or hunting. This is like using a Rolex to snuff out a cigar. A sharp folding knife should only be used as a self-defense weapon. After its first use, the police will probably seize it for evidence. Just like a handgun you fire to protect your family. Even diving knives are reserved for self-defense, not shucking oysters. While traveling in a car, it might make sense to carry one (EDC) knife on your person, and another in your toolbox.

There are other tools like boxcutters, hacksaws, chisels, butcher knives, and pruners for most cutting jobs. A two sided diamond sharpener does a fairly good job of sharpening and finessing the blade. Strops are for barbers who still shave people the old-fashioned way, and like a polished blade. Some people are just perfectionists.

When did this thread shift from knife sharpening and maintenance to self defense?

"EDC" is not synonymous with "SD".  A cell phone is essential EDC, but it has nothing to do with self defense.

 

/snipped/
A two sided diamond sharpener does a fairly good job of sharpening and finessing the blade. Strops are for barbers who still shave people the old-fashioned way, and like a polished blade. Some people are just perfectionists.

It all depends on

1)  how finely you sharpen the blade
2)  the quality of the metal the blade contains
3)  how much you intend to use the blade in utility-style tasks, like opening cardboard containers vs. butchering meat.

The purpose of stropping is to remove the burr created during a good sharpening.  The burr is tiny but can be seen with the naked eye as well as felt with the thumb.  It feels like a microscopic wire at the very edge.

Without stropping, you'll have to resharpen the blade more often to keep a quality edge on it.  Removing the burr allows the blade to attain maximum sharpness without subjecting the blade to more frequent, repeated sharpening with stones, plates or sandpaper, thereby maintaining the thickness of the blade for much longer.

I never use my EDC knives for cutting cardboard boxes, carving wood, or hunting. This is like using a Rolex to snuff out a cigar. A sharp folding knife should only be used as a self-defense weapon. After its first use, the police will probably seize it for evidence. Just like a handgun you fire to protect your family. Even diving knives are reserved for self-defense, not shucking oysters. While traveling in a car, it might make sense to carry one (EDC) knife on your person, and another in your toolbox.

There are other tools like boxcutters, hacksaws, chisels, butcher knives, and pruners for most cutting jobs. A two sided diamond sharpener does a fairly good job of sharpening and finessing the blade. Strops are for barbers who still shave people the old-fashioned way, and like a polished blade. Some people are just perfectionists.

Knives are tools. . .

Diving knives for “self-defense weapon”?  Bwuahahaha.  I haven’t dove for a while, but I had a dive knife on me when I used to scuba.  Last thing I had in mind was defending myself. . . Many give knives don’t even have a tip.  Many have a flat tip for prying.  Not quite shucking, but more along those lines than “defending” yourself against Jaws. . .

Two sided diamond sharpener for “fairly good job of sharpening”.  That’s like using 80 grit sandpaper to polish car headlights. . .

I never use my EDC knives for cutting cardboard boxes, carving wood, or hunting. This is like using a Rolex to snuff out a cigar. A sharp folding knife should only be used as a self-defense weapon. After its first use, the police will probably seize it for evidence. Just like a handgun you fire to protect your family. Even diving knives are reserved for self-defense, not shucking oysters. While traveling in a car, it might make sense to carry one (EDC) knife on your person, and another in your toolbox.

There are other tools like boxcutters, hacksaws, chisels, butcher knives, and pruners for most cutting jobs. A two sided diamond sharpener does a fairly good job of sharpening and finessing the blade. Strops are for barbers who still shave people the old-fashioned way, and like a polished blade. Some people are just perfectionists.

my EDC blades are just that.  something I would carry every day, and use every day.  I have never had to use any knife for self defense, but I use knives every day to cut cardboard, plastic straps, tape, char siu, spam, an orange or apple or pear etc.  I use a $400 knife to cut cardboard all the time, works great.  and if I need to use it for defense, I can, but 99.9% of the time I'm using it in the office or at home for light use
so primarily my EDC's  are tools for utility, and secondarily for defense.  but that's just me and how i use my knives.
for primary defensive knife, I would use one of my larger fixed blades since those are much sturdier than a folding knife
I have a 2 sided diamond sharpener that I hardly ever use bc although it does sharpen the blade it doesn't make it shaving sharp.  I like to have all my knives shaving sharp.  kitchen knives, fixed blades, folders, EDC, etc
if I was going into zombie apocalypse SHTF then I would use my Tops Operator 7.  now that's a knife!!!   blade is over 1/4" thick
and I'll try to strop it soon too   
Tops markets this knife as a "Classic American “fighting” knife aesthetics and a workhorse tool"  so Tops designed it as a defensive knife and a tool

Got the polishing compounds and used the black then the green on AUS8, S30V, and ar rpm9 steels. All I got shaving sharp. The S30V took a little more work but not bad. Have to practice more. Good results so far

Got the polishing compounds and used the black then the green on AUS8, S30V, and ar rpm9 steels. All I got shaving sharp. The S30V took a little more work but not bad. Have to practice more. Good results so far

Glad stropping seems to be working well for you.  I have to remind myself when is enough or how sharp is sharp enough.  I spent a lot of time reprofiling blades because I didn’t know when to stop working them on my whetstones.  Stropping kind of fixed this for me because my knives stay sharp longer, and I’m also smarter now to avoid bones and to stay easy on the chopping board.