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I was wondering, regardless of the type of blade, how did samurais keep their blade effective when they are away from any sharpening tools / professionals.

Coming from daily using a Japanese chef knife, there is a significant difference between honing and sharpening. Honing is done very frequently, minutes intervals on intense usage, while sharpening under the same usage could be done in months intervals. Honing is also very cost efficient, with little skill and time the results are significant.

So I'm guessing, since honing is kind of simple (technique-wise) and very effective, while sharpening is quite an art, did samurais hone their blades frequently? If so how did they are away?

MCW
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  • Should I rewrite it there or is there any technical way to move it ? –  Nov 06 '18 at 14:07
  • @Sardathrion Do you really think this is a better fit for history? I would expect this would be a better fit here. –  Nov 06 '18 at 15:18
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    @mattm We are martial arts expert, not historians. The samurai class is no more for more than a century, katana are no longer weapons of war used on far away battlefields, and even amongst those of us who still learn the ancient way of the sword, wood and bamboo is preferred over blunt steel let alone sharp steel. – Sardathrion - against SE abuse Nov 06 '18 at 17:21
  • Please migrate to history/. – MCW Nov 06 '18 at 20:43
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    they are away from any sharpening tools / professionals Since the sword is one of the tools of samurai trade, I would expect any samurai to know how to care for it while on campaign. Many cooks have no issues at all caring for their knives. And for major reparations any marching army would have a baggage train which would include artisans. In any case, while iconic, swords were not the main samurai weapon (https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/10331/why-didnt-japanese-infantrymen-and-samurai-use-shields/10395#10395) – SJuan76 Nov 07 '18 at 09:07
  • I know it's fiction, but George R. Martin gets some things right: Note how frequently we "catch up" to Jorah Mormont and see him honing his sword with a whetstone. This would be a twice daily and immediately after every combat habit of every trained warrior prior to the modern age. – Pieter Geerkens Nov 08 '18 at 02:35
  • Correct mentions of whetstones aside, "wartime" implies an army on the move. An army on the move would (among many other things) have smiths with them, forge, anvil and all, so both "sharpening tools" and "professionals" would probably be easier to come by than during peacetime when you might find yourself in a town that doesn't have a smithy... – DevSolar Oct 15 '20 at 06:24
  • It is not uncommon to have the necessary tools needed to sharpen a sword. One would be a very tiny wetstone they could carry with them – LazyReader Oct 15 '20 at 05:03
  • In medieval Europe, that would be the squire's job. I am not familiar with Japanese history, but I suspect, that Samurai's were rich enough to have staff with them. People to tend to horses, cook meals, etc. – Dohn Joe Oct 15 '20 at 07:57
  • @DohnJoe: You have conflated knights and men-at-arms. A samurai is a man-at-arms, not a knight with knight's fief. He is the servant (ie retainer) responsible for the weapons expertise . – Pieter Geerkens Oct 15 '20 at 10:28
  • @Pieter thanks for the clarification, as I noted above I am not familiar with Japanese history. However, the Samurai might still have some other people along serving the tasks mentioned above. So, maybe a Samurai didn't have a squire of his own, but he could have other people along serving the same lord, which are subordinate to him? – Dohn Joe Oct 15 '20 at 12:42

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