Knife Hack #2 Car Window

Last week we tested the theory that you could sharpen your knife using the bottom of a ceramic plate or mug.  The theory, much to my surprise, worked rather well.  Before sharpening, the knife would snag, and eventually tear the envelope.  However, after sharpening on a ceramic plate, the knife showed considerable change in sharpness.  It was nowhere near the quality of an actual knife sharpener, but it would work in a pinch.   This week we are going to continue to test knife hacks, and hopefully help you out.

In continuing with the knife sharpening theme, we tested the theory that a knife could be sharpened using a car window.  Several youtuber’s claimed this was a fantastic way to sharpen your knife when you don’t have anything else around to use.  At first I was skeptical, as I didn’t want to do damage to my knife or my car.  A plate is one thing, but a car window can be far more expensive to replace should it sustain any damage.  So before any of you go out and test this theory for yourself, please be sure that you are doing it properly, and carefully.  We don’t want anyone doing any damage to their car, their knife, or even themselves.

For this test I decided to use an old G-Factor I had lying around.  I don’t use it much anymore, so I figured it would be a perfect knife to test.  I don’t use it often, so I won’t be out too much should it hurt the knife.  I decided to test the sharpness on those pesky plastic packages that always seem to be such a pain to open.  I had an old package for a tactical pen that I figured would work perfectly. 

The first cut I attempted (Pre-sharpening) proved rather difficult.  As you can see, the cut is jagged, rough, it took a good deal of struggling to get the knife through the plastic.  I’ve had this knife for a while and the edge has definitely been dulled, as you can see.  It cut through, but obviously a sharper knife would be more preferable.  So after watching some technique videos (to keep my window safe), I headed out to the car to see just how good a knife sharpener my window was.

So, most videos said to slide the knife on the edge of the window, exactly like how you would a knife sharpener.  Upon getting out to the car, I realized this technique would not prove very fruitful for a serrated blade, so I avoided the serration and just sharpened the front part of the blade.  I ran the knife until I felt like enough was enough.  Feeling confident, I headed back inside to test the knife on the plastic for a second time.

So as you can see, the cut was definitely smoother than before.  But (in my opinion) not too much more than before.  The snags and catches were no longer present, but the knife still took a little bit of effort to get through the plastic.

So, ultimately, the window theory would work in a pinch.  But, like before, you are better off using an actual knife sharpener.  If you were out in the woods, and needed a quick fix, this would work.  But I would not suggest it for proper knife maintenance.

Did you test this hack?  Did it work for you?  Have a cool knife hack you want us to test?  Comment and let us know!