The Wicked Edge Venture™ made guided sharpening portable - the Venture™ Nomad makes it durable.
A sharpener that lives in a backpack takes a beating. So does one that rattles around in the center console of a truck or gets buried in a toolbox or tackle box. A lot of customers told us that they love the Venture™ - the go-anywhere sharpener with a built-in guide that holds your angle for you - but worried about the ceramic stone surviving that kind of treatment.
Fair concern. So we built the Wicked Edge Venture™ Nomad.
What’s Different?
The Venture™ Nomad is identical to the Venture™ in a lot of ways. Same handle, same Knife Guide, same leather strop. Where it differs is in the included sharpening stone. The Venture™ Nomad comes with a 300 and 600 grit dual-sided diamond stone. No breakable ceramics here. But there are other reasons for a 300/600 stone other than just durability.
300 Grit Stone
The 300 grit stone is coarser than the 500 grit that comes with the Venture™. That means faster reprofiling, faster edge setting, faster fixing of damaged blades.
If you use your knives hard, this is the stone for you.
600 Grit Stone
Widely regarded as a great working edge, the 600 grit diamond stone is the standard finishing stone for the majority of our bench top sharpeners, such as the WE40 Carbon, WE60 GO, and WE64 Cobalt. Refined enough to make smooth cuts, while also being toothy enough to cut through rope, tape, twine, hides and other tough materials that finer grits struggle with.
Leather Strop
This is the same leather strop that comes on the Venture™. Great finishing step to remove any remaining burrs on the knife, and also great for light touchups. You might be surprised at how often a quick strop will bring a knife back to life. Also, stropping makes your knife measurably sharper, as we’ve researched in the past.
20 Degree Knife Guide
This is the part of the Venture™ that has made hand-held knife sharpening so accessible for so many people, and it’s included in the Venture™ Nomad as well. The Knife Guide holds your knife at the perfect angle through your sharpening stroke, creating a nice, even bevel across the length of your blade. We chose to include the 20 degree version because it’s the most common angle that knife makers use, and covers a wide variety of blade types. But, if you need something different, we’ve got you covered there as well with our 15 degree, 17 degree and 25 degree guides.
Which One Should I get?
Since the only real difference between the sharpeners is the stone, it’s really all about determining which stone is best for you. You can do that by answering these 3 questions:
- Where’s the sharpener going to live? Is it going in a kitchen drawer? Is it going in your pack carried through the woods? Is it rattling around in your truck? Is it living in a work bench drawer? If it’s going to be moving around a lot and has a high likelihood of collisions with other gear, the Venture™ Nomad is probably your best bet. If it’s more stationary, like in a kitchen drawer or sitting on your workbench in the garage, the Venture is going to do great. Now, that’s not to say that the Venture™ can’t travel, it’ll just require a little more care than the Venture™ Nomad.
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Do you want a toothier edge or a more refined edge? This really comes down to what you’re cutting. If you’re cutting a lot of tougher materials such as rope, twine, tape, zip ties, hides, etc., then the 600 grit finish of the Venture™ Nomad may work better for you than the Venture™. If you’re cutting more meat, vegetables, paper, and breaking down the occasional box, then the more refined edge of the Venture™ may be right.
- Do your knives get dull or damaged regularly? You can also phrase this one as “do you use your knives harder than most?” If so, then the 300 grit stone on the Venture™ Nomad might be better suited for you. If you don’t abuse your knives and try to take more care of them, then the Venture™ may be better suited.
Answer these 3 questions and the choice usually makes itself. Hard use, rough storage, tougher materials - go Venture™ Nomad. Kitchen and workbench, finder edges, knives you take are of - go Venture™.
Still torn? Grab either one and add the other stone. They swap in seconds, and you’ll have both edges covered for less than the cost of a second sharpener.
