re: lets talk about really really sharp knives

Depending upon the knife and the edge that is on it, I will either just use a stone if it's bad, if not I will use the spyderco sharpmaker. Just got it for Christmas and it is a beast for 30-40 degree edges which is what I strive for. I bought the extra fine ceramic cones to take it to the next level. Afterwards I will strop using these double sided handmade ones. They are simple to make and the materials cost nothing. I have stropping compounds that I use on each side of the strops. Green is the ultra fine, white is fine, etc.
I actually enjoy this, so it's not so much a chore for me. Hair popping sharp every time on my benchmades and all of my skinning knives.

Eta- this pic is before I loaded the strops with the compound.