Of course you can get a knife that sharp. You can get anything flat that sharp. But when you make things that sharp they don’t hold an edge for very long, so it’s not a practical angle for a survival or bush knife. General use pocket knives are usually sharpened to an angle of about 24 degrees, and a straight razor is usually around 15 degrees. Since the leading edge is much thinner, it has to be resharpened and honed much more often and is not suitable for cutting hard objects like wood, or in the case of swords, bone.
The blades in a typical disposable razor are so thin, sharp, and malleable that they can be resharpened with a typical towel. This got me a lot more for my money until I discovered safety razors. These hold a better edge and can also be resharpened, with leather instead of a towel. I’ve been shaving for several years on a $15 box of blades I’m not even halfway through.
Of course you can get a knife that sharp. You can get anything flat that sharp. But when you make things that sharp they don’t hold an edge for very long, so it’s not a practical angle for a survival or bush knife. General use pocket knives are usually sharpened to an angle of about 24 degrees, and a straight razor is usually around 15 degrees. Since the leading edge is much thinner, it has to be resharpened and honed much more often and is not suitable for cutting hard objects like wood, or in the case of swords, bone.
Applying theory to another facet of life:
The blades in a typical disposable razor are so thin, sharp, and malleable that they can be resharpened with a typical towel. This got me a lot more for my money until I discovered safety razors. These hold a better edge and can also be resharpened, with leather instead of a towel. I’ve been shaving for several years on a $15 box of blades I’m not even halfway through.
So whenever some Cowboy or Ranger shaves with a survival knife, it’s just proof that knife never saw any action.
Or that he sharpened it for shaving right before shaving. It’s mostly just Hollywood stuff because it looks cool.