Had never used a whetstone before and mostly bought it for decoration on another project. When it came time to use it, I followed the included instructions, and it was SUPER easy, not to mention, it was RAZOR sharp. I typically test the sharpness by running my finger very lightly and slowly across the front of the blade edge (which is very very stupid, never do that) but when I did it with this I instantly withdrew my hang and thought "yeah, if I do that this is gonna be a cut for sure". This thing really does the job and I guess I should really expect to take this seriously and not mess around with it, but it's crazy. Didn't know what a sharp knife was until I used this.

(They recommend you use knife sharpening lubricant, but I just used water and it worked out great, but I'm sure with the proper materials, it's an unbelievable edge. The sheath it comes with is a light cream color unlike the pictures here, but I used brown leather dye I already had to color it, which you can do yourself as well. but it wasn't really necessary. If you have leather dye already, it's a nice touch, but I wouldn't spend $10 on leather dye for one tiny little pouch.)

I purchased several of Dans Whetstones in 2016 and they are awesome, first class stones. Cut perfectly with sharp edges at exactly 45 degrees ,all surfaces are perfectly flat and all corners come to a sharp point.
I am using these older stones strictly for gunsmithing.
Now in 2020 I purchased another (soft/medium) for knives and a hatchet while camping. I don't know if I got a bad one or the stones are now cut different but all the edges on it are beveled and corners are not squared. This is fine for blades or polishing flats for trigger jobs (like hammer / sear sides) but useless for certain smithing where you need that perfect 45 degree angle for things like smoothing and polishing hammer hooks.
The sheath quality is also now lacking. Used to be a nice dark and supple leather. New sheaths are off white, thinner and feel like plastic. Even the stitching has been cheaped out. The stitching does not go far enough up the sides and the stone slips out easily. What are they trying to do , save a penny on thread for every 10 sheaths made? Dropping rating to 4 stars, it's still a good stone for the money, just not what they used to be. I wish the price went up and the quality remained the same. Remember to check out the bevels on the newer stone in the photo.

I have had this for a year. It does the job. I keep it in my pocket. I use my knife a lot. If I need to sharpen it I pull it out of my pocket to hone my knife back up. I live the case not only for storage but I also use the leather case to strop my pocket knife.

When this arrived, I got a warm feeling. Great quality, made in the USA! Reminds me of what my mom kept in the kitchen growing up, and she loved her knives! Very happy with my purchase.

I like it sharpens my knife very well