Doc, I hear ya and agree with your words. I also work with carving wood, and I had better not find any rust on any part of my tools, not just the edge. But... really.....if you think about it, does it all REALLY matter ?
I don't know.
If I hit a deer where I am supposed to, it won't last 15 seconds. Now, a hard running deer can go a long way in 15 seconds... but none the less, sharp, kinda sharp, platelets, vitamins, fibrinogen all that stuff hasn't even started to deploy yet in 15 seconds.
Not so great hits, well, different story, I still think sharper and smoother is better, for those reasons posted above, including the trauma thing.
Oh, I'll try that Coke trick, thank you.
I've heard it before, but never actually tried it out.
Chuck