- Joined
- Dec 13, 2005
- Messages
- 6,105
Howdy folks! It's been a long time! I hope you've all been well. Life has been... hectic, and I haven't had much dirt time. But, last week I found myself with a free afternoon and took a sack of steel out to the woods for a spell. I snapped a few pics, and shot a long video comparing several choppers. Sadly, the video came out horribly grainy and I'm not sure it's salvageable.
The choppers in question were a Marbles machete, BK9, Gransfors wildlife, and CS Frontier Hawk. I was surprised by the results! The machete didn't bite as well as I'd hoped, and was probably surpassed by the BK9. The Wildlife was a huge disappointment and was outclassed by the Frontier Hawk. Overall, it was a close call between the BK9 and the Hawk, in terms of raw chopping ability. The niche better filled by the long blade, however, is in fire prep. I always favor batoning over 'splitting', even using side-splitting techniques. It's easier and there's less to go wrong. A blade like the BK9 makes it veeery easy. And at least as important, the BK9 is great at gathering branches and vegetation. The only pics that survived...
But the main toy I wanted to play with was my shiny new Mark Andrews / Riverside Forge bushcrafter (third from the left).
I saw this sitting in the maker's for-sale area for a song, and took a chance. I have been 'out of touch' for a while, and wasn't familiar with Mark, but his pictures spoke well for him. I was impressed by the apparent dimensions of the handle.
Once it arrived, I was blown away. I'm dumbfounded, considering the price. The grind is perfect, and the handle fitting is par excellence. The wood handle is warm, well rounded, and very inviting. Gotta love that forward palm swell! I shot a table top video to outline this, with a few comparable blades for some perspective.
[video=youtube;PUK893LqXRo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUK893LqXRo[/video]
This thing really slides right through wood: a match stick fuzz stick ends up looking the size of a golf ball. This handle truly fills the hand nicely. Fire prep...
I also sat and carved parts for a figure-4 trap, but sadly this was part of the failed video footage. 'TIs a shame. Luckily, some hot cider and a smoke on the cob cheered me up.
Mutt on patrol...
Thanks for looking! I hope to get some more woods time this season, and I'll snap some footage to share along the way. With regards to the Mark Andrews knife, I'm almost hesitant to sing its praises too loudly; it means I'll have more competition when his blades his the for-sale forum!
Take care of yourselves-
Will
The choppers in question were a Marbles machete, BK9, Gransfors wildlife, and CS Frontier Hawk. I was surprised by the results! The machete didn't bite as well as I'd hoped, and was probably surpassed by the BK9. The Wildlife was a huge disappointment and was outclassed by the Frontier Hawk. Overall, it was a close call between the BK9 and the Hawk, in terms of raw chopping ability. The niche better filled by the long blade, however, is in fire prep. I always favor batoning over 'splitting', even using side-splitting techniques. It's easier and there's less to go wrong. A blade like the BK9 makes it veeery easy. And at least as important, the BK9 is great at gathering branches and vegetation. The only pics that survived...
But the main toy I wanted to play with was my shiny new Mark Andrews / Riverside Forge bushcrafter (third from the left).
I saw this sitting in the maker's for-sale area for a song, and took a chance. I have been 'out of touch' for a while, and wasn't familiar with Mark, but his pictures spoke well for him. I was impressed by the apparent dimensions of the handle.
Once it arrived, I was blown away. I'm dumbfounded, considering the price. The grind is perfect, and the handle fitting is par excellence. The wood handle is warm, well rounded, and very inviting. Gotta love that forward palm swell! I shot a table top video to outline this, with a few comparable blades for some perspective.
[video=youtube;PUK893LqXRo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUK893LqXRo[/video]
This thing really slides right through wood: a match stick fuzz stick ends up looking the size of a golf ball. This handle truly fills the hand nicely. Fire prep...
I also sat and carved parts for a figure-4 trap, but sadly this was part of the failed video footage. 'TIs a shame. Luckily, some hot cider and a smoke on the cob cheered me up.
Mutt on patrol...
Thanks for looking! I hope to get some more woods time this season, and I'll snap some footage to share along the way. With regards to the Mark Andrews knife, I'm almost hesitant to sing its praises too loudly; it means I'll have more competition when his blades his the for-sale forum!
Take care of yourselves-
Will
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