Axe vs. Saw vs. Big Knife for Chopping

No way am I using a knife to quarter wood. Chainsaw to cut it and axe to split it. Knives might be fun, but nowhere near as quick for me as an axe.
 
Grease said:
There was a chopping contest recently where a guy took a 2x4 in half in 6 seconds with a chopper knife... Say what you want about knife chopping, no one can deny it works and works well if you're good at it.
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You can chop pretty well with an axe too... Like these guys.

[video=youtube;IcR28Yqt4mY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcR28Yqt4mY[/video]

Somehow it never works like that for me in real life. Not enough practice I guess.

The problem is that not only do you have to chop through the wood, you have to split it as well. Chopped rounds don't stand up on their own, so how do you make a safe split? Safety is a pretty major consideration when in remote areas. I know several people who injured themselves badly chopping wood and using chainsaws in the sticks. The safest wood processor is a manual saw.
 
My bias is from Boy Scouts in England in the 60s

We learnt Knife and Axe
We carried on our belt a camper style pen knife and a 5" stag handled sheffield sheath knife (stick tang of course carbon)
We were profficiant in Axe and Saw
We learnt from a hatchet, to a 3/4 axe to a full sized feller
Passing the axe test meant splitting matches lenghtwise
We also learnt saws from one man bows and windlass saws to two man push and pull saws
We sharpend axes on a big limestone pedel mill stone that was cooled by a water trough
Knives were sharpening and final axe sharpening was on an oil carbarundum stone

Machettes were exsotic, used by our Far East serving fathers in WW2
Big knives did not exsist
And there was never anything called battoning, and if you did something like that you would have your Knife and Axe Badge taken away

Now a days, after I have cut up wood with a high tech razor sharp hardened pull saw I am happy to batton with my full tang knife
 
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I've used an axe enough over the years to know I'd much rather have a saw and a good knife. :)
 
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it may be just my quirk , but I prefer my large knife for chopping
I get a better swing , and its harder to miss cutting what Im swinging at

that being said , my grandfather was a sleeper cutter and taught me a couple things about axes and woodworking
Old fella would be spinning in his grave :)
 
The main point of contention in threads like this are the multiple variables such as: The region were the individual resides., Are they processing hard or soft wood ?, Volume as to how much wood is being processed., Tool weight considerations, Your preferred tools of choice regardless of efficiency., Weather and season., Level of familiarity with each tool. On and on. I still find these discussions useful though as I sure don't know it all, and I believe in life time learning. I understand being practical and efficient but I'll be darned if I still don't prefer a hatchet over an axe. Hatchets just feel right to me. But now I'm back to chasing my own tail again as I would pair the hatchet with a couple of other light weight tools. :D Before I got back into these forums and cutting tools in general, all I did was run around with a Buck 119 and or a Becker Brute for many years in the north. I didn't die of hypothermia, get eaten by a bear, or find myself unable to start a fire (I came damn close to being lost in the Boreal though once and a button compass and a few basics got me out). I suppose it boils down to what tickles your fancy and makes reasonable uncommon sense that day, considering all the variables. :) Peace to you all and I hope that you have safe fun out there. I think that I'll take my (hated by some) Becker BK-2 out for some outdoor fun today. Because 99% of the time it's about having fun outdoors, as opposed to saving my odiferous hide out there.
 
averageiowaguy said:
it depends on the situation/environment.
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Correct.

I like all three and bring along whichever will be best for me for my intended use.

Saws will usually be the lightest. They require the least skill. However, they are the least versatile. A saw can cut, but axes and knives can cut, chop, split, shave, skin, hew, carve, etc.

Axes will chop the best, and split the best, but they require the most skill. They are also heavier.

I tend to use a big knife the most. The primary reason for me is this: the knife can cut small diameter brushy, viny stuff. Here in Southwest Missouri we have a plant called multiflora rose, which is a woody bush covered with curved thorns that can easily draw blood and it's quick growing adventitious shoots often overhang trails. One of the main uses for my BK-9 is cutting multiflora rose out of my path. (I consider machetes to be in a separate category, and I don't like machetes as well as big knives because machetes are more difficult to carry and their handles and sheaths are not as good as on my knives.) An axe or saw cannot clear a trail. A small knife does not have enough reach, and your knuckles get cut up by thorns.

If I know I'll be cutting wood and not small weedy stuff, I prefer an axe or tomahawk.

Big knives are effective. Axes are effective. Saws are effective. But for particular users and particular environments one may be a better choice than another.
 
it depends when I use a saw I take a Japanese pull saw, I haven't gone backpacking with a full size axe yet but I don't mess around with hatchets I think that a large knife is more varied in tasks that it can do and is much lighter but I only take one when I don't need to do lots of chopping like if I use a saw. I do like my fiddleback forge machete for just about every thing.
 
Neeman said...And there was never anything called battoning, and if you did something like that you would have your Knife and Axe Badge taken away
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They were called wedges in the day. :) A wedge still works a lot better than a blade on big wood if you need one. An axe is sort of a sharpened wedge with a handle (designs vary). You can use wedges effectively with a sledge hammer to split wood and you don't even need the axe. But it is still nice to have one available.

A lot depends on what you're used to using and as a result, you tend to have a bias toward those tools because you know them and understand their use. UpNorth said he preferred a hatchet. I used them a lot as a kid chopping down stuff way bigger than I ever should have with a hatchet, but eventually I got the job done and the same would apply to a large bladed knife. But I didn't have a big knife as a kid. In fact, I didn't own a fixed blade knife until I was in my 30's. A machete was probably the first "fixed blade" I ever used. I can tell you that I hated them then.

SaturatedShadow, cutting Multiflora Rose is unpleasant. I would prefer a machete to put some distance between my hands and the prickly stuff.
 
22-rimfire said:
They were called wedges in the day. :) A wedge still works a lot better than a blade on big wood if you need one. An axe is sort of a sharpened wedge with a handle (designs vary). You can use wedges effectively with a sledge hammer to split wood and you don't even need the axe. But it is still nice to have one available.

A lot depends on what you're used to using and as a result, you tend to have a bias toward those tools because you know them and understand their use. UpNorth said he preferred a hatchet. I used them a lot as a kid chopping down stuff way bigger than I ever should have with a hatchet, but eventually I got the job done and the same would apply to a large bladed knife. But I didn't have a big knife as a kid. In fact, I didn't own a fixed blade knife until I was in my 30's. A machete was probably the first "fixed blade" I ever used. I can tell you that I hated them then.

SaturatedShadow, cutting Multiflora Rose is unpleasant. I would prefer a machete to put some distance between my hands and the prickly stuff.
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Yep. My 7 and 1/2 inch knife is a fancy froe with a handle. It limbs small branches well but I wouldn't cut a large piece of wood cross grain with it. When I carry it or my hawk it's generally because I just need to break up some kindling and it's a lot more fun to use them then my mora. If I really wanted to cut a bunch of wood I pull the saw out.

Humans are highly adaptable and can use even the worst tool for the job if that's all they have. I say pick what you like because you're life is probably not going to depend on whether you brought the axe, the knife, or the saw.
 
soooo
clunky boxy folders are tacticool
machetes are testicool
got it
 
Myal said:
soooo
clunky boxy folders are tacticool
machetes are testicool
got it
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Testicooler would be my take on it. So if a guy(bloke for our Aussie friends) is using a knife and another person comments "Hey cool knife but I have a machete which is testicooler than that", then.....schwiiiiingggg!!!....chops tree branch off in one swipe" so it's an unabashed 'my machete is bigger' sort of deal. Yup, you should never do this sort of thing in the front yard...wife, neighbors, mother-in-law, group of nuns might get together to have you sent off for surgical correction as a danger to the community. Strictly only done when out in the woods with your friends acting like the dorks you really are.
 
I have and use folding saws, bow saws, axes(from 10"-36" hafts) and machetes to pen knives. They all have their place but if I were limited to carrying only one of the above into the woods for any length of time, it would be a 28-32" axe.

Bill
 
For some crazy reason I prefer an axe to chop over a knife :p but if I had to account for all the wood actually cut in the field a saw would be responsible for the majority. This is mostly due to weight and bulk considerations plus my style of winter camping.



 
22-rimfire said:
They were called wedges in the day. :) A wedge still works a lot better than a blade on big wood if you need one. An axe is sort of a sharpened wedge with a handle (designs vary). You can use wedges effectively with a sledge hammer to split wood and you don't even need the axe. But it is still nice to have one available.
.
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Yes we learned how to split a log lenght ways with wedges
 
For "chopping" wood, strictly defined, I prefer an axe. Though if the definition is loosened somewhat to bringing wood to a usable length, then I prefer a saw.

A good argument can be made for using a knife as a chopping tool from a safety stand-point, but not as a superior tool or as a more effective tool. Again, I prefer a saw.

If someone is very skilled using an axe and has safety 1st in mind they can be very useful in back-country adventures.
 
For chopping I use a hatchet or an axe. But I don't do much chopping to be honest. I buck logs with a saw and then split rounds with an axe or a maul if they are big around. I much prefer to use a saw for most things though. Big chopping knives are neat, but not very practical for me.
 
most people do not know or simply don't take time to learn to chop with a big knife... that's quite apparent. Nothing is faster then a good chopping knife for limbing, or cutting trees/sapplings up to say..3" or so. Bigger trees is an entirely different story, and a felling axe comes into play.
 
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