B10 quick review

[InquisitorLord]

Awesome thread LVC! I am waiting on my choiled B10... So excited! This will be my first chopper. One of my next acquisitions will have to be a GB, so thanks for the info and pics and opinions!

 

[l2lku2]

Great thread as usuall LVC,

L2kul2, brother I have had different experience with the GB hatchets. I have used the GB axes and as well as they re made the mini and wildlife hatchets are no match IMHO to most any INFI chopper and not nearly as versatile. Now, if when you said smallest of the axes you meant their real axe line then maybe, but if you meant the smallest in your picture then you need to do a little more testing brother:thumbup:

I would take a Pauls hatchet over the mini any day. And I would also rather tote my B10, with no choil thanks to LVC, than any axe as well. Just my opinion and yMMV

I have a mini GB here laying around here that I blew off the bottom inch or so off the blade merely trying to cut a few small limbs out of a cedar tree to hang a deer stand in. Now, maybe I got a lemon? I dont know. I loved it on deer until I used it on that cedar. I havent bothered to send it in for a replacement yet but I will. THe wildlife hatchet has a lot more bite to it and would be the smallest GB I would tote. THe hunters axe which is like the small forest with exception of few details and it has the flail pole handle which is awesome. The hunters axe is where the GBs start to out shine in extended periods of chopping but, on side note I will still not let my kids use the axe and I will let them baton with my NMFBM.

Its just a lot safer IMHO

Hi Trevor

I did some more testing this afternoon and I found the results consistent with my earlier opinion, but that is of course only true for me, relative to my preferences and my usage techniques, not an absolute for everyone, hence your and others' experience will be different.

Technique will vary from person to person. I guess some will swing a knife as hard as they can and extract more of its performance potential but I am a little more reserved in the amount of power I put into the swing. I try to stop short of where I feel vibration levels that I find uncomfortable, or that will become uncomfortable with extended use. On the knives therefore I don't think I extract as much performance as possible out of each swing. I am sure there are some branches that I could bludgeon through with one swing of some heavy knives, but I just don't do it that way. I prefer to take a few more swings and cut through it.

With the axes / hatchets I don't find vibration as much of an issue so I guess I use more of its performance potential per swing than I do with some knives.

That may be why I find the Benchmade 171 to be my best pure performance chopper, because the shock-absorbing material of its handle allows me to put more power into the swing than I typically do on other knives. Obviously its design, geometry, weight, balance, blade-handle angle etc. contributes to its performance but from a user perspective what I feel is the lack of vibration that allows me to put a lot of power into the swing.

There is also much perception and much preference in play. By that I mean that some knives displace large chunks of wood with each chop but may not penetrate as deep as others, or as a small, very sharp axe or hatchet. So it is hard to say which really is the better chopper. I don't count how many strikes it takes, or measure the time it takes for each to chop through equivalent media, e.g. 2 X 4. I make a much more subjective assessment of what I think is better for me.

While with the larger axes/hatchets the performance differential to knives is absolutely clear, on the smallest one there were times that my opinion swung back and forth, but in the end I think preference swung my opinion. The larger, heavier & thicker knives displaced more wood on each chop while the lighter, thinner ones penetrated deeper without displacing wood chips. The smallest hatchet did not cause wood chips to fly from the wood but it penetrated deeper than the knives. I prefer deeper cuts vs chunks of wood being displaced. That is just a preference and whether it is really more effective or efficient is a matter of perception and preference. I perceive it as more efficient and that is probably why I have a preference for that type of chopping vs. the wood chipping/displacement type cuts. That may also be why I perceive some of my smaller lighter choppers as "better" than some of my larger and heavier ones. I just found that even the smallest axe gave me more of that than any knife (again, for how I use each of them).

I don't think there is a right or wrong here, just preference I guess. I am sure there are some more objective tests that will be able to determine what is "best", but that is not my frame of reference. I am only speaking of my personal preferences of how I prefer to use these tools.

I agree on the safety thing though and knives are certainly much easier. I would love to try a Paul's Hatchet sometime. Maybe when I am in your vicinity one day you will be kind enough to let me get my hands on one of yours. I often spend time in the Shenandoah area which is not too far from you I guess.

Anyways, apologies again for the off-topic post. I will put some more use on the B10 and post about that if I feel that I have anything to add to what has already been said. So far however it is right up there with my other favorites, and the handle is already my favorite in the Busse choppers.