Best tool for herpatological surveys in ozark brush

My quest for the perfect brush tool will begin with the Berker Patrol Machete, and an Ang Khuk. I'll play with both for a while and see which one suits the job. I ordered them both and eagerly await their arrival. Does anyone know if Ross Aki is still in buisness, he is not responding to emails? I take it his shop is still closed.
 
Ericras, I hope you are more careful than I was with the Becker Patrol Machete. I inflicted a bad cut on myself when I held my Patrol Machete blade up, and inadvertently relaxed my grip. The machete slid down my hand, with the slick, short, rounded handguard simply rolling over the front of my hand, which then came in contact with the blade.

I have subsequently rigged a long guard on my machete, held on with wire and electrical tape. I have also come to abhore knives with small, rounded guards, which unfortunately includes a great many otherwise excellent knives.
 
The AK khuk may not do too well on light brush, the Becker will probably be better. But it will really tear through any hardwood or saplings.
 
It was asked how heavy is a HI khuk, and Stamp mentioned several great candidates but I believe left out weights. A cobra or similar style blade at 18" to 21" can weigh 19 to 27 0z or so. That's not much weight for the job it can do. The cost is about 100 dollars, depending upon what style and if purchased during a factory promotion.

That's a lot better to me than the 250 dollars for an earlier candidate.

munk
 
Originally posted by ericras
I need to conduct some herp. surveys in dense ozark brush, mostly along various forks of the Black River. From what I've seen most of the brush consits of black berrys, gensing, and hard wood saplings (birch,oak, etc.).

I grew up hacking through the Ozarks, and it sounds like you might be going to one of the tame areas. Where I was there was a tremendous amount of hedge and locust trees, in addition to the oak, hickory, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, etc. In some places it'd take me three or four hours to make a hundred yards of progress. Seems like everything that grows in that area has thorns on it.

What I had the most luck with was a big, heavy hunting knife (10"x2"x1/4" blade). Any smaller, and you'd work too hard on the hedge. Any longer and I tended to get tangled up in the grape vines overhead. High mass on a short radius works well over there.

Longer would be better for avoiding the hedge and locust thorns, but if it's a lightweight blade, you won't make much progress through the branches of them.

I can't find a knife like I used to be able to get, so I'm using one of the Ontario Spec Plus Bowies. It's a little light in the tip but it's tough enough to do the work without wearing you out.

If you pick one of those, you might want to experiment a little bit on how sharp you want it, so you don't wind up rolling the edge while you're out. It'll take a good edge, though. I keep mine like a razor and when I was over there this past Christmas I was going through 2" hackberry branches in one stroke, little effort, and it was a nice clean cut.

I've never been threatened by snakes over there, but you want to be wary of the copperheads. Most of the snakes will wander off if they hear you coming.

The thing that will annoy you most will probably be the ticks and chiggers. The ticks will drop out of the trees on you, so if you spend the day, you'll have a dozen or so of them on you.

I was working at a friend's trailer out in the woods near Warsaw, Mo. one summer day, and got so many chigger bites that it took me three hours to wake up the next morning. Several times I opened my eyes, made it as far as my elbows and passed out again. You used to be able to get some expensive cream from Zee Medical that was a great tick and chigger repellent, but I haven't looked for it in years.

I'd invest in some flea and tick collars, though. Wear a couple on your ankles, at least.

Oh, if you see some odd footprints in the mud there, don't worry about it. They won't hurt you, they're just curious. If you're not deep in the hills you won't see any.

That's probably a good place to collect fossils and arrowheads, too. Have fun. :)
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Go to Kellam.com and look at the Finnish hatchet sized billhooks.

BILLHOOK

The billhook features a razor sharp forged stainless steel blade attached to a 9.5" wood handle. This is a very common tool in arctic Finland.

M1000 Billhook 9" 9.5" $76.50
Billhook Sheath (sold separately) $21.51

I have one of these and find that it handles grasses, brush, and trees up to 4 inches in diameter easily. It is lighter than everything else mentioned and actually works for clearing and grubbing.
 
what search engine are you using for kellam.com? I've tried 4 and nothing.

munk
 
Thank you, N2. I found the brush blade last night on KnifeCenter.com. Kellam has an interesting site.

munk
 
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