Better for chopping: kukri, ax or large knife?

Cliff,
If your in the mountains at a time that it gets 17 degrees at night, would you want a tool that can split 4x4's or 2ft around logs? Like I said, it all depends on when he's going and where he's going. If your HI Khukuri can split a log 2ft around or better, please, send me a video....Id love to see that!
I guess you should be surprised, I camp and hunt when I need alot of good sized wood to burn. I dont know where you guys camp, but I usually go into the cascade mts in WA state. It can be very rugged and the weather, at best, is unpredictable. Plenty of wood is essential, in my book. Just in case I wake up one morning with 2 feet of snow on the ground.
01paw
 
O1paw,

Cliff has a 20" Ang Khola khuhri which tilts the scales at 5 pounds. Other owners live routinely in conditions similar to what you might experience where you hunt and this tool is their primarly wood prepping blade, chopping and spliting large amounts of firewood.

You ask for a video. You might instead visit the HI forum and e-mail other owners to inquire further of their detailed experiences with the monster khuhri and comparisons with full axes.


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-=[Bob]=-


[This message has been edited by bald1 (edited 29 November 1998).]
 
Where did this hostility come from??

It seems to me that the experienced members of this Forum should view any felt negativity with a grain of salt, and go about convincing without becoming defensive.

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Marion David Poff fka Eye msg me at mdpoff@hotmail.com

Patiently waiting for the Spyderco SpydeRench, Lum Chinese Chopper Folder, Rolling Lock, Benchmade M2 Axis, M2 Axis AFCK, M2 Pinnacle and the REKAT Escalator and Pat Crawford Design.

"The victorious Warrior wins first and then goes to war, while the defeated Warrior goes to war and then seeks to win" Sun-Tzu













 
01paw, I said it could split 4x4's unassisted. If I actually swing it, it can obviously split much bigger wood.

In regards to your question about splitting the log, if by 2 foot on the round you mean a log with a radius of less than 4 inches. Then yes I can split that no problem with the Ang Khola.

Well it does depends on the wood to some extent. I would most likely have a problem say with freshly cut Black Spruce of that size. I don't think I could do it without assisting the khukuri by having something to drive it through. However I would probably have difficultly doing that with an ordinary axe. Its been awhile since I split Black Spruce, I usually leave that alone and save it for when I want a slow burning fire that needs to last a long time. Anyway, most other wood would not be a problem.

However, if you mean a 2 foot radius log then no I would not attempt to split that using my khukuri. It would obviously need to be assisted and the blade is simply not wide enough to allow the necessary penetration in the middle of the log. The last time I was splitting logs that size I left the axe alone and just got a really heavy maul and a wedge.

In any case if I wanted to get some wood while camping I would chose either dead wood that was windblown or find an area with closely packed young trees and thin them out, they will jhust kill each other otherwise. If neither of these was an option I would choose the right kind of wood and not attempt chopping/splitting a really heavy dense type.

Anyway, the biggest drawback to the khukuri vs an axe is not in chopping/splitting ability but the fact that the khukuri handle is so much shorter. For example in splitting with an axe you can usually lay one piece of wood on another larger piece and split it. Simply set the axe in the wood, reverse the grip and slam the back of the axe off of the other piece of wood. Much safter than trying to split the wood in one macho chop.

This method obviously can not be used to split wood with a khukuri while standing, as the wood is too low the ground. The khukuri is made for close up work.

In any case, it's main advantage is not that is can out chop and out split those specifically designed axes, but that its scope of work is much broader. Overall its a much more useful tool. For example there are many tasks that I would like to be able to perform that are more easily handled by a khukuri than an axe.

If was not concerned about weight / volume I would take a sod cutter, a shovel, a pick, an ice auger, a skinner,a filleting knife, a small utility knife, a steel for blade maintance, a pry bar, a hammer, a wide bladed thin chopping axe, a really thick and heavy splitting axe, a ordinary utility axe, a hatchet, a bucksaw, and finally a maul and wedge.

Or I could just take a khukuri (with karda and chakma).

It will handle the jobs of all of the above with just slightly lowered performance which will only be felt in the upper end of the difficultly range anyway.

-Cliff
 
Cliff-

Dont forget the chainsaw!
smile.gif

01paw
 
On a curious note I once lost a bet in that regard. It was chainsaw vs axe + 2 man bucksaw. Lesson learned, in the short term the latter can actually pull ahead.

Reminds me of the old newfie joke:

A Newfie goes into Canadian Tire and asks if they have any decent axes for chopping wood. The sales rep says "what you want is a chainsaw. I gaurantee is will double the amount of wood you can cut." So the man buys the chainsaw.

The very next day the sale rep sees him come up and slam the chainsaw down on the counter and demand a refund.

"What happened" said the sales rep.

"You said this here machine would double the wood I could cut. Sure yesterday me and me brudder went into the woods and I could just keep up with him, and he was using an axe!"

So the sales rep says "ok, I'll have a look at it". He take the chainsaw and pulls the cord. The chainsaw starts up smooth as silk.

The newfie jumps back and screams "what the frig is that!"

smile.gif


On a serious note, I would not use a chainsaw in the dead of winter unless I had no other options. I would much rather have a decent axe.

-Cliff
 
Cliff-
Hehehe. True about the chainsaw, but I guess it all depends on what your doing in the mountains to begin with. For instance; this year I spent 13 days in the mountains hunting elk. The first day I cut alot of wood with the chainsaw and my energy level was high and I felt fine on opening day. Last year, I tried cutting all my wood with an axe, and the next day my arm was dead! I was just a tad sore. Course, I was cutting alot of wood, too.
Keep cuttin!
01paw

 
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