Big Chopper Good small axe?

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RevBubba

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Yes I did a search...but for some reason my computer keeps locking up when I search bladeforums....so if this already covered please direct me to the link.

I am in a discussion with my brother on this topic: Which choice for chopping wood in camping situation; a large chopping knife (Battle Mistress, Crowell/Barker, Dogfather, etc) or a good quality properly sharpened small axe.

I know some people have chopped their winter supplu of firewood with a heavy chopping knife. I also know that people have prepared a fruit salad and shaved with an axe....but hose are extreme cases obviously.

So for chopping 4-8 inch trees and limbing them which is the better blade style?
 
Axe, definitely, as long as it's not too small. But you are talking in camp, no reason not to have one. If you're out backpacking, then it might be a different story.
 
Cougar: That explains it then thanks.

Lenny: Thanks for the link.
 
A big knife works best for limbing because you have a small target and a large edge to hit it with (more forgiving), but an axe works best for large pieces of wood as it bites deeper than the large knife once the diameter of the log is greater than the width of the axe head.

So, the answer to your question is take an axe to chop the tree, and take the knife to limb it. If you can only take one, will you be doing a lot of tree chopping and a little limbing, or a bit of chopping and a lot of limbing? There is a crossover where the extra effort in one will be offset by less effort in the other, but that point is user defined.
 
If you can take both by all means do so. I find if I want the absolute least amount of gear you can get by with just a large bowie. An axe is a better chopper and a smaller knife better at slicing and preparing food but a big chopper can do everything just not great.
I love my Scrapyard HookGuard ,it can do everything although I like to have a SAK.
Another set up I like for the bush is my CS Norse hatchet and my Scrapyard SS4.
 
Since I usually camp in areas with dense undergrowth (swamps and river bottoms in SE Georgia), I like a camp machete or large chopper. But for pure wood chopping, you can't beat a good axe.
 
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