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BK9 or Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe as primary chopper
- Thread starter bdws1975
- Start date
If you are going to carry a fixed blade knife anyway (and we all know that you will), then use it for the small stuff, and get a bigger axe or better yet a saw.
I regularly leave puddles of drool near anything G-B sells, but find that when I go out in the woods I have to make up excuses to use them on things i can do better and safer with a knife or a saw. To me a small axe is even worse. It feels great in your hands and its size makes it much more tempting to take with you, but still not as efficient as a collapsible buck saw (weighing 1/3 as much) on big wood, or as efficient as a knife on small stuff. Since you'll probably have a knife anyway, go with a big axe and you get the extra productivity to justify the weight.
Don't get me wrong, I think that SFA's are cuter than puppies playing with bacon, but I just can't find a good reason to take one and leave the saw behind. And its a lot harder to chop your foot off with a fixed blade knife or a bucksaw. I don't have pretty feet, but I find that I like having them attached to my ankles. And I like to travel alone, so there usuually isn't going to be anybody around to help me find that foot when I chop it off.
I regularly leave puddles of drool near anything G-B sells, but find that when I go out in the woods I have to make up excuses to use them on things i can do better and safer with a knife or a saw. To me a small axe is even worse. It feels great in your hands and its size makes it much more tempting to take with you, but still not as efficient as a collapsible buck saw (weighing 1/3 as much) on big wood, or as efficient as a knife on small stuff. Since you'll probably have a knife anyway, go with a big axe and you get the extra productivity to justify the weight.
Don't get me wrong, I think that SFA's are cuter than puppies playing with bacon, but I just can't find a good reason to take one and leave the saw behind. And its a lot harder to chop your foot off with a fixed blade knife or a bucksaw. I don't have pretty feet, but I find that I like having them attached to my ankles. And I like to travel alone, so there usuually isn't going to be anybody around to help me find that foot when I chop it off.
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- Joined
- Jul 14, 2010
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I've given it a lot of thought, because I luuuuuuuuuuuv that SFA.
But my wife lets me wander around Cohutta and Chattahoochee National Forests alone, off trail, where cell phones don't work and nobody can find you (Eric Rudolph hid up there for a few years.). I feel like I kinda owe it to her to manage the risks I am taking out there when I go have my fun. I still do stupid stuff and take risks, but I try to make them "calculated" risks. So these days the axe really only gets to play when I am somewhere I can call an ambulance to come help me find that missing foot. Others disagree (sometimes violently), but its my foot.
But my wife lets me wander around Cohutta and Chattahoochee National Forests alone, off trail, where cell phones don't work and nobody can find you (Eric Rudolph hid up there for a few years.). I feel like I kinda owe it to her to manage the risks I am taking out there when I go have my fun. I still do stupid stuff and take risks, but I try to make them "calculated" risks. So these days the axe really only gets to play when I am somewhere I can call an ambulance to come help me find that missing foot. Others disagree (sometimes violently), but its my foot.
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- Sep 4, 2010
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True story.
One day a couple of years ago, I decided to split a few logs into smaller pieces for kindling "real quick." I stepped outside in my sneakers and had at it. Without really thinking about it, I had set the log way too far forward on the chopping block. All it took was one errant swing and the momentum carried the ax (Fiskars splitting ax, paper slicing sharp) through the log, missed the block, straight through my shoe like it wasn't even there. I must have had some good karma built up or something, because that ax hit my big toe exactly hard enough to split my toenail right up the middle, but really nothing more. No pain, just a tiny amount of blood, and a very long time for the nail to grow out (I now have a permanent ridge in the middle of the nail to remind me of my folly) I was shaking for at least an hour just thinking about what could have happened. Needless to say, I will never split wood again without donning my steel-toed boots.
Not sure if this helps the OP, but I wanted to say it CAN happen, so be careful out there!
One day a couple of years ago, I decided to split a few logs into smaller pieces for kindling "real quick." I stepped outside in my sneakers and had at it. Without really thinking about it, I had set the log way too far forward on the chopping block. All it took was one errant swing and the momentum carried the ax (Fiskars splitting ax, paper slicing sharp) through the log, missed the block, straight through my shoe like it wasn't even there. I must have had some good karma built up or something, because that ax hit my big toe exactly hard enough to split my toenail right up the middle, but really nothing more. No pain, just a tiny amount of blood, and a very long time for the nail to grow out (I now have a permanent ridge in the middle of the nail to remind me of my folly) I was shaking for at least an hour just thinking about what could have happened. Needless to say, I will never split wood again without donning my steel-toed boots.
Not sure if this helps the OP, but I wanted to say it CAN happen, so be careful out there!
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2010
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I have both and over the years I have transitioned from a big knife guy to an axe guy. I think it really depends on a few things as to which one is better.
User and situation.
I am at the point with my skill level with an axe that I and can do anything a medium to large knife can do, now my keep in mind this is not a silly "one tool" situation, also pair my axe with a small knife and a folding saw or bucksaw and my situation is in the northern woods where in the winter time frozen wood is a very real thing to be dealing with.
More to the situation would be how are you traveling? Feet, truck, boat...etc. Size and weight are not things to be forgotten.
I also take issue with the argument that an knife is safer then an axe. I think anything sharp is dangerous in the hands of a fool and that any tool can be safely used when operated by someone that has more then dead air space between the ears.
User and situation.
I am at the point with my skill level with an axe that I and can do anything a medium to large knife can do, now my keep in mind this is not a silly "one tool" situation, also pair my axe with a small knife and a folding saw or bucksaw and my situation is in the northern woods where in the winter time frozen wood is a very real thing to be dealing with.
More to the situation would be how are you traveling? Feet, truck, boat...etc. Size and weight are not things to be forgotten.
I also take issue with the argument that an knife is safer then an axe. I think anything sharp is dangerous in the hands of a fool and that any tool can be safely used when operated by someone that has more then dead air space between the ears.
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I guess we use whatever floats our boat in our particular regions. I actually prefer my Wetterlings hatchet in some scenarios, my G.B. small forest in many more. And there are times when just a big chopper alone is enough. I really don't care if a hatchet is considered more dangerous, then an axe etc. Learn to use them carefully. Hell, I'll just use a folding saw if it makes more sense. I have swung back and forth on getting a Junglas simply because my big old Brute can hack the hell out of what I want chopped anyway. And yes I worked on the edge. So some of my choices may go against the prevailing concensus, but they work for me and I find great fun and practicality with my choices, were I am. If given a choice between a 9 and the small forest in the bush, I'd grab the small forest. O.P., do what works for you in your environment.
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For me it would depend on where I was at. Up north I would take the GF (because it will run complete circles around just about any knife for chopping). If you just want something big to have something big the BK9 would do nicely.
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Well a bahco laplander(pic 1) Plus a Medium knive (16 or 2) will do everything better than a small axe and might even be lighter.
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thanks Carlos. I have a Laplander and I LOVE it...but I still love having a larger blade on me.
Well a bahco laplander(pic 1) Plus a Medium knive (16 or 2) will do everything better than a small axe and might even be lighter.
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Lately I've been thinking a lot on the weight i carry in the woods. For some small trail lately i only took the 11 has a knife.
I have a bk-9 and it is a great chopper and quite versatile, I love it. I don't have any experience with GB axes but I hear that they are some of the best. But I do have a Fiskars 15× ax, and it out chopps the bk-9 any day of the week. And if I can do some rough whittling with it. And I know that there are some people that can do almost everything with an ax. I would go for the ax' And since you said primary CHOPPER I assume that you will have a smaller knife on you for anything else.