blade review - mystery of the fallen hemlock part2

[Bladite]

Once upon a time, an eastern hemlock (best fit from book) broken a large portion of itself off and caused a mess across a nice hiking trail, as we can see, it's a pretty good sized tree chunk:


Introducing, the tools! Go tools, go tools:


left to right on the ground we have:

o Fiskars sport axe (about $20 - cheapest item there, and as we're soon to see, best cutter overall)
o 18 inch 27 ounce villager horn handle Ang Khola by Bura.
o 17.5 inch 29 ounce Ganga Ram Special GRS by kumar.
o 16 inch 21 ounce horn handle villager Ganga Ram Special GRS by Bura
o Ontario RTAK - long thin and sharp!
and the kukris and RTAK are stuck in the tree for show and tell... note how deep the RTAK bit, this is tough wood to go into at this angle - the tree is still green, but hemlock ain't no pine.

Limbing, many of the branches were about 1 to 1.5 inches thick, some a bit more (up to 3 inches, and not many below 3/4 inch). the small GRS handled anything up to 1 inch pretty well in one swipe, the handle WAS very shiny, but i used some brought-with 400 grit to fix that, as while it was purty, it wasn't safe. With a really sure grip, and some perfect aim, i could manage 1ish inch okay, but 1.5 inch really required a second cut from the backside. the other khukris could do 2 inches in one swipe, with good techiqu, however, that last little bit in some cases was do to snapping of the wood and momentum helping things along. the RTAK couldn't manage more than half way in an attached limb, but if the limb were put on a chopping block (the log), no problem, as long as you used the last 3-4" of the blade (there's a 5 percent angle to the overall length from the handle)

Here's the first two log ends after chopping all the way through, and some handle detail from little GRS (lots of work), and the AK, with a shot of the AK handle - small crack that developed, and didn't go anywhere after that - i figure some superglue to fill and bond, and some sanding, and no worries (the small GRS also had two handle cracks from prior use, and they were filled and didn't go anywhere at all, i'll check them and see if they need more TLC, but i doubt it):



end part 1

a different version of the thread can be found at:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=399686

bladite

 

[hollowdweller]

So what was your conclusion? How do they compare, weight vs chopping?

 

[Fiddleback]

Great threads. Thanks for posting all those pics. Which khuk is your favorite?

 

[cavetech]

Which one of the lot chopped the best vs size and weight to carry around?

 

[Ad Astra]

Nice pix. Seen that Fiskars, wondered how it'd cut.



Mike

 

[hollowdweller]

It's not scientific, because of course you get more tired the longer you chop, but with a symmetrical tree like that it would be cool to use each while timing.

For two it might be closer to right, but with several like that fatigue factor might make the last you used slower depending on the diameter of the tree. I guess you could go back and chop it thru with the last one again just to see how much you'd lost.

Not with a variety of khuks, but with one on multiple thick cuts I have noticed like you start really getting efficient and accurate with your chops in the middle of the cutting job and less at either ends, front end cause you are rusty and back end cause you are tired.

Also the khuk that cuts thru wood fastest is not always the one that cuts thru a bunch the fastest, but the one that is a good combination of speed and lack of wear and tear to your tendons.

 

[Bladite]

So what was your conclusion? How do they compare, weight vs chopping?

heh - same question a number of times...

the large grs and the [large]ak chop almost the same near the same length and weight, with the grs just heavier, and the ak justlonger. almost. this particular ak had the advantage of a longer handle, so i could get more "swing" out of it, which might have been more key. if one held up the two blades, their profiles were VERY VERY close. the handle on the grs being wood though - mmm, felt like it was much more solid in my hand. hard to say with these two. definite winners - especially on price - the grs was a rusty dotd, and cleaned up super well, the ak was a villager, and quite a bargain too. heavier than i'd want on a long long hike, but well worth it for the goodness of chopping pretty much anything i'd run across. [aside: forgot to mention that my ak sheath is taking on moisture, it's going to need some glueing down). either one of these is a candidate for conversion to a survival combo system, big, winners - would want to combine with a bilton maybe and/or a puuko/leuko and/or, becker-neck knife. big medium and smalls. it might be overkill though...

now for home, i'd want at least a 20 inch, if not a 22 for REAL chopping and splitting, but we're getting into territory that an axe is suited for too. mmm.

a direct comparison of size vs weight could be made on the two grs blades. the bigger one totally outchopped in all ways, surprising a little, given the relative and small difference (1.5 inch but 8 ounces). 8 ounces might be significant to some for longer term carry. i doubt i'd want to chop trees like this on hikes, so it would be a good contender also for a survival combo, especially if i was carry the sport hatchet - which is a MIGHTY chopper. the small grs would do any knife like job, and decent limbing, splitting, and stakes with better precision/etc than the hatchet, but the hatchet totally wins on things axes do AND it's very very light.

weight wise, and for many things the RTAK does, well, wow. it's slim, yet mighty, chops well enough (on par with small grs), feels like it weighs less (i didn't spec it yet). that, plus a TAK, plus the hatchet would make a fine combo.

so many choices. it really comes down to : for ranges of tasks, each has a niche. the two big guys as blades are the best choppers, and splitters - for blades. the only thing i have slightly bigger, but more wicked in geometry is a BDC, that due to it's thinner edge profile, backed by 30 ounces, probably would outcut the big grs and the ak - i might not know, as currently it's "too pretty to use" for now ;> i'd have to get access to a loaner, or a villager to really tell plus i'm wanting a 20 or 22 inch thang.

the RTAK was better for batoning (just opinion so far, haven't tried that abuse on a khukri yet). the smaller grs does almost everything up to large timber and it's lighter and probably batons just fine - it might win that niche. in some way, i can quite FIGURE the RTAK - it's probably much better with the lighter brush, has more reach, and is lighter itself. it's a confusing yet compelling blade.

that about covers my rambles

bladite

 

[beefangusbeef]

I have one of those little fiskars backpack hatches and they are super handy. Used one to build a bunker last fall and it saved me a lot of hassle. Sharpens real easily too.

 

[Bladite]

It's not scientific, because of course you get more tired the longer you chop, but with a symmetrical tree like that it would be cool to use each while timing.

For two it might be closer to right, but with several like that fatigue factor might make the last you used slower depending on the diameter of the tree. I guess you could go back and chop it thru with the last one again just to see how much you'd lost.

Not with a variety of khuks, but with one on multiple thick cuts I have noticed like you start really getting efficient and accurate with your chops in the middle of the cutting job and less at either ends, front end cause you are rusty and back end cause you are tired.

Also the khuk that cuts thru wood fastest is not always the one that cuts thru a bunch the fastest, but the one that is a good combination of speed and lack of wear and tear to your tendons.

well, i did crude timing... for limbing, the bigger blades were one swipe - fast, easy. the smaller grs was okay on the small stuff, but needed two swipes where the other guys did one. blades definitely better than the fiskars for limbing; overall blade sweet spot vs accuracy of small axe head.

the small grs did fine at about the 4 inch thick range, and i worked up in thickness as i changed blades. the large grs and [large] ak were faster than the small grs even in thicker sections. i gave up on the small grs and RTAK as they chopped the same, and more poorly in the thicker and more seasoned/older-core wood. the fiskars just flew, it didn't care, even at the end. the ak has a slight advantage at the end over the large grs because of the longer reach handle and ease of swinging / wrist snap.

bladite

 

[Bladite]

Nice pix. Seen that Fiskars, wondered how it'd cut.
Mike

VERY well, $20. guh? the exact same thing stamped gerber is probably going to run you $60-80 at a EMS/REI store. i got mine at a target at the same mall as a sporting good store, for $20. marketing?

apparently fiskars also makes a "bush hook" - haven't found one in a store, but i want one, it's definitely a winner in looks and utility.

bladite

 

[Big Bob]

My younger brother has a Fiskars ax as his tool of choice. Thanks for including the ax in the review Bladite. Makes it that more interesting. Ditto the comment about preferring the khukuris for delimbing.

Bob

 

[Bladite]

so what we have now is obviously that fiskars sport hatchet - sharp as ever from the factory to me, never touched up yet... yow. light, and super good at chopping harder woods so far, it was much faster going than any of the khukris. the small GRS and the RTAK at this point are clearly in the last place for chopping, yeah, you CAN, but it's a serious amount of work, 2-3x the effort compared to the larger khukris which can really make the chips fly though even here i was getting some tricky deflection (could be me, could be the wood...) - the fiskars were bitey and true and the chips FLEW. the tree is wider, and seems harder (touching up was done on the khukris). however, the RTAK, with the help of some batoning, CAN split things very well. i had considered using a khukri for this, but not today. also, two picture of the tree trunk and the needles front and back for later comparison. the wood on this tree is VERY VERY VERY pretty. is to weep. i'd love to dry it and make something from it. mmmm. beautiful grain.



an image of my in field touch up kit - several used 3M soft sharpening pads, grit worn off, but otherwise useful (mousemat) in two layers with gorilla glue holding them together, and to oak block - convex sharpening on the cheap. it works (sucks thumb - sharp!). also a Fine grade multi-use diamond stick i found at the work working store. then a nearly completed chop through with the big GRS - chopperiffic after a touchup. note the nice ring on that tree end. finally, a roundup of the tools, all used and ready to be cleaned with some goo-gone and a scrubbby pad. good job guys, you worked hard (me too).



overall, i'd say the adventure took about 4 hours, including 20 minutes round trip on foot carrying everything. arm muscles were burning when i was through, and i definitely didn't want to goto the dojo for kickboxing :> a nice 45 minute nap was a godsend. oh yes. the hot shower was good too.

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