Gentlemen
This time I wanted to chop with maximum strength to see if the knives worked better with that technique.
This time I used leather gloves.
I also wanted to do some limbing.
The wood is pine and not fresh.
I found tree small trees that where pretty much the same. The thickest one where for the Kukri, he had it coming after doing so well in the last test.
The limbing took about 3-4 minutes all depending on how many limbs where on the tree.
The kukri felt a little heavy for this type of work but it was no problem working with it. On a 1-10 I rated the performance 7.
The Trail Master felt allot lighter and worker very well for this task. It was the fastest of the lot. I rated its performance 9.
The HOFSH LE is the heaviest knife of the lot but for this job it did not matter. Sliding the knife along the log worked well and the weight was working for the knife not against it. It is however a little more bulkier then the Trailmaster and its performance is rated 8 but a high 8.
The logs where ready for some POWER chopping and my muscles where warm.
The knives was inspected and no blade damage was observed on any of the knives.
I chopped the same piece of wood with all the knives and used the thickest one. (the one that was limbed by the kukri)
The Kukri was first. Please note that the log gets a little thinner after a piece is chopped of. The first tree chops where not effected by this IMO.
The Kukri used 44 power strokes to split the log in half. And yes I did have a BIG smile on my face while doing this.
After chopping with the Kukri on an old stump I decided to get a higher stump and a better working platform for the testing of the knives. I wanted the log to be up where I could put the most power into it. The kukri is longer and working low with it is no problem.
The HOFSH LE was up. I did not want to use the heaviest knife last and being confronted with questions like " you used the heavy knife last and maybe you where tired" LOL I DO NOT GET TIRED but anyway The Busse was up.
The HOFSH LE used 45 strokes to split the log in half, almost the same as the Kukri. For a short blade (8") it cuts deep. Note that I chop with the centre of the blade and not the front part.!!! The front part did not go as deep as the centre of the blade!!! I tested this theory many times. I chop very relaxed and maybe the weight from the handle can explain this.
The Trail Master was up.
Only 43 strokes to split the log!!! The precision of this knife is amazing it is very well balanced and even felt a bit to light but cuts deep enough. Not as deep as the Busse but almost. Check out the precession work clean cuts.
After this I was a bit puzzled!! And gave the HOFSH LE another go 49 strokes dam - the log got thinner after this point but I gave it another try 34 strokes. Then I used the Trailmaster again 23 strokes. The log was a bit thinner but not much thinner then the part that the HOFSH LE used 34 strokes to split.
The Kukri was up on the work bench 19 strokes what a chopping machine and what great hour in the forest.
The most impressive part of the test was that after limbing and chopping with the Trail Master It could still shave hair !!!! not so that they popped of like before I started but it could still shave!!! WOW that is crazy after such hard strokes.
Non of the knives had any damage on the edges. Remember the HOFSH LE that got small deformations on the factory edge? I sharpened the HOFSH LE before the test with a Translucent Arkansas stone and polished the edge with an even finer stone. Seems like a finer edge on the INFI steel is the way to go. I might even make it a bit thinner and see how that turns out.
Cheers,
André
PS I will go out again tomorrow, what tests should I perform?
I am that kind of man:grumpy: 
