Chop with a 4" blade

S

SuzukiGS750EZ

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Dec 30, 2008
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Any specific way you guys do it? When i try, i feel like its an extension of my arm more so than a chopping instrument. Is there a certain way you do it to get the most bite into a sapling or something or do you just give it one hard whack and then snap the tree? Here's the blade in question:

-4" blade(3/16" 01), 5" handle (Maple burl w/ blue liners)

it's pretty hefty. Havent done much chopping with a knife, mostly with machete. Short handle long blade.

IMG_0004-3.jpg
 
Hit it with a stick? :o

Usually if I have to cut down something with a small blade I'll try bending the branch/sappling and cut into the stress point, causing it to split open pretty easy.

Not sure how well a swinging chop would work with that size of a knife though.
 
I don't chop with 4" blades. Why and where do you want to do this? There are tools better suited to sapling removal, like machete, pruning saw, chainsaw, depends on size and situation.
 
"We hold this truth to be self evident: four inch blades are not choppers."

As was recommended above, batonning is the way to go with a blade that size or, as BryFry so eloquently put it, "Hit it with a stick."

Seriously, that blade wasn't meant for chopping, but it can still do the job if you give it a good whack on the spine with another piece of wood.
 
+1 Agree with the above. I do not chop with a 4" blade.

There are much better, easier ways to accomplish the desired task.
 
A machete is the wrong tool for processing small game, and a small knife is the wrong tool to chop with...but a small knife can be used to process small game and remove saplings if so desired.

Use a series of controlled push cuts around the "trunk" of the sapling Use a downward 45 degree angle, work your way around the "trunk" and apply a bit of bend to the sapling and it will make easier work. This should result in less noise, potential for injury, and a lot less stress to your edge.
 
if I HAVE to chop with a blade that small, I basically batton crossgrain with it. I use a stick to pound reasonable V notches til I remove enough material to be able to snap the limb in a controlled spot.
 
As other's have stated.


Baton with a 4" blade?... Yes. :cool:


Chop with a 4" blade?... Not very well. :mad:


I need a well balanced blade of at least 7" to chop with.






Big Mike
 
You can chop pretty effectively with a 4" blade if it's heavy enough and if the knife has a lanyard hole. The technic is to size the lanyard so when your hand is pulled back tightly, you're only gripping about half of the handle. If you grip it somewhat loosely as you swing the knife, the lanyard hole acts as a lever and and the edge of your hand as a pivot point, giving your blade the same impact force as a 6" blade with almost no shock transferred to the hand. You can chop for a long time this way with little hand fatigue. If you can't visualize this, let me know and I'll find you a video.

I did notice that the knife you show here has no lanyard hole. Maybe you can replace the last pin with a hollow rivet? You're not going to get much chopping done with a full-fisted grip of this knife.
 
Why waste all that energy batoning or chopping saplings?

Buy the book by Mors Kochanski called "Bushcraft", it will teach you how to sever 6" saplings with a 4" blade plus other skills for the knife and ax.

To cut saplings, you first bend it at the location where you want to sever it so to separate & loosen the wood grain, then bend the sapling downwards so it is bent where you want to cut it. While holding it bent, press down with your knife and work your blade through the sever point. Your sharp knife and the tension of the bent grains will help to cut right through it.
 
Halberdier said:
You can chop pretty effectively with a 4" blade if it's heavy enough and if the knife has a lanyard hole. The technic is to size the lanyard so when your hand is pulled back tightly, you're only gripping about half of the handle. If you grip it somewhat loosely as you swing the knife, the lanyard hole acts as a lever and and the edge of your hand as a pivot point, giving your blade the same impact force as a 6" blade with almost no shock transferred to the hand. You can chop for a long time this way with little hand fatigue. If you can't visualize this, let me know and I'll find you a video.

I did notice that the knife you show here has no lanyard hole. Maybe you can replace the last pin with a hollow rivet? You're not going to get much chopping done with a full-fisted grip of this knife.
Click to expand...

This is what I do. It works well with smaller blades if they've got enough weight.
 
You could baton through the wood on the spine of the knife or you could go and get a real chopper. For such work I like to pull out my trusty old HI Ang Khola khukuri. It makes short work of most sapplings. Anything thicker, a folding saw is far more useful and far lighter.
 
There are times when I am hanging my tree stand I need to chop branches down. I hold the knife loosely in my fingers similar like a drum stick. I then snap my wrist quick almost like I am playing a drum set. I can hack though amazingly thick branches with my ZT 0200 or ZT 0350 rather quickly. I have done this kind of cutting since i was a kid growing up in the woods of central PA.
 
Nice knife. What Halberdier said. If you drill a lanyard hole on your knife, you'll have more ways of gripping it.
 
Its not quick, but you could whittle branches out of your way. I've whittled 1x1 boards with my Delica w/ no problem.

With the spine thickness you give, I see no reason why that blade can't "chop" through branches/sapplings a little over one inch. It will take a couple of strokes, but its definately doable.
 
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