Chopper for Australian conditions

J

jh205

Joined
Aug 21, 2006
Messages
553
This is more of a question for the Aussies frequenting this forum, but all are free to answer. I'm wondering what you feel is the best type of chopper in general for Australian conditions. I realize that our terrain varies enormously, but if you had to select a single chopper say for travelling all over Australia, what would it be?

Hatchet?
3/4 or full sized axe?
Stamped machete of the Tramontina/Ontario type?
Forged long blade like a Golok or Parang?

Something else?

Cheers.
 
not an Aussie myself, but a Scrapyard Dogfather would be pretty hardy. INFI steel can pry, chop, split, whack, baton, carry your weight and then some; has a lifetime guarantee and decently priced. 10" blade...The heat treat on these things is 40 hrs. The Ontario RTACKs are pretty good, can come in either 1095 and D2 steel I believe, but a Dogfather is definitely burlier and will last, last, last...
 
valiant.co golock

its the only things I had yet that outchops the machetes I made from a pack of 69 falcon leaf springs :)

handles iorn bark , mallee wandoo and jarrah not a problem

dam serious choppers them golocks , and plenty nice for the $$ too
 
hows about one like this....i call it the golok/nessmuk hybrid. one of the knifmakers here is making me one "stomper". if its anywhere close to being as stout as the nessie he made for me i wouldnt heistate to use it as a chopper and a digger.
golok.jpg
 
Depends on what you'll be chopping. If you want to have the option to easily fell trees then an axe. Smaller stuff a hatchet or a machete. I have a Fiskars hatchet that I use at camp grounds when sheeple are around but it's not as good as my old machete. Ex army, picked up from a disposal for $20 some 20+ years ago. The original bakalite handle disintegrated so I rehandled it in timber and gave it a new coat of paint to keep the rust at bay. Still going strong. BTW I've felled a few full size gums with this, it's just harder work than a full size axe.

machete2.jpg
 
Myal, I've been trying to buy a Golok from Valiantco but they don't seem to answer emails. How did you go about ordering, and did it go smoothly?
 
I bought in the middle of the Christmas rush , everything went silky smooth .

I tried emailing them a few years ago , but when I got no response , I gave up the idea of dealing with them for a while , now Im wishing I didnt ... the models I wanted arent made anymore

You make your order and pay for the knives , then they let you know how much extra its going to cost for postage , and your goods arrive within a few days ...

I have no problems with them , and highly recomend them .

but thats just my opinion :)
 
jh205 said:
Myal, I've been trying to buy a Golok from Valiantco but they don't seem to answer emails. How did you go about ordering, and did it go smoothly?
Click to expand...

i had a beautiful Valiant Golok that i once bought,I thought it would be the ultimate bushwacking tool. but i guess in acountry that doesnt have the greates materials or QC, my Valiant golok snapped literaly in 2 after a few hits into a Lychee tree, after that my confidence in the steel hasnt been the same. can you imagine somthing like that happening while you are out in the bush:eek:
 
that sounds like majorly bad heat treat , blade way too brittle ..
did you go back to them about it ?

Ive heard they are good with after sales service .
 
if you do a search you will find that i am not the only one with a bad heat treating issue. i decided to keep the knife and when i get a chance ground of the damaged area and make it into a smaller golok. thanks
 
I'd love to get one of their Goloks, but it just strikes me as a strange way to do business to just completely ignore potential customer's emails. The pics floating around the net have enticed me though, so I guess I'll just keep trying.
 
jh205,

I've found that some companies in this business aren't as "up" on internet technology as others, and forget that someone convinced them to get email!
Have you tried phone? It's amazing sometimes how these companies are slow on the net, but fast on phone. Hope this helps at least a little.
 
jh205 said:
I'd love to get one of their Goloks, but it just strikes me as a strange way to do business to just completely ignore potential customer's emails. The pics floating around the net have enticed me though, so I guess I'll just keep trying.
Click to expand...

one more to give you inspiration :)

this is my iron bark stump the thing is posed in .

100_5127.jpg


I dunno why they are not good at answering their emails , or why they havent got a really easy to use checkout system happening yet , but if you take the time and order it , Im pretty sure you are not going to regret it .
 
I use a HI CAK 18 inch, nice chopper. For a knife I currently use the Ranger RD7 and scrapyard dumpster mutt.
 
Fair dinkum mate that's a beauty. I just about shoot my load every time I see one.

Is that the small, medium or large? I was initially thinking of ordering a large, but think I might get a medium instead cause I don't want it to be unweildy.
 
I think its the medium one ... the blade is about 14 inch anyway , its a good size for what I do usually , Id like a bigger one at times , and a smaller one other times , Im seriously thinking about their combo job , a golock with a smaller knife attached

I gave mine a bit of a beating when we went up into QLD for the holidays , I was kind of expecting the blade to come flying out of the handle , but its stuck on dam good I was splitting wood ( it was wet , like monsoon wet , only dry wood was under bark or inside the logs .. ) used the back to crack ripe coconuts and chopped lumps out of the green ones to drink them ... gotta be VERY careful of fingers tho doing that ...

chopped wood for a few fires in govt approved fire places ...

and still havent had to resharpen it yet , it hasnt lost any of its shaving sharp factory edge ...
 
Busse Fusion Battle Mistress if you dont mind spending the money. Nothing beats it for a chopper. Get a user secondhand, strip it and sharpen it up. Fantastic.
 
Irezumi said:
Busse Fusion Battle Mistress if you dont mind spending the money. Nothing beats it for a chopper. Get a user secondhand, strip it and sharpen it up. Fantastic.
Click to expand...

Ive tried ...

I gotta be looking in all the wrong places tho
 
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