Choppers: Why? Educate me!

The OP asked what tasks would you use a chopper for that you could not cover with a small fixed, hatchet, or machete. The answer is none of them because it can do whatever any of them can with having to carry just one tool/knife. It can handle the small tasks if the blade is under 10 inches and do the chopping/cutting tasks if needed. For me a heavy 1/4 thick plus 8 inch blade knife is the ideal outdoor blade. Drop me on a mountain top with a knife that size and I would feel better prepared than with a 5 inch bushcraft knife.
 
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My biggest woods knife is a 5" drop point and I've never felt I needed more knife. If I need more blade than that a cheap machete is good for vines/stickers/brambles and a boys axe is better for a portable wood splitter/processor. That being said, I have a friend that prefers a 7" Bowie. He feels battening is safer in the backcountry than swinging an axe and likes the extra heft, tip length, and stability over a traditional 4-5" woods knife for that chore. Personally if I plan to plot a lot of wood I use a boys axe from my knees and have no way of accidentally chopping myself.
 
22-rimfire said:
What you need is a Llama or pack animal to lug all this junk around. That or a 16 year old that is in good condition following up behind you. The old timers didn't just wander out in the woods with a day pack on if they were spending more than one or two nights away from the comforts of home. I'm thinking pre-1900 kind of world. Back then, you were lucky to have a gravel road.
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Muir wore hob nail boots, and slept next to a deadfall gathered fire in the high sierras eventually forgoing overcoat altogether. Sure, he had a pocket knife.
 
pinnah said:
Woods Walker,

I want to *AVOID* debates on this one. Honest.

I'm wondering what sort of wood processing tasks (or other tasks) they are best at. Or perhaps is a one tool compromise that attempts to do the things that a knife + machete + hatchet will do?


Let me put this way....

There is some to be "processed".

You have a selection of tools to choose from including a 4.5" knife, a machete (or parang or similar), an axe, a hatchet and a big chopper knife.

For what part of the wood processing would one choose the chopper knife?

Or, under what circumstances would you lug the chopper from the barn to the work site instead of the others?
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I tend to use a knife to chop if an axe, hawk or hatchet wasn't packed. I will use the knife to take down saplings for a pot hook etc as a mater of convenience. To be 100% honest I feel some people over think, over process wood. The energy from a fire does a great job at breaking up wood. Here some was sawed but the majority will be burned into smaller sections.



Another fire with hardly anything chopped beyond chopping wood which refused to break free with hands and feet.



Here I took this to the extreme.

 
When I go out I usually carry a 4-5 inch knife, and a tomahawk. If I know I'm going to do a lot of wood work I'll bring along an axe and sometimes even a saw. But in my experience a large chopper can take the place of many tools if you are traveling light. A good 7-9 inch blade can do the work of a regular knife, bushwack like a machete, and chop wood like a tomahawk. But the catch is, it is the best at none. Some would call it a one tool option. I personally don't really like chopping with a knife although I found it to be perfect for chopping branches that may take a 2 or more hits from the tomahawk. And like you already mentioned it's also about personal preference and the fact that you have a big-ass knife with you. So in the end - it's all personal preference and weight.
 
Back in the day, Cold steel made an interesting chopper called the ATC. I picked one up and used it for over a year, then sold it to a friend. Do I miss it? Sometimes. These days I have a 1311 that I play around with when I am bored. I certainly don't need the 1311 or any other massive chopper although they are neat, vigorous tools that remind me of youth.

As a survival tool I still think the 18 inch machete would be a superb 'do it all' implement. Some folks favor chopping. And it just might be a phase that people go through at various sections of their lives. Year back I got along just fine with a Buck 119 and a cheap folding saw from Kmart. We used a full sized axe to split any wood that needed it.

These days, I pack a Silky Sugoi 420, SAK and a Mora Robust if I am headed into the bush. I don't wander too far from the car however and love the comfort of the fact that I have a razor sharp double bit axe if I really need it.
 
Video part 1.
Part 2.

Sometimes a screwdriver is just fine but sometimes you need a drill.
Mostly it's just preference.

I live in a temperate and very forested area. A chopper, hatchet, or machete can all be made to do the same things.
To me they're just different flavors.
 
For me it's just another tool in the chest. Get 1 try it out and if you don't like it well atleast you tried it and know 100% it's not for you.
 
Definition
Chopper=Longer knife

Usage
Cutting rounds = Saw
Chopping or limbing = Axe, Machete, Longer knife
Batoning = Longer knife

Long section spliting = Axe
But
Batoning = Longer knife is much safer with the less experienced

Longer knife tends to be lighter than an axe
 
G'day pinnah

pinnah said:
I'm a skeptic on the subject of choppers. I don't get them. At all......
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Spend long enough on the internet and you'll soon realise that those who don't have enough experience outdoors to know how to safely use a hatchet or axe, will recommed a knife instead.

After all, look back in time when the Nth American pre-eminent Woodsman's who appeared to "walk the walk" (aka Kephart & Nessmuk ) recommended either a hatchet or axe.

But then again, when it comes to the 'net, there appears to be a world of diference between the skills that outdoorsmen used to have, compared to those who post on the 'net today.
 
neeman said:
Definition
Chopper=Axe

Batoning = Axe

Cutting = Knife

Brush Clearing/Trailblazin = Whatever you like *great thoughts windwhistler!
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Fixed those for you. ;)

Not to say choppers don't have their place in the sun, I own one, but it's never tasted wood nor ever will. I use it primarily for butchery.
 
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I know if I am headed out on a long hike several days out and weight matters, I pick up by Becker 9 rather than a hawk, hatchet, machete or axe. Part is preference and how I was taught, part is avoiding weight and part is having one tool large enough to break loose squaw wood, split small wood for fire preparation and shred dry barks and tow for tinder while still being able to clean a fish or game easily. And in an emergency I prefer a quick "short sword" to a slower axe for defense. My land is very heavily brush covered (rhododendron and mountain laurel thickets interlaced with green briar or cat briar if you prefer) in places and some kind of machete or long knife is necessary to be able to pass unless one wants to be cut to pieces.
 
I own exactly one, truly dedicated chopper, and it's efficient as heck at what it is designed to do. It will also do things more akin to machete tasks, which a hatchet or axe would suck at (and/or be dangerous in use), due to the different mechanics of how an axe is swung and the fact that they are designed to meet a fairly solid, immobile object (a chunk of wood), not a vine or flexible branch.

But there are also big knife designs that are quite useful for chopping and splitting tasks, yet capable of much more. To me, this is where a truly versatile 'camp knife' can shine - it can do many of the basic tasks around camp that you might otherwise have to carry a knife and hatchet for (and I take that latter approach at times as well - I'm not saying that one or the other is "right" or "wrong").

A well-designed chopper/camp knife design can:

split kindling

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works well for limbing/clearing

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performs finer carving tasks, like making tent stakes:

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and works well in the kitchen:

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Of course, there are lots of different ways to tackle these jobs, and they can all work. I don't think there is any need to argue that one particular approach is universally the "best" way. But being able to do all of the above (and more), with one tool that is lighter than a hatchet or a hatchet/knife combo, is why I like a knife like this. :thumbup:
 
SouthernCross said:
G'day pinnah



Spend long enough on the internet and you'll soon realise that those who don't have enough experience outdoors to know how to safely use a hatchet or axe, will recommed a knife instead.

After all, look back in time when the Nth American pre-eminent Woodsman's who appeared to "walk the walk" (aka Kephart & Nessmuk ) recommended either a hatchet or axe.

But then again, when it comes to the 'net, there appears to be a world of diference between the skills that outdoorsmen used to have, compared to those who post on the 'net today.
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I think the skills are the same but what draws attention is perhaps different. For example this thread is really about processing wood? Correct? Anyone think otherwise? If I started a thread saying someone could use two trees for leverage to easily break up wood even oak and maple odds are the silence would be deafening. Maybe one response? At best?



But it works. Betting this method was used back when being trampled by a woolly rhino was a danger.



But start a thread asking if a knife or axe is better to process that same wood it would go to at least 20 pages with a potential thread closer by a mod if the debate became too heated. That said odds are people still break sticks using leverage, even those who post on the internet.
 
Smithhammer said:
I own exactly one, truly dedicated chopper, and it's efficient as heck at what it is designed to do. It will also do things more akin to machete tasks, which a hatchet or axe would suck at (and/or be dangerous in use), due to the different mechanics of how an axe is swung and the fact that they are designed to meet a fairly solid, immobile object (a chunk of wood), not a vine or flexible branch.

But there are also big knife designs that are quite useful for chopping and splitting tasks, yet capable of much more. To me, this is where a truly versatile 'camp knife' can shine - it can do many of the basic tasks around camp that you might otherwise have to carry a knife and hatchet for (and I take that latter approach at times as well - I'm not saying that one or the other is "right" or "wrong").

A well-designed chopper/camp knife design can:

split kindling

Dvl6PB.jpg


MnbsWG.jpg
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OMG! You're batoning. Also what's the steel! As we have learned there is no place for certain types of steel in the woods. :barf:

All joking aside I like it! :)
 
Smithhammer said:
I know, crazy, right? :D

I'm still trying to decide if it's bushcraft or camping...or not. :confused:
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It is just plain fun. If we were running around 100 years ago, we would have an entirely different set of priorities.

n2s
 
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