Field trip report from Austria

[eraaij]

Just returned from a trip to Austria this weekend and
thought you all might like a short field report from my 15' AK and hear some new impressions.

I recently got a 16.5' chiruwa AK (Bura) and a 15' AK (Kesar). I decided to take the 15' since it is a bit lighter and I expected it to chop good enough for what I wanted to do with it. I intended to build -among other things- a couple of snow shelters and an iglo with my AK, but there was almost no snow. The locals I spoke even complained about the bad winter-season. So that excersise will have to wait until december.

Since my baby-daughter decided that learning to walk was a good thing while there, I actually needed my AK to improvise a fence to prevent her from running off the terrain. Building this fence, a simple demo shelter and a demo heat reflector later in the week gave me a lot of practice -and fun- with this blade. Here are some impressions:

- You need to learn how to chop with this blade, but you get used to it very quickly. A nice aspect of using a 'fresh' blade is that you can check the impact scratches and see if your technique is good or not. As I got better, the impact point was more an more centered around the broad area of the heavy belly. Also, twisting the blade with your wrist and in your hand while chopping gives it a lot more momentum so you use up a lot less energy. (does this make sense? I hope so);

- In my opinion, the 15' AK is a lot more practical than carrying a small axe on trips. Once you learn how to chop, it almost performs as good, but above that you can do much more fine work with a khukuri, which makes it more versatile. The weight is light enough for backpacking;

- The blade remained sharp even after using it for a week. I used a small ceramic sharpener after I got it from HI to bring it to hair-shaving sharpness. It held a good edge. I did chop up cherry, birch and and pine wood with it, mostly dead stems. No problems with the edge;

- For fine work like f.e. when making detailed cuts or removing bark, the cho sometimes gets in the way, since you tend to grip the handle more upfront. You have to be careful not to get bitten by it;

- Wiping it clean and dry and oiling it after use was enough to protect the blade. No rust, just nice scratches. I use olive oil for the blade, which works fine for me;

- I could use a different sheat. The HI one is very nice, but if you want to carry the khuk in your backpack the point can damage your pack or the contents. Visible carry or strapping it on the pack is not always appreciated, depending on where you hike. Furthermore, I would be happy with a sheat that only stores the blade on trips, not the karda and chakma. Maybe I will look into a custom sheat with a local leather wizz.


I decided to skip the standard Heineken beer can cutting test


Cheers,
-Emile

 

[Bill Martino]

Many thanks for good field report, Emile.

 

[BruiseLeee]

Some folks here have removed the brass chappe from the sheath. It takes away most of the pointyness of the thing. It generally isn' t too hard to take off from what I've removed. It was recommended to me that I use a mild form of heat. Hot water or maybe a hair drier might work. I used a small flat bladed screwdriver and slowly wedged the thing off.

On another one, I wrapped the sheath in a piece of cloth and bound the entire assembly with some string. It's probably the safest way to carry one inside a pack with other things rolling around.

I think always carrying a chakma with one's khuk is a good idea. Although I may leave the karda at home. (Mainly because I'm having problems sharpening them well.)

 

[eraaij]

..but I will leave the original sheat in one piece and look around for a leather workshop to see if they can make a lighter custom trail sheat for me.

You're right, the Chakma should go along. The Karda is too small to be useful. My Fallkniven F1 is my favorite utility knife, so that is no problem.

Thanks,
-Emile

 

[Howard Wallace]

Good choice on the 15" AK. I've taken it out myself a number of times. It's beefy enough to do some heavy prying when chopping the heartwood out of stumps.

Olive oil will eventually gum up your sheath and make the khukuri hard to draw. This does not happen immediately, but will eventually as the oil becomes rancid and gummy. Inorganic oils like mineral oil from the drugstore or silicon oil will not do this.

For carry consider a blade guard. It adds minimal weight and keeps the pack from getting cut up. It does take longer to access the blade. In case you were thinking of a quick draw for fighting bears and cougars. You can see a picture of a guard I use on the carry options page of the FAQ.

 

[Bill Martino]

Thanks for good tips.