- Joined
- Dec 13, 2005
- Messages
- 6,105
Hello again! I hope you were able to check out part I, with pretty nature shots, and pics of my pooch and gal.
( http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5422263#post5422263 )
While I was out, I carried a huge rucksack full of steel, more steel than most would take car camping!
What I brought-
KaBar Heavy Bowie
RAT-7
CS Trail Hawk (project hawk- see http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=539939 )
Vic Farmer
Gerber linerlock folder
Livesay PSK
I think that's all...
I didn't bring my Fiskars because I already have a good feel for how it would do, in order to compare it to the trail hawk. I also wanted to compare the RAT and KaBar, the results of which were less clear.
We first found a nice spot to settle down at, with lots of deadwood.
The main steel:
First I did some light chopping with both the RAT and the bowie. I was curious to see if the RAT could keep up, but it's got a lot of obvious disadvantages comparatively and is certainly not meant for this kind of work.
The above is just a bit under a minute's worth of chopping, on some fairly hardened but damp wood. The bowie is just plain mean on wood, and is very easy to get a good, distal chopping grip. I realized just now that I didn't snap a decent pic of the RAT's chopping work ( :foot: ) but it did not fare nearly as well at this type of blatant chopping. As I said, it just wasn't meant for this and doesn't have the mass or length of the bowie.
Splitting is another task that I wanted to lightly compare with both these blades.
Here's the bowie getting some splitting time in on some very small diameter poles. It did a great job, despite lots of knots on the pieces I used.
The RAT showed performance that matched that of the bowie, it was a champ to baton with. It also had the benefit of not tearing through my baton as quickly as the bowie did, since the RAT lacks the false edge at the spine.
I also worked with them both in just general carving and slicing, where both, again, did a great job. Fuzz sticks were a breeze overall with either. The bowie is surprisingly agile on wood, and the full flat grind makes it's thickness a non-issue (a factor equally important for the RAT).
I wanted to see how both would do at more 'practical' chopping, which for me means taking down small limbs, and stripping of branches when necessary. Some downed branches were both cleaned of their smaller offshoots with broad chops from the RAT and the bowie, and both quickly and efficiently trimmed them. Both were able to section the limbs easily as well. Again, the KaBar had the advantage here and was the clear winner.
( http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5422263#post5422263 )
While I was out, I carried a huge rucksack full of steel, more steel than most would take car camping!
What I brought-
KaBar Heavy Bowie
RAT-7
CS Trail Hawk (project hawk- see http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=539939 )
Vic Farmer
Gerber linerlock folder
Livesay PSK
I think that's all...
I didn't bring my Fiskars because I already have a good feel for how it would do, in order to compare it to the trail hawk. I also wanted to compare the RAT and KaBar, the results of which were less clear.We first found a nice spot to settle down at, with lots of deadwood.
The main steel:
First I did some light chopping with both the RAT and the bowie. I was curious to see if the RAT could keep up, but it's got a lot of obvious disadvantages comparatively and is certainly not meant for this kind of work.
The above is just a bit under a minute's worth of chopping, on some fairly hardened but damp wood. The bowie is just plain mean on wood, and is very easy to get a good, distal chopping grip. I realized just now that I didn't snap a decent pic of the RAT's chopping work ( :foot: ) but it did not fare nearly as well at this type of blatant chopping. As I said, it just wasn't meant for this and doesn't have the mass or length of the bowie.
Splitting is another task that I wanted to lightly compare with both these blades.
Here's the bowie getting some splitting time in on some very small diameter poles. It did a great job, despite lots of knots on the pieces I used.
The RAT showed performance that matched that of the bowie, it was a champ to baton with. It also had the benefit of not tearing through my baton as quickly as the bowie did, since the RAT lacks the false edge at the spine.
I also worked with them both in just general carving and slicing, where both, again, did a great job. Fuzz sticks were a breeze overall with either. The bowie is surprisingly agile on wood, and the full flat grind makes it's thickness a non-issue (a factor equally important for the RAT).
I wanted to see how both would do at more 'practical' chopping, which for me means taking down small limbs, and stripping of branches when necessary. Some downed branches were both cleaned of their smaller offshoots with broad chops from the RAT and the bowie, and both quickly and efficiently trimmed them. Both were able to section the limbs easily as well. Again, the KaBar had the advantage here and was the clear winner.
