Fingertip saw

Joined
Dec 7, 2001
Messages
227
Just wondering if anyone's used one of these at all. Are they worth including in the camping gear/emergency kit?

Danny
 
Hi Shortgoth,

It's basically a wire saw. Not a bad bit of kit, handy for survival tins. If your going to get one I would recommend you get a good one (I've brought cheap ones in the past and once used once they've become pretty useless). I've never had any problems with the one I got from BCB (got it in a survival tin as a present). Here's the link:

http://www.bcbin.com/itm00367.htm

Only £2.50, but postage is a lot. Have a look round.

Orm
 
I think that that they are good for small kits but I prefer something a little bigger:

Like this:

From Onestopknifeshop.com:
us-wg0180_sm.jpg


S.
 
My good ones are superb. My cheap ones are useless!


The best saw I've ever found is sold or made by:
Mouli Mfg. Corp.
1 Montgomery St.
Belleville, NJ 07109
Tel: 800-789-8285
Fax: 201-751-0345
 
Looks nice Sidewinder......but if I wanted summat that big I'd just put handles on a chainsaw chain *g*.

And thanks Mr Hudson, but I'm in the UK and I think actually importing one would be a little OTT for such a simple little tool.

Danny
 
shortgoth :

if I wanted summat that big I'd just put handles on a chainsaw chain

I did that awhile ago, it worked a lot better than I thought it would. However all such saws are readily outclassed by decent folding saws which are very light and portable. I would rather have a the small saw on a SAK than any of the wire saws, you also get all the other features of the SAK as a bonus which should definately be an EDC piece.

Wire saws of the chainsaw type variety can handle large wood more readily than a small SAK like saw, but they suffer from a huge disadvantge in regards to limbing and the general prep of small wood, bone etc. and as well take much more effort. I would much rather have a one handed than two handed saw in an emergency situation.

-Cliff
 
The saw sold by TAD is the same one as shown on the BCB site. BCB makes the saw for the standard issue military survival kists - UK and other. This saw looks very small and simple, but works very well.

Regards,

Ed
 
However all such saws are readily outclassed by decent folding saws which are very light and portable. I would rather have a the small saw on a SAK than any of the wire saws

Out of interest, what's your opinion of specific folding saws? (e.g. Wilkinson Sword's Folding Pruner - about 6" long, looks like a single-blade folder, but has a blade with the same serrations as on SAKs)

Danny
 
I have used a lot of small folding saws which cut very poorly and went dull quickly. The best small one I have seen to date was recommended to me by Bugs3x, it is made by Felco and is a pull-cut japanese style saw :

http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Lawn_a...ion_Folding_Pruning_Saw/display_~larger_image

It is critical to note that these saws are not a robust as western saws and can be broken without undue difficulty if you push on them as the blades are thin and will break as they are not spring tempered. I loaned out a similar one from Lee Valley to my brother before christmas and he broke it on the first tree he was cutting. He is very experienced with western saws but had not used any of the japanese style ones. I wanted to see how the saw would handle the experience. It broke just infront on the handle.


A much more rugged design is the traditional swede saw or buck saw, of which you can buy very portable versions :

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=44171&category=1,42884&ccurrency=1&SID=

The only thing I don't like about the above saw is that the blade tends to grate off the inside of the casing which obviously gives it a shorter lifetime than you would want. However you can easily carry a small file in the tube with the saw to keep it sharp.

I have seen advertized small pruning saws with western style push and pull cut teeth that are supposed to be as aggressive as the japanese style saws while being much more robust, but I have not used them yet.

-Cliff
 
Gerber has a version of its Sport Saw with "double cut sawtooth design blade with gold titanium nitride coating for exceptional edge retention." (Model 6032) Anyone ever tried one of these?
 
Back
Top