Gardener's katana

hand-forged-thai-sickle


This is what we use here in Thailand for bush & grass cutting.
 
I understand you are more set on having fun than getting a strictly trimmed hedge. Can't criticize you for that. I use the biggest Old Hickory butcher knife for that and it is indeed pleasant yard work. The result would spin a gardener into backflips but, hey, I don't have so many gardeners visiting. It is a pleasant workout but I'm confident the task would be better and way quicker done with a hedge trimmer. To each his own...
 
If you want to use a katana to trim your hedges, who am I to say you shouldn't?

Katana, swords in general, are indeed cutting tools, and hedges are typically not a ridiculously tough medium to cut (with a sharp cutting instrument). I use a machete for hacking brush around my property, and while weighted differently, I imagine I would get very similar (if not better) results if using a Japanese sword..... to each their own, and don't listen to the naysayers, get yourself a katana and have at it... if it doesn't work so well, or you decide it is too much physical effort, well then hey, you can always get the electric hedgetrimmers, but at least you'll already have a cool katana!

My one suggestion will be however, don't buy a cheap budk, 2am infomercial style decorative sword to do the work... one thick branch or mishit could be a world of hurt when that decorative blade snaps, and now you're out of a katana, and possibly worse. If you are going to buy a katana for yard use, spend the cash and get a quality made full tang sword of quality (tough) sword steel, and go out and chop away!!!
 
HumlaeOngBKK said:
hand-forged-thai-sickle


This is what we use here in Thailand for bush & grass cutting.
Click to expand...

I also want to see the photo. It's not displaying. Can you put the photo into Imgur.com and then post the link?
 
The OP said he wanted to use a blade for the job, not electric hedge trimmers, which he already said he didn't like using. Then he used a kitchen knife and already said the job looked better and was more fun than using electric hedge trimmers.

I also don't like using electric hedge trimmers and find them awkward and no fun to use. I would rather use a hand-held blade of some kind in almost any circumstance.

 
22-rimfire said:
You seem set on a blade for this purpose. So be it.... Get a good thin machete like the 18" Condor El Salvador. Keep it very sharp.
Click to expand...

Make it either the wood-handled El Salvador or the Eco-Survivor, 'cause the black polypropylene-handled one is 1/8" thick. The other two are lighter/faster and better for that particular work.
 
I didn't know trees could get tourette's. :eek: On topic, if the OP goes with an inexpensive long blade (e.g. katana-I still suggest wakizashi or ko-katana) work on your edge alignment really well first; poor alignment is the bane of a swords existence. :(
 
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You could buy a" little wonder" hedge shears for what you'd spend on a decent katana.
 
I'm thinking the John Deere Frankenstein's monster is the way to go - lol, it actually looks like it did a good job of topping the hedges!
 

Amateur swordsmen cut bamboo by Katana. It seems to be easy but perhaps a bit dangerous. Today Katana is more a bamboo cutting tool than a weapon. So, Katana could be a perfect tool for hedge trimming.
 
Juha Perttula said:

Amateur swordsmen cut bamboo by Katana. It seems to be easy but perhaps a bit dangerous. Today Katana is more a bamboo cutting tool than a weapon. So, Katana could be a perfect tool for hedge trimming.
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No. Just no. It could not be.

Could you use it for that? Sure. But it is nowhere near the "perfect tool for hedge trimming".
 
We trimmed a bush/hedge in my dad's backyard with my brother's "Viking" sword he got for $50 back a bunch of years ago.
It was one of those cheap, made in Pakistan ones.
It worked just fine. Blade took a little bend, but I just bent it back to shape for him. :D

Life is too short to not trim hedges with a sword. ;)
 
Check out huntsman. Hes got some sweet machetes.
I could make a custom but it would be more expensive.
 
Juha Perttula said:

Amateur swordsmen cut bamboo by Katana. It seems to be easy but perhaps a bit dangerous. Today Katana is more a bamboo cutting tool than a weapon. So, Katana could be a perfect tool for hedge trimming.
Click to expand...
Everyone should see The Challenge with Scott Glenn (looking young) and Toshiro Mifune (looking old, but he was born that way I think) one time. Not only do you get to see how NOT to cut bamboo with a katana, you get to see the proper use of a stapler during a sword fight. But you have to get the uncensored, violence-included version.
 
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