GB Mini vs. 12" tram, and some barkies.

[Liam Ryan]

Hey folks, took a few blades out today, I really wanted to see how well these two stacked up against each other since I modded up the tram a bit.
there was 2 inches of blade with no edge at all, so I put a convex one on there to match the rest of the blade, which is still more or less a scandi edge I worked on a bit. I also put the handle to the belt sander and now it fits much better.

I chopped an old seasoned limb of some type of hard wood (anyone know?) I used 60 hits with fairly light chops to make it easier to keep it consistent. The one on the left is the tram, on the right is the mini.

It was close, I had to give it to the tram. It had a much bigger sweet spot, almost 3/4 of the blade, and it's thinner profile made it easier to bite in where I wanted it to, the mini kept sort of glancing off and landing dead center in the cut. (you can see the wedge is more V shaped for the mini)
This could easily be my lack of chopping experience, but I just felt the tram was easier to control the whole time.

Both tools were similar weight, but the mini had much of that foreward of the handle. For it's size the mini does extremely well, a bigger hatchet would have done better. In green wood I believe it would have surpassed the tram,
(which suffered no edge damage at all. In the above pic the wedge on the far left is when I took a few big swings with the tram to check for edge damage.)

I did one other test, which was to see if the canadian special could chop.
It could! I noticed that if I choked back on the handle there was a lot of weight foreward and still a decent grip with the finger grooves. In the above pic with the three wedges, I cut into the middle one from another angle with both barkies, and was pleased with how well the canadian special did.
The fox river was no slouch, doing better then many similar sized blades, but the CS was at least 30% better.

When whittling, both proved excellent, the fox rivers foreward angled blade gave it leverage, and on the Canadian special there is a slight recurve toward the handle that kind of catches what you are whittling. The fox rivers handle was comfier, and the canadian specials was good but a small hotspot on the palm below the baby finger, it's wide there and the scales are a bit square.

Thanks for looking, give me some advice on how to do a better review and ask any questions I forgot to answer in advance.

 

[kgd]

That was a useful review, particularly in comparing the performance of the mini GB. Thanks!

I agree, most small bushcraft sized knives can do a bit of chopping if called upon to do so. I hope you put a lanyard on the CDN before chopping as I think this can be an important safety precaution especially when choking back on the knife. I really like using Breeden's pathfinder in this way. It has a pronounced palm swell at the back that lets you get a good grip and it is easy to do snap type cuts because of the handle shape.

When attacking a bigger piece of wood with a smallish knife, I tend to use an 'anything goes' philosophy. This could mean doing a couple of quick chops to build a wedge, trying to bend the branch and cut cross grain, whittling stubborn little bits, batoning - well whatever works best.

Its amazing what you can get through with even a tiny knife. It just takes more time, and sometimes some creative thinking, compared to a devoted tool.

Also thanks for the pictures. They make great eye-candi. I still haven't picked up a machete yet, but I want one. I even have a nice leather machete sheath!

 

[Liam Ryan]

I didn't have a lanyard, actually.
I thought about getting a nice fat one while I was chopping, but the grip was pretty secure.

I was pretty surprised at the canadian, it seemed to chop better then my ratmandu, which is longer and heavier.

 

[ADD]

Gosh, I sure love my Mini.

 

[CKE2]

Thanks for the review Liam:thumbup:

Seeing the pics makes me second guess about my GB decision to get the next bigger size to the Mini...... That Mini looks MORE than capable.

 

[j williams]

Great review. Gotta love them 12in trams!

 

[Liam Ryan]

The mini is indeed amazing, every time I use it I am a bit startled.
I could have bought 9 or 10 trams for the price of it though.

 

[abo4ster]

Thanks for the great review.

Regarding the type of hardwood ~ I can't tell from the pics, but it looks like a young blackgum or even an elm a little bit. It also looks like there maybe some horizontal lenticels - so that confuses me even more. My money is on Doc Canada to give a us a clue.

Nonetheless, there are generally two types of hardwood; (1) hard hardwood (ex. oak, hickory, ash); and (2) soft hardwood (ex. poplar, maple, gums). Here is a table I found on the internet that may help if you are interested. http://www.ncsec.org/cadre2/team18_2/students/tableHardSoft.htm

As you said, you thought the mini would do better in green wood. They same may be true for the soft hardwoods so I am hoping that was a hard hardwood you were using.

Not sure what others do, but generally, I pick up most of my firewood and snap it between 2 trees as a lever or do a star fire and feed in the length. Most stuff is not much bigger than my wrist. Anything bigger than arm thickness or I can't snap between two trees is too much work to chop in most cases.

Granted that I am not at a very high latitude so others may have a different opinion; but I believe the primary ("survival") use of an axe in most temperate forests, would be for shelter and fire in wet weather.
Shelter being small poles/limbs coming from the true softwoods like fir and hemlock. Fire in wet weather would be getting to the inside of dead wood and may also involve downing a snag. For that, especially if tinder is needed to come from this, the soft hardwood would be preferred.

Sorry for the long post, throwing this out there for consideration in the uses of tram vs. the mini axe.

 

[RescueRiley]

I have to say other than limbing I don't do much "chopping" I use a saw to section wood and than use may tram to baton it..

 

[Ebbtide]

I have to say other than limbing I don't do much "chopping" I use a saw to section wood and than use may tram to baton it..

You mean I'm not alone?

I like my GB mini for splitting those sawed up pieces.
Or my little double bit that I bought from PJ Tomes table a couple of years ago.

I never did understand this whole fascination with chopping.
My SvenSaw weighs very little and just eats wood.

But hey, to each his own