Hand forged bolo/khukuri

[Cliff Stamp]

I like the general size of the handle, especially for harder impacts, but I found the RTAK grip too boxy. Siegle makes some nice looking blades, including longer brush knives :

From :

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=24&groupID=77561&ck

I have a love/hate relationship with recurves though for brush work and personally prefer the reverse curvature seen on traditional goloks. Frizzell has some interesting looking knives as well :

and for a modern "high tech" implementation :

R. J. Martin Pathfinder.

-Cliff

 

[Steelhed]

Cliff - Nice looking blades! I have several Siegles and he does do good work. I have not had a chance to use the Hoodlum yet, and I think it's going to be a bit on the heavy side for light brush work since it is 1/4 inch thick at the spine. For heavier chopping though I anticipate it should work well. I will see this coming week since I am cooking for a large party (300 people) and my pit will need to be fed quite a bit of alder.

Right now my benchmark piece is a Busse Fusion Steelheart (not the heavy version). I modified the tang by taking off the birds beak pommel, which bit into the palm of my hand when I choked down on the grip. Now I can choke up into the choil for skinning bark and other lighter chores and hold it low for heavy swings. The SH is not a long blade, but then it does not take up alot of space in my pack. It still chops very well for its size and the edge geometry makes it practically bullet proof when it comes to cutting wood. I could thin it out, but I have resisted the temptation to do so wanting strength along the edge in case I hit rocks or inclusions of some sort. Even INFI dents and chips on occasion and they are not inexpensive knives.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I think it's going to be a bit on the heavy side for light brush work since it is 1/4 inch thick at the spine.

I like the 1/8" heavy machetes for such work and they are similar in mass as 1/8" flat stock is the same weight as 1/4" full ground, how they are balanced is key. I like my SHBM for some work, but if I was actually clearing a lot of brush I would really want at least an 14" blade and optimally something like an 18" Barteaux to be really productive otherwise you are leaving everything at knee level.

...I have resisted the temptation to do so wanting strength along the edge in case I hit rocks or inclusions of some sort.

This is always the counterpoint to cutting ability. My main issue is I cut the edges so acute (8-10 degree primary) they can ripple so I ride a fine line between optimal cutting ability and preventing damage on poor technique and bad wood.

-Cliff