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If anything, my condors are really soft. Thanks to the factory convex grind it's still an entirely useable tool. Maybe people are considering dents and rolls as 'chipping'?
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In need of a Chopper.
- Thread starter Zander131
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the reason everyone is throwing condor in the mix is the OP's max price of $50. condor is the BEST value in this price. if it was twice that i would tell him to get a custom Fiddleback (awesome blades). or if you can find it get a Becker Bk6...
as for bark river, i lost all respect for them when they wanted to call out ethan becker (becker knife & tool) and said he was lying to his customers about steel.:thumbdn: still love a few of their knives but no props for bark river.
anyone who has talked to eathan knows he wont sell off his integrity.
but this is for a different thread in W&C
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the reason everyone is throwing condor in the mix is the OP's max price of $50. condor is the BEST value in this price. if it was twice that i would tell him to get a custom Fiddleback (awesome blades). or if you can find it get a Becker Bk6...
as for bark river, i lost all respect for them when they wanted to call out ethan becker (becker knife & tool) and said he was lying to his customers about steel.:thumbdn: still love a few of their knives but no props for bark river.
anyone who has talked to eathan knows he wont sell off his integrity.
but this is for a different thread in W&C
haha, ironically the custom fiddlebacks are stock steel from the same company... imacasa. Ethan needs to get on the horn and design his own machete, with that 1095 CroVan...
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BK 06 is the Patrol Machete, I do believe? I am not sure, I am not a beckerhead, but I think that is what it is.
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sure enough, interesting design...
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Beckerhead here, sir, you are correct. Forward weight, thick (5/32-3/16 I believe) 14" blade, comfy handle, and one helluva choppa. Wish they still made'em. Moose
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Thanks for the confirmation. I looked at them before, but I wasn't sure that was the number or not. I want one pretty bad, so I wish they still made them too.
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You are most welcome. Just to play the Devil's card, the BK9 chops a mean lick, and the 1095CV with the mar treatment is pretty tough. Plus, its around $75 at a few places. Sorry, I'm a Beckerhead, I can't help it. Moose
Mistwalker
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The BK6 is made out of 1070 and not 1095, it's also .250 inches thick so pretty heavy I imagine.
The BK9 is an awesome chopper...I just prefer more of a point on a blade so I like the BK7 better. If Ethan put out a barong like the Fiddleback 12 incher I have made of 5/32 to 3/16 in 1095CV or the 1070 either one...or 5160 I'd have to check it out.
The BK9 is an awesome chopper...I just prefer more of a point on a blade so I like the BK7 better. If Ethan put out a barong like the Fiddleback 12 incher I have made of 5/32 to 3/16 in 1095CV or the 1070 either one...or 5160 I'd have to check it out.
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Yes, I've used a saw. Have you ever used a machete for the same task? Part of it is proper technique, the other part is pattern. Also you'll note I DID put a qualifying statement in there that I've found a machete to be faster UNLESS I use a saw of a similar blade length, which not a lot of folks want to carry around. A lot of machetes that folks on the boards here end up using are either 18" or shorter or are very lightweight with relatively even weight distribution. I prefer something between 20" to 24" with a forward mass. Like the 20" Viking model below. Also a good machete will take out grasses and brambles, as well as allow for batoning and use as a draw knife.
I have to sharpen any tool when used..if you dont have to sharpen it..you were playing with it. I call an apple and apple..I dont beat on anything, I use tools. If I chop with one tool, and it works, well...it works. I another doesnt, well, it doesnt. Honestly..the Condor golok was , in my eyes..the best design for a production company in years...I love mine. But, I am honest. The treat sucks. Or...I just have really bad luck.
This is from a guy who has chopped with the best of them. I have tested a bunch of blades. I am not saying your input doesnt matter, but I dont have tons of choppers..just the ones that work for me (and my kukris
Anyways..like always..buy what you want..its your money.
I just get irked by the lack of variety around here...I have to leave WSS just to see whats going on in the knife world..this should be THE place to come and learn about the outdoors and knives...or maybe I am just sleepy
You'll notice I said I haven't had to FIELD sharpen my Condors. It's obvious that any tool requires sharpening after extended usage, but my Condors have never dulled on me to the extent of having to stop what I was doing and resharpen them because they weren't cutting right. I've always been able to wait until I got home. And I use them a lot. If hacking into frozen fatwood stumps and splitting whole lengths of logs by batoning them don't count as hard usage I'm not sure what does. I've felled plenty of trees as well.
Different strokes for different folks I guess. Just not my experience.
Seems you really just don't like Condor. That's fine. What you buy is none of my business. I happen to really like them, have logged tons of hours with them, and have bought more than just a few. I'm happy, you're happy, everything seems fine to me.
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Gerber hatchets have worked great for me for a long time.
Mistwalker
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Would love to hear more about this. Can you email me a link to it?
Yep, but the design, handle and handling makes it worth the price to me. Once he gets it rolling I'll definitely get another one. I love the way this thing flows like an extension of my own body when I use it.
Considering Imacasa is rooted in Gebr: Weyersberg... who was making swords in the early 1800s for not only Germany but Prussia, France, and other armies as well...Imacasa has the potential to be making some of the best machetes ever made, and going by the Fiddleback I have I could definitely see that.
In all fairness the Condor golok being a new design... and maybe a little thicker than their norm... may have just taken them out of their comfort zone temporarily. The first generation of any product comes with it's issues and bugs that have to be worked out.
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you might also consider a council tool hudson bay axe
http://www.counciltool.com/DisplayCategories.asp?pg=displaycategories&category=12
http://www.counciltool.com/DisplayCategories.asp?pg=displaycategories&category=12
Mistwalker
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I do like the shape of this one...
http://www.counciltool.com/product.asp?pg=product&item=17HBS18
But 45-55 is a big range in RC. Or is that standard for axes? I'm really not an axe guy so I don't know much about their hardness-es.
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GunKnifeNut:
Probably going to step on some toes here, but I think a lot of the recommendation has to do with the price limit of the OP. "Light, easy to carry, $50 or less" = a machete or a hardware store axe, or a CS tomahawk.
There's also the current trend, fad, whatever (here's the stepping on toes part), for "Bushcrafters" to see how cheap they can go in their gear and get away with it.
Well, kind of like I said above, you really only have a few choices at that price: a machete, a hardware store axe, and a Tomahawk.
At that price, I'd get a machete (MINIMUM of 18" -- shorter than that, and you lose a lot of what makes a machete work, IMO. I prefer a 22-24", but I only really use them for clearing brush and trail, not when I'm out to enjoy myself), AND get a CS tomahawk. Now the question: "Why?"
For clearing light vegetation and such, a machete will beat the hell out of any big knife. They CAN be used to split via batoning and such, but I personally don't like to do that with a thin, soft blade.
The CS hawks I recommend, because they are inexpensive, and they come with longer hafts than most (22" vs 19"), and you can get their 30" war hammer hafts and cut them to the size you want if you like more than 22".
Contrary to popular opinion, the Trail hawk is a very good field tool. It also splits wood pretty well (not going to kid you here, it's not as easy as a real axe). Thing is, you have to learn how to use it right. Mostly, indian tribes that used them only used wood the size of their wrist or smaller. If they needed something bigger, they usually burned it to fell it and such. Now, they can be used for larger pieces. I didn't believe in their abilities when I got mine at first, so i took some advice from member Vector001 (who's preferred woods set is a tomahawk and machete, incidentally), and realized the key to effective use of a hawk is speed, since it doesn't have the mass of an axe.
If you want to make fire with a large downed log, you can progressively chop a line along its length, then a parallel line 30-40 degrees to the side and leverage the chunk out, or make some wooden wedges, and pound them in to split off a piece -- the same way guys go at the task who only carry small hatchets. To split big rounds, something I found to work well is this: I took a 10" diameter round, using a Trail Hawk, and I struck on the centerline closest to me. Then on the centerline on the opposite side, then on the centerline right smack int he middle and it popped in half. The key was I swung HARD, and got the head moving really fast (it's also on a 24" haft), and sank it right in to the eye. Yes, it gets stuck and you have to work it out, but that size wood is also way out of the intended use of a hawk. Smaller stuff, like 4" rounds split with one good shot to the center -- the hawk buried itself to the eye, and the eye wedged it open when it hit.
If you don't want to bother learning to use a Trail Hawk, the new Frontier, Pipe Hawk, or Norse hawk, all have more weight, more edge length and will act more like an axe, but be lighter than the same length axe.
That being said, if you are willing to save until you can spend $75-$125, look at the links in my signature, and check out the Himalayan Imports kukris. The lightest ones aren't much heavier than a trail hawk, and they come with a small blade and sharpening steel. They have their own forum here, with copious amounts of information of how they work, why they work, how to best use them, how to pick a model, etc. Best of all, you can email Yangdu (the owner) and give her the specs on what exactly you want to do with it, and she can advise you on what model will suit you best. Villager (satin finish, unmpolished wood or horn scales) or true villagers (still have the black forging scale on them -- they are all made by hand, and you can get customs done -- and unpolished wood and horn) are usually significantly less than a comparable polished blade.
Probably going to step on some toes here, but I think a lot of the recommendation has to do with the price limit of the OP. "Light, easy to carry, $50 or less" = a machete or a hardware store axe, or a CS tomahawk.
There's also the current trend, fad, whatever (here's the stepping on toes part), for "Bushcrafters" to see how cheap they can go in their gear and get away with it.
Well, kind of like I said above, you really only have a few choices at that price: a machete, a hardware store axe, and a Tomahawk.
At that price, I'd get a machete (MINIMUM of 18" -- shorter than that, and you lose a lot of what makes a machete work, IMO. I prefer a 22-24", but I only really use them for clearing brush and trail, not when I'm out to enjoy myself), AND get a CS tomahawk. Now the question: "Why?"
For clearing light vegetation and such, a machete will beat the hell out of any big knife. They CAN be used to split via batoning and such, but I personally don't like to do that with a thin, soft blade.
The CS hawks I recommend, because they are inexpensive, and they come with longer hafts than most (22" vs 19"), and you can get their 30" war hammer hafts and cut them to the size you want if you like more than 22".
Contrary to popular opinion, the Trail hawk is a very good field tool. It also splits wood pretty well (not going to kid you here, it's not as easy as a real axe). Thing is, you have to learn how to use it right. Mostly, indian tribes that used them only used wood the size of their wrist or smaller. If they needed something bigger, they usually burned it to fell it and such. Now, they can be used for larger pieces. I didn't believe in their abilities when I got mine at first, so i took some advice from member Vector001 (who's preferred woods set is a tomahawk and machete, incidentally), and realized the key to effective use of a hawk is speed, since it doesn't have the mass of an axe.
If you want to make fire with a large downed log, you can progressively chop a line along its length, then a parallel line 30-40 degrees to the side and leverage the chunk out, or make some wooden wedges, and pound them in to split off a piece -- the same way guys go at the task who only carry small hatchets. To split big rounds, something I found to work well is this: I took a 10" diameter round, using a Trail Hawk, and I struck on the centerline closest to me. Then on the centerline on the opposite side, then on the centerline right smack int he middle and it popped in half. The key was I swung HARD, and got the head moving really fast (it's also on a 24" haft), and sank it right in to the eye. Yes, it gets stuck and you have to work it out, but that size wood is also way out of the intended use of a hawk. Smaller stuff, like 4" rounds split with one good shot to the center -- the hawk buried itself to the eye, and the eye wedged it open when it hit.
If you don't want to bother learning to use a Trail Hawk, the new Frontier, Pipe Hawk, or Norse hawk, all have more weight, more edge length and will act more like an axe, but be lighter than the same length axe.
That being said, if you are willing to save until you can spend $75-$125, look at the links in my signature, and check out the Himalayan Imports kukris. The lightest ones aren't much heavier than a trail hawk, and they come with a small blade and sharpening steel. They have their own forum here, with copious amounts of information of how they work, why they work, how to best use them, how to pick a model, etc. Best of all, you can email Yangdu (the owner) and give her the specs on what exactly you want to do with it, and she can advise you on what model will suit you best. Villager (satin finish, unmpolished wood or horn scales) or true villagers (still have the black forging scale on them -- they are all made by hand, and you can get customs done -- and unpolished wood and horn) are usually significantly less than a comparable polished blade.
Check out the hawks from Keith at Great River Forge. I have a couple and enjoy using them very much, a great price for a handmade hawk.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=769056
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=769056
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Have you looked at the bolos from Reflections of Asia. They run around $30-$35 shipped. They're not pretty but they do work. Think of 'em as honest village grade users. The 12" curved tip bolo is a beast. It will keep up with my khukuris. It is a lot heavier than a machete, though.
Frank
Frank
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- May 5, 2006
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I don't think anyone has a good explanation for that one - except that it might be a poor job by a copy writer.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=693555
i don't have any experience with council tools but i'm betting it's a pretty good axe. you could also check out what vaughan manufacturing offers. and of course there's always snow and nealley
imaginefj
Gold Member
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- Jan 15, 2006
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- 1,677
Axes and big blades are alot different! But for a big blade I recommend an Ontario CT1 machete and have someone put a good edge on it for you. There are alot of guys on the forum who can do it!
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I love the fiddleback design-the drop point allowing for a functional point, the big belly for slicing through green stuff and forward weight for chopping performance... though I just picked up an HI Jungle Knife that combines all of those elements and it is made from 5160. At that point I really can't justify one of these Fiddlebacks, as nice of a tool as they are...