I have about 2/3rds of an acre of hilly brush to clear, so I dropped off a tomahawk, a Jeep brand hand axe from Big 5, and my monster Tempsky bowie with Veff Sharpening to see what he could do with 'em. Knowing better than to finger-fudge with a fresh edge of his, I just strapped on the bowie and went down to part of the ravine to get rid of a couple of chestnut saplings that have been annoying me with their existence. They're the non-edible kind of chestnuts and they proliferate like nobody's business, who needs that kind of love?
Once I found some good footing on the slope I pulled out the bowie and gave a ~2" sapling a good whack. The knife dug in a good 3/4", and that was kind of interesting. Then I gave it an upward swing to connect with the trunk below my previous cut, and a nice big chunk of wood flew out. Two more swings and down she went. That surprised me quite a bit, so I found some more wood that had to go. A hardwood sapling that died some time ago and had completely dried out took a lot more work before it fell. It trimmed branches off a couple cedars, cut down vines, and blasted through bushes and sticks with ease. I hacked down four saplings within about fifteen minutes. It just amazed me how easy it was.
Now I'm not a strong guy these days. I'm coming back after a three-year illness that kept me inactive, even normal light work is more difficult than I remember. This was a real pleasure, though.
My piece of junk paracord handle wrap came off in about five minutes so I should probably learn how to do that right before I wrap it again. When I handed the knife to Veff I could see him choke back his comment on the handle wrap, but I didn't know why til I got around to using it.
Once I found some good footing on the slope I pulled out the bowie and gave a ~2" sapling a good whack. The knife dug in a good 3/4", and that was kind of interesting. Then I gave it an upward swing to connect with the trunk below my previous cut, and a nice big chunk of wood flew out. Two more swings and down she went. That surprised me quite a bit, so I found some more wood that had to go. A hardwood sapling that died some time ago and had completely dried out took a lot more work before it fell. It trimmed branches off a couple cedars, cut down vines, and blasted through bushes and sticks with ease. I hacked down four saplings within about fifteen minutes. It just amazed me how easy it was.
Now I'm not a strong guy these days. I'm coming back after a three-year illness that kept me inactive, even normal light work is more difficult than I remember. This was a real pleasure, though.
My piece of junk paracord handle wrap came off in about five minutes so I should probably learn how to do that right before I wrap it again. When I handed the knife to Veff I could see him choke back his comment on the handle wrap, but I didn't know why til I got around to using it.