Knife advice for odd use...

i've done quite a bit of plant splitting, i've found that with plants with dense root systems a plain edged knife is no good. I almost exclusively use a serrated bread knife but not a cheap rubbish one . mine is probably around 15 years old now, the blade is about 8 inches long and 2mm thick but it doesn't flex much.
 
Yikes! I didn't think I would have so many to respond to!

The various serrated blades are definitely worth looking into. I would think that the Felco saw would have such large gaps between the teeth that smallish roots would get stuck and not cut. (My wife has a pair of the #2 pruners, btw. They are indeed very nice.) There's a Lee Valley store in Calgary, so we might actually be able to handle one of those.

I suppose I'll have to sit down and pull up pics of all the various options and see what she thinks she wants to use.

Thanks a bunch!
 
I think Lee Valley or Garrett Wade has Japanese garden knives with very large serrations. Other than that, the Ragweed Forge camp knife that RWS recommended is a nice one. I've got it, and it's easy to sharpen and pretty tough for it's thickness. I use it quite a bit for digging and it hasn't broken yet. It's no prybar, but it can take a decent amount of abuse.
 
After some thought, I think either a Ontario RAT-7 or perhaps a Spyderco medium kitchen knife (6" carbon steel blade) might work well. (http://newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=6121). Not sure of the blade thickness on the Spyderco as you suggested something pretty rigid. There is a serrated version also for sale. Even a common but heavy chopping type kitchen knife would work well. I have a Case XX knife that is easy to sharpen and sufficiently big, rigid, but not too big to be unyieldy. It looks like one of those knives you use on a chopping board.

In the Custom knife area, a Dozier Wilderness knife might be a good choice. Check out this thread. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=425366

Believe it or not, my brother in law uses a Randall for this task.
 
Hey Guys....

FHA...

A Cheapo Machette would be my first pick.

Doesn't matter if doesn't get cleaned off right away...
Nearly impossible to destroy
No one will walk off with a Cheap Machette( Leave a Ranger laying around and it will grow legs_

Cold Steel makes some Really inexpensive blades, that are easy to sharpen,, and will keep a fairly decent edge...

Your wife will only be push cutting through small rooting systems and potting soil correct ???

I know you want to get her an Awesome knife,, but KISS is your best option as far as I'm concerned...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
FoxHoleAtheist,

The other day (well, about 2 weeks ago I guess... when it was still hot outside) I dug up some hosta plants (25 of them) in the yard that had become waaaay to large for the space they're in, divided each root system into 3 or 4 smaller plants, and replanted them all.

The knife I used was a Bark River Settler. It's not an 8-inch blade, but it worked perfectly. I'd honestly recommend against a blade as long as 8 inches - it's a little bit unwieldly, and is way overkill. My Settler has a 6-inch blade, if I remember correctly, and the whole knife is about 10 inches in length.
http://www.dlttradingcompany.com/index.php?cPath=24_282&osCsid=e655cfa3d3e6292a1c4d94384ac0e77a

If that's a little beyond what you wanted to spend, I'd say go with a Cold Steel Bushman. Cheap price tag, great knife. That's what I normally use for all my gardening & yard work.
 
puukkoman said:
FoxHoleAtheist,

The other day (well, about 2 weeks ago I guess... when it was still hot outside) I dug up some hosta plants (25 of them) in the yard that had become waaaay to large for the space they're in, divided each root system into 3 or 4 smaller plants, and replanted them all.
Click to expand...

I did the same a number of years ago and gave up on the knife. I went and sawed them into 4's using a Bucksaw and I'll be damned if all of them didn't transplant very successfully.
 
Another vote for using a bayonet. When I was in college a (large) number of years ago, I was a botany major and had to dig specimens out of the ground on field trips. I used an M7 bayonet that I bought surplus. Worked great for digging and was always at my side. I never found anything that I could not dig out with it.
 
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424385 :)

You might find something from HI that would fit the bill. Simplest choice, if you can handle the bent blade, would be a Kobra. Methinks you want to go thinner cutting through root balls.

If you prefer straight blades, the best would be the CROW (except for what looks like a swedge) or BOLO - see both in this thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=419824&highlight=Crow

They will rust, but the polish will make things easy to clean off, and they're meant to work.


If you stick with busse, skip the FBM and get an AK-47. :D
 
Thought this thread had gone dormant for the winter. :)

She's done a lot of dividing in the past, and in her experience the longer blades worked best, so we're still looking at fairly long knives. The root systems on pot-grown plants are denser than those in the ground, and she likes to lie the plant on its side and push through the root ball in one fell swoop. (She sounded impressed by the mega-dividing job, btw, Puuko)

We've not made a decision yet, for what it's worth.

Thanks everyone!
 
Have you considered a long filet knife? That sounds to me exactly what you need. (Of course, I could be wrong!)
 
If the roots are very woody I think a pruning saw would probably work best, but since I am also a fan of using a blade whenever possible, how about the Kershaw Outcast?

BTW-I'm a wholesale grower as well. We do some perennials (daylily and hostas mostly), but do much more with annual bedding. Hope she finds something that works for her.

Jack
 
Walking Man said:
Have you considered a long filet knife? That sounds to me exactly what you need. (Of course, I could be wrong!)
Click to expand...
I was thinking along those lines as well.

I would suggest a Buck 118
buck118onlyback.jpg
but it's discontinued. Still available on ebay and some retailers. Cheap enough, rust resistant 420 or 440 steel and holds an edge well. What I like about the 118 is the blade shape is similar to a filet knife yet thicker and not flexible. A close runner up that's still available is the Pathfinder (105) or Woodsman (102) models.
 
I think they are BOTH wrong about the filet knife.

Too dainty.

I divide platyceriums (staghorn ferns), on a more or less regular basis.

It involves batoning and prying AND a decent edge. These aren't meristems from Holland, but tree grown for 10/20 yrs in S Fla. Thick and tough. Usually the sterile fronds were over 8" thick. That's what you needed to cut through/pry out.

Ka Bar was my only choice until Swamp Rat and the Ka Bar was a lightweight.

With the way things are right now with the Rat's on the secondary market, I'd suggest a Ranger.

You really DO need a sharpened prybar for this type of work. This I do know.

Rob
 
Well, I'm placing an order with New Graham tonight for a Kershaw Outcast. It looks big enough to be what she wants (she's poo-pooed all the sub-8" knives), and I know that D2 is wear resistant. I've read the comments about the uber-thick edge, but we'll give the knife a shot and if necessary I'll work on it with my dremel and a sanding drum, or possibly a super-coarse stone. If it doesn't work out as we like, we've only spent about $75, versus the $450 or so for the FBM we were first considering.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions!
 
Holy Cow!
I just thought of something!
What the Fallkniven mine clearance knife!
It might work great! Saying that it's a similar application is well..... stretching things....
Kind of similar. But it might work.
I think the most important thing in this case is just to make sure you keep it sharp, even though I don't think you need a very acute angle.
 
I thought about that one early on too... double edge blade, so it won't work. :)

Also, she likes a blade that is wide enough (or a handle back enough) that when the blade is pressed against the cutting board, her knuckles are not touching. I've already ordered the Outcast, so we'll see how it works.

Of course, now that I just saw this pic, I kind of wish I had waited for the Hossom/Spyderco collaborations to come out.

_DSC8354.jpg
 
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