We used one of the Gerber hatchets down in the jungle last go-round and it performed well. I was especially impressed at the edge it would take and hold.
I must admit the RTAK out-performed it on chopping through some 10" diameter balsas we cut for a raft and anything that was under that diameter, but the Gerber blew everything away when we had to chop through larger trees blocking the boat path (over 12" - 20" dimater).
Our Indian point man in the boat definitley preferred the Gerber over anything when it came to large diameter cutting. Naturally he switched back to the RTAK and machetes for general clearing. We left the Gerber with him at his request.
The main reason for this was overall comfort of extended chopping through large material and the smaller blade surface taking a smaller, deeper bite than the 10" blade on the RTAK or the longer blades of machetes. Once a large blade begins to contact material full width, chopping efficiency decreases drastically, and with partially submerged logs it's hard to work around all sides of them. The smaller the cutting surface you can apply with equal force, the faster the chopping will go.
This is from first-hand experience. - Jeff
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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com
I must admit the RTAK out-performed it on chopping through some 10" diameter balsas we cut for a raft and anything that was under that diameter, but the Gerber blew everything away when we had to chop through larger trees blocking the boat path (over 12" - 20" dimater).
Our Indian point man in the boat definitley preferred the Gerber over anything when it came to large diameter cutting. Naturally he switched back to the RTAK and machetes for general clearing. We left the Gerber with him at his request.
The main reason for this was overall comfort of extended chopping through large material and the smaller blade surface taking a smaller, deeper bite than the 10" blade on the RTAK or the longer blades of machetes. Once a large blade begins to contact material full width, chopping efficiency decreases drastically, and with partially submerged logs it's hard to work around all sides of them. The smaller the cutting surface you can apply with equal force, the faster the chopping will go.
This is from first-hand experience. - Jeff
------------------
Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com