Looking for GSO-10 alternative

[rpn]

My go to chopper is a Swamp Rat Battle Rat...does all I need in a chopper. There's one on the exchange for a sweet price right now too.

 

[RevDevil]

Nice pile of steel evilcat!

I would also suggest Knife Research. They don't have any super long choppers, but they do have some large blades eith a darn good heat treat.

 

[Rasco]

I looked at the KR Enki and it looks nice, but it's right in that mid-range and I'm not in the market for that size right now.

It doesn't have to be super long, I'd settle for anything between 8-12".
If the GSO-10 had the handle of a SYKCO 1111, I think it would be perfect. I have no complaints about the blade shape, thickness, etc on the GSO-10. Blade-wise, it's pretty much perfect. I don't really need that choil, but whatever. I'm not counting that as a gripe.

My ONLY issue with the GSO-10 is the handle and how it feels in my hand, and how it reacts when I swing it.
I wouldn't be unhappy if it doesn't sell in the forum and I end up keeping it, but I would like to try other big choppers and selling one to try another seems like the mature, responsible thing to do

 

[chiral.grolim]

Thanks for weighing in Chiral.
I'm not 100% sure what it is, or it may be a combination of factors. Over in the S!K forum, I was asking about the "grippiness" of the G10 handled version, because I just feel like I can't keep a good grip on it. Like it wants to jump forward out of my hand when I swing it.
A lanyard really helps, but I still feel like there are alternatives, or other options out there that might suit me better.

I am curious about BRKT failures. Do you have any links handy? I had heard their warranty was pretty good...?

How big are your hands?
I was out chopping with my GSO-10 and Rodent 9 this weekend, trying to encourage each to fly out of my hand with and without lanyard. I have size 7-7.5 hands ("medium" with short fingers). I could get the GSO-10 to twist on a glancing blow, but they way i hold the handle (seen in my chamdar17 videos) it never tries to fly out. i can actually get a better grip with less sliding than on my Rodent 9. I attribute some of this to the more forward balance of the GSO-10 but mostly to the handle-shape. I should mention that I added scale-liners to my GSO-10 as seen here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1216423-Liners-for-GSO-7-7?p=13939918#post13939918

One factor in handles sliding is vertical (belly to spine) shape - if it only tapers and doesn't have much of a bird's beak at the heel, it's easy for the handle to pry apart the weak lower fingers and slip forward. Also if the spine is too straight relative to the blade, it is easier to slip straight forward through the fingers. If it is curved more (like a kukri or Becker machax) it has to rotate against the hand to escape, not so easy, which allows more power to transfer from the hand/arm into the object being struck.

GSO-10 & Rodent 9 (my image)

A couple kukri's and machax (pulled from the Yard)

Those are just some thoughts. As someone said, you could modify your GSO-10 handle to suit your needs or compare it to a Junglas or 'choiless' Busse Basic 10 or one from a maker on the BF exchange and sell whichever suits you less.

As to BRKT's offerings, I remember some broken goloks form a few years back as well as a few Grasso-Bolos, there were pics and vids and some threads at KF that are gone now... here is one BF thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1083819-another-bark-river-grasso-bolo-2-fail

Good luck on the decision!