Looking into choppers - need advice

Hello to all: I have an itch for a chopper but want to make an informed decision. Below are some thoughts, please pass on any advice.

1. I want a chopper to cut scrub bush while hiking, camping and related tasks. I will go with a production or custom, up to $300.00

2. I see a lot on different steels for chopping, different angles, type of drop point and handle type. Can a forumite advise which feature gives which function? For example, BG 42 has more edge retention but chips more or something like that? Also, what material for the handle?

Thanks in advance.


Doug
 
You might look no further than here;

http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum21/HTML/000429.html

It's the Bush Hog from Camillus, made under the Becker name....very tough looking customer but should fit your bill!

G2

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"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...

G2 LeatherWorks
 
For $250, you could get a Busse Natural Outlaw. Unfortunately, in the "chopping world", it really depends on what you are chopping. A good machete is hard to beat for clearing brush to make a new trail. The new Becker machete should excel at this work. If you want to chop down small trees, maybe something a little heaver will do the trick, like a Battle Mistress (out of the price range mentioned) or a khukri (should easily find one in your price range) or a good hand saw (my preference).

If you just want a knife to help you pick your way through second growth and briars, I would suggest the natural outlaw, the becker magnum camp or companion, or similar sized knife, like one of Allen Blade's bowies. If you have to clear a path, no matter which knife you use, you will not get very far in a day's time. But if we are talking about picking our way through the undergrowth, with the occasionaly annoying twig or vine impeding our progress, then a good medium sized knife is hard to beat and easy to carry. It just depends on what you intend to chop with it. One blade is not ideal under all conditions.

Combine a Natural Outlaw with a good Sandvik folding saw and not much will stop you in moderate cover. If you are talking really thick cover, like briars or woody shrubs all the way, or maybe jungle vegetation, then get a machete.


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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Your best bet for a beefy indestructible chopper is a Busse Combat Battle Mistress, Steel Heart II, or Basic #9.

Or you can look at a Kukri-style blade as well...
 
I'd go with the bushhog or rtak from livesay.

some of the best choppers out there.

I also posted in wilderness suvival about a knife I had found for around $35.00 w/o sheath. a 12" 440c steel chopper that is called a FISH SPLITTER. they use it on comercial fishing boats in alaska. I have personally tested it, abusing way beyond any test I have heard about. It is a fun knife cause you are not afraid to do anything to it. one of the other members has purchased it form a link off the net.I think it was VOLVI. it was a recent post in that forum.


good luck

Chris
 
Give some thought to getting a real Nepalese khukuri from Himalayan Imports. Best choppers for the money out there, IMO.
Many variations in length and weight are available.
These are hand-forged, zone tempered knives.
Tough as hell, and have a character that a factory knife will never possess.

--Mike L.

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What goes around...comes around.
 
I second Mikes opinion. I recently bought an HI khukuri for camping and I am in awe. HI sells many different models so you can choose the size and weight that meets your needs and the prices are low enough that you won't feel bad abusing it. There is also a 100% no-questions-asked full-satisfaction lifetime qarantee. Check out the HI forum in the manufacturers section and they will answer any questions you have.
 
Of late I have had a change of heart kinda thing. No ... more of a revelation .... an epiphany. I think one of the best if not THE best survival and chopping tools is the simple Matchete. If you need to own the coolest matchete or need to spend money on something (as do I) then you should check out this site
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~knives/aindex.html

Dont get me wrong ... I dont have anything against the 1/4 inch tool set and have several in my collection.

Buuutttt look at most indigenous peoples in many third world countries that actually use there knife to LIVE !!! (read Survival knife)
What are they carrying. Some shaped matchete type knife. When I go to Puerto Rico once a year I like to stay in what is left of the Rural areas. Still some old brown leather skin men that are walking down the road with thier matchete which they use to trim grass, hack down coconuts, clean fish and so on. Then they pull an equally old file from there back pocket swipe the blade a few times and back to work. Look at South america, asia and Africa and you will find some type of Matchete. 1/4 inch steel. You really cant get the point in anything without a great deal of force, it chops well on very hard woody stuff but try the same on tough grasses.

Can you dig with a matchete ..sure. Can you pry open locked steel doors or punch it through cars. Nah ... Its a knife !!!
confused.gif


A matchete's thinness and flexibitlity make it a better chopper, cutter, field knife and survival tool. And just for the "If I were on manuevers ... and ... and... was overwhelmed by the enemy and ran out of bullets ..... and ..grenades ... and my E tool broke and I had to finally make do with just a knife. Wellllll I could think of worst things of having then a wicked sharp lightening fast Matchete. My 2 cents Ok maybe 5

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ALex

http://home.att.net./~a.boriqua

Updated 10/15/00
 
What a timely thread. I just bought an Ontario machete last week to help me reclaim some yard. With my chainsaw, shovel, and machete I'm making good progress pushing the woods back.
The Ontario I bought is about 23" total length with a 17.5" blade length (the actual cutting edge is 15" long). The handle is plastic with a D-shaped knuckle guard. I felt the knuckle guard would prevent my hand from sliding up on the blade and it does, but the handle feels alittle thick. Overall I love it. It has a real nice weight and is easy to use (and not too heavy or light). I've been whacking alot of limbs, saplings, and vines in the last few days, mostly pines, sweet gums, and mimosa. I have'nt had any problems yet except a blister or two (but I work at a hospital and my hands have grown soft over the years). Of course I have'nt tried to whack down larger trees, I have the chainsaw for those.
The machete and sheath only cost me about 28.00 dollars. I hope this helps and good luck.
 
Well,

Let me go at this a different way.

Handle Material- Micarta, G-10, production synthetic or epoxy soaked cord wrap if you want a no-maintenance handle. Wood if you like something natural. Personal Choice- Synthetic.

Handle Shape- Finger Swell, large forward and rear returns. This sort of grip seems to be the most comforable over long periods of use. See Becker and Busse handles. Or Single Finger Indent. Better Control, but needs to fit correctly. See Mad Dog or TOPS. Personal Choice- Swelled with returns.

Handle Cant- Not common, but gaining, handle is at an angle towards edge as judged by approximate center line of blade, angle varies with model and maker. See Becker, Busse, Mad Dog, TOPS. Personal Choice- Yes

Blade Orientation- Curved Up, often for soft vegetation, though this style is comparably unpopular in North America. Straight, probably most popular, seen as a good compromise for a blade that will be used against both hard and soft vegetation. Curved Down or 'forward', seen as best against hard vegetaion, though khukuri fans point to the use of this kind of blade in jungles of Nepal. Personal Choice- Straight

Blade Class- No firm definitions, but thinner is usually thought of as a machete, thicker is reffered to as a Bowie, survival knive, wilderness blade. Blade Steel also affects thickness, the stronger the material, the thinner it can be made. Personal Choice- Not decided.

Steel- A contentious issue. Both stainless and carbon steels have been used. Greatest number of large blades have been and continue to be of carbon steel. There are those that claim stainless to be acceptable, even preferable, but that is a minority opinion. Personal Choices- INFI, 3V, 5160, L6, 0170-06C.

Other Factors- Blade Shape, within class and dispostion the blade can be curved, re-curved, swelled, clipped etc to create specific effects at different places along the blade.

So, given a willingness on your part to have a custom blade made, your budget and imagination are the limit. Given a desire to acquire a production or regular model custom, generally your options are in the thicker, straight, carbon steel range.

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Thank you,
Marion David Poff aka Eye, Cd'A ID, USA mdpoff@hotmail.com

>>--->Bill Siegle Custom Knives<---<<
-http://www.geocities.com/siegleknives-

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Fire Page, metal match sources and index of information.

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