Hey guys I'm sure you've heard this a thousand times but I am in somewhat of a conundrum with regards to what large blade to buy. In essence, I would like to have a blade that is equally well at splitting medium sized wood (greater than a couple inches, slightly less than an 8 in log), de-limbing, chopping smaller size wood (less than 4-5 in diameter), clearing growth along trails if need be (without great fatigue), and the occasional small job (such as food prep, game/fish prep in a survival situation, general utility, and bushcraft type carving if need be). The knife will serve as my companion for overnight to week plus long excursions in the varying wilderness areas (I live in AZ but travel across the US and south america to backpack, hunt, fish, etc; additionally planning an extended stay in europe, africa, and middle east/south east) to handle all of my needs in conjunction with a saw and smaller work knife (SAK, becker necker, or mora). Essentially, this knife would replace my carry of a tomahawk and mid-sized belt knife with something that can function as a larger cutting tool along a large knife, machete, and hatchet hybrid yet without losing the ability to be carried, used, and maintained with ease and efficiency for a variety of tasks. I would like the knife to be able to ride on my hip/back well and am considering the old bowie style carry with a belt notch to tuck into my waistband on my weak side as a cross draw or in the small of my back- although not the most functional, I just think it is so cool.
Knives I have already tried in this arena include Condor village parang (TOO HEAVY, no point for finer work, mediocre steel, and wasted handle), ontario squared off machete (perfect for trail clearing and light chopping, not so good for fine work or splitting), Knife kits camp master bowie (like the size for a mix between a machete and knife, but poor grind, handle configuration, and steel).The contenders include Becker BK4 Machax, Becker BK9, Buck Hoodlum, ESEE Junglas, BRKT Golok, or self made blade. To delve further into my questions/concerns of each blade, please continue reading.
Becker BK4 Machax
Pros: Recurve/kukri style lends to powerful chops. Seems as a good cross between a clearing, medium chopping, and splitting tool with size. Great becker quality. cheap.
Cons: Too small of a sweet spot for chopping making it lose efficiency and not able to compete with the aforementioned knives. requirement for further modification (handle scales, convex grind, and new sheath). lack of weight and length for chopping and clearing tasks as opposed to other blades. May be too knifey and not enough machetey and axey. difficulty sharpening even with convex?
Becker BK9
Pros: great becker quality. cheap. hear it has great control for knife tasks. hear it is great chopper. Like the straight profile for sharpening.
Cons: Not long enough or heavy enough to compete with other options. Too knife like? Sharpened tip creating problems while battoning. Need for further modification.
Buck Hoodlum
Pros: lightweight with long and thick blade. cheaper. looks like a good size compromise. like the slight cant in the handle to position wrist combined with reserved blade profile for sharpening. 5160 steel. great blade shape.
Cons: heard the notch and laser cutting of the blades creates a weak point and therefore decreased ability to button with confidence, is this fixed? Handle gimmicks (large choil, thumb ramp, finger groove, and hammer) create hot spots in extended use and varying grips- however can grind these things down. light weight creating problems while chopping. sheath replacement.
ESEE Junglas
Pros: seems as though perfect blade size, shape, and thickness for my intended use. great esee quality and warranty. awesome sheath, probably no modding required. possibly best chopper and splitter of the group.
Cons/concerns: is it too heavy and unwieldily with the large handle, forward balance, and lack of a choil to be able to handle finer work with an acuity close the aforementioned blades. is it too heavy to wild as a machete and carry. How does the handle stack up to that of the beckers
BRKT Golok
Pros: brkt quality and grind. essentially designed to exactly what I want minus the smaller work. great sheath.
Cons: is it too long to be used as a functional knife for smaller work that I have mentioned (obviously will have spear point modification). price. how does the handle compare to the other knives mentioned. Not very many reviews online so info somewhat limited.
Custom knife by me
Pros: I have made knives before. mainly just shaping and grinding the outline of the knife to be heartened by paul bos at buck and ground by other manufacturers. I can pick and choose what features I like between the blades.
Cons: I am unsure what size, or general shape to follow. I would like to base it off one of these patterns but am unsure where to start.
sorry folks I know this is a lot of information and probably very nit picky, but thats just how I roll. I would greatly appreciate any input possible. If I had the funds (poor college student here) I would buy all these knives and more and try them out for myself, but that just aint in the cards. Additionally Jeff, Mike, and Ethan if you guys happen to see this post I would love to hear your input very much, as you are the designers and might be able to clue me in on quite a bit I do not know about the background into the designs.
Cheers,
Ruben
Knives I have already tried in this arena include Condor village parang (TOO HEAVY, no point for finer work, mediocre steel, and wasted handle), ontario squared off machete (perfect for trail clearing and light chopping, not so good for fine work or splitting), Knife kits camp master bowie (like the size for a mix between a machete and knife, but poor grind, handle configuration, and steel).The contenders include Becker BK4 Machax, Becker BK9, Buck Hoodlum, ESEE Junglas, BRKT Golok, or self made blade. To delve further into my questions/concerns of each blade, please continue reading.
Becker BK4 Machax
Pros: Recurve/kukri style lends to powerful chops. Seems as a good cross between a clearing, medium chopping, and splitting tool with size. Great becker quality. cheap.
Cons: Too small of a sweet spot for chopping making it lose efficiency and not able to compete with the aforementioned knives. requirement for further modification (handle scales, convex grind, and new sheath). lack of weight and length for chopping and clearing tasks as opposed to other blades. May be too knifey and not enough machetey and axey. difficulty sharpening even with convex?
Becker BK9
Pros: great becker quality. cheap. hear it has great control for knife tasks. hear it is great chopper. Like the straight profile for sharpening.
Cons: Not long enough or heavy enough to compete with other options. Too knife like? Sharpened tip creating problems while battoning. Need for further modification.
Buck Hoodlum
Pros: lightweight with long and thick blade. cheaper. looks like a good size compromise. like the slight cant in the handle to position wrist combined with reserved blade profile for sharpening. 5160 steel. great blade shape.
Cons: heard the notch and laser cutting of the blades creates a weak point and therefore decreased ability to button with confidence, is this fixed? Handle gimmicks (large choil, thumb ramp, finger groove, and hammer) create hot spots in extended use and varying grips- however can grind these things down. light weight creating problems while chopping. sheath replacement.
ESEE Junglas
Pros: seems as though perfect blade size, shape, and thickness for my intended use. great esee quality and warranty. awesome sheath, probably no modding required. possibly best chopper and splitter of the group.
Cons/concerns: is it too heavy and unwieldily with the large handle, forward balance, and lack of a choil to be able to handle finer work with an acuity close the aforementioned blades. is it too heavy to wild as a machete and carry. How does the handle stack up to that of the beckers
BRKT Golok
Pros: brkt quality and grind. essentially designed to exactly what I want minus the smaller work. great sheath.
Cons: is it too long to be used as a functional knife for smaller work that I have mentioned (obviously will have spear point modification). price. how does the handle compare to the other knives mentioned. Not very many reviews online so info somewhat limited.
Custom knife by me
Pros: I have made knives before. mainly just shaping and grinding the outline of the knife to be heartened by paul bos at buck and ground by other manufacturers. I can pick and choose what features I like between the blades.
Cons: I am unsure what size, or general shape to follow. I would like to base it off one of these patterns but am unsure where to start.
sorry folks I know this is a lot of information and probably very nit picky, but thats just how I roll. I would greatly appreciate any input possible. If I had the funds (poor college student here) I would buy all these knives and more and try them out for myself, but that just aint in the cards. Additionally Jeff, Mike, and Ethan if you guys happen to see this post I would love to hear your input very much, as you are the designers and might be able to clue me in on quite a bit I do not know about the background into the designs.
Cheers,
Ruben
