- Joined
- Aug 26, 2010
- Messages
- 7,751
Today I finally had an opportunity to take a recently acquired bad boy AK out for a Saturday morning chop over a cup of Joe. There are a pair of post oaks that needed to go because im out of fire wood. Before I break out the Stihl I wanted to play around some so the subjects were a 20" beast Chiruwa AK by Bhakta (left), my trusty 20" AK by Lachhu (mid), and just for fun a new Samsher i picked up recently on a DOTD (rt).
First up was my 20" AK by Lachhu. My control blade im very familiar with and have many hours together.
This wood has been subject to a forest fire about three years ago and is baked and extremely hard. I would not chop this wood on any Khukri unless it was an AK. Period! I was even a bit nervous doing this test but what the hey?
Ok a couple minutes of chopping to get in the groove. Dang..Yep! HARD STUFF! At this point I thought id give up because I was going to roll an edge for sure. Nope! Goferit! OK all feels good. Snap chop feels good and in the groove.
Next a 20" Chiruwa AK. Thanks to Eric (BFH44) for making this blade available to me! If you ever want it back it yours brother:thumbup:
Just a couple of minutes and it was noticeable that this blade was heavier than the regular AK and was taking out some chunks! This dog bites Hard! Wow! The feel and balance between these two blades were very similar. I didn't notice any more shock on the CAK or any difference in balance whatsoever but i was only cutting one tree. Only the weight was different. The handle is longer on the Lachhu AK and the Bhakta CAK is shorter but the distal taper and short handle really made them balance and snap much the same.
Next up Samsher! Since it has a very obtuse angled edge much like the AK then I decided to try it with the big boys.
Now this ended up being a challenge with the huge amount of drop in this blade style but after a bit of work it began to feel really nice. I felt it trying to pull against me but the drop in the handle worked against that force and really did well for the weight. I kept checking the edge to make sure i wasnt damaging it or starting a roll or something but all good. It is definitely in a different class than the AK's but lacks the weight to dig in to this hard dense baked oak. In general this is not the blade for this specific task.
OK lets finish this off with Bhaktas CAK.
A couple more chops and CRACK! Plunk! Almost got my garden fence but all good.
Done Deal!!! If I had to do this job more than once the right blade in my opinion would be the 20" CAK simply because its a heavier blade. Not because its chiruwa but because its heavier. Ill get specs up asap so they can be compared for real. Now if they are the same weight I will be astounded and everything I thought about CAK vs. AK will be turned over. The Samsher is just too light for this specific task as i expected but I have been surprised before. I know for fact you can split these logs with a regular 15" AK. I feel the Samsher would shine on smaller green stalks, flexible saplings, heads etc. and would have no problem biting completely through with minimal effort. I have to add that i really think the Samsher is more on the fighter side of things but the edge is so stout that im still baffed to be honest. I enjoy experimenting with it to find its place. Now for the AK's I have to say as long as you dont have to carry this CAK monster too far and all you need to do is chop split and wreak havock on a fixed object then this is the one bad to the bone blade you need. For anything less than this 6" plus baked hardwood id probably grab the regular AK. The most interesting and unexpected trait between these AK's is their similarity in balance and handling. All great blades for their purpose! Thats why you cant just have one! Enjoy my friends!
First up was my 20" AK by Lachhu. My control blade im very familiar with and have many hours together.
This wood has been subject to a forest fire about three years ago and is baked and extremely hard. I would not chop this wood on any Khukri unless it was an AK. Period! I was even a bit nervous doing this test but what the hey?
Ok a couple minutes of chopping to get in the groove. Dang..Yep! HARD STUFF! At this point I thought id give up because I was going to roll an edge for sure. Nope! Goferit! OK all feels good. Snap chop feels good and in the groove.
Next a 20" Chiruwa AK. Thanks to Eric (BFH44) for making this blade available to me! If you ever want it back it yours brother:thumbup:
Just a couple of minutes and it was noticeable that this blade was heavier than the regular AK and was taking out some chunks! This dog bites Hard! Wow! The feel and balance between these two blades were very similar. I didn't notice any more shock on the CAK or any difference in balance whatsoever but i was only cutting one tree. Only the weight was different. The handle is longer on the Lachhu AK and the Bhakta CAK is shorter but the distal taper and short handle really made them balance and snap much the same.
Next up Samsher! Since it has a very obtuse angled edge much like the AK then I decided to try it with the big boys.
Now this ended up being a challenge with the huge amount of drop in this blade style but after a bit of work it began to feel really nice. I felt it trying to pull against me but the drop in the handle worked against that force and really did well for the weight. I kept checking the edge to make sure i wasnt damaging it or starting a roll or something but all good. It is definitely in a different class than the AK's but lacks the weight to dig in to this hard dense baked oak. In general this is not the blade for this specific task.
OK lets finish this off with Bhaktas CAK.
A couple more chops and CRACK! Plunk! Almost got my garden fence but all good.
Done Deal!!! If I had to do this job more than once the right blade in my opinion would be the 20" CAK simply because its a heavier blade. Not because its chiruwa but because its heavier. Ill get specs up asap so they can be compared for real. Now if they are the same weight I will be astounded and everything I thought about CAK vs. AK will be turned over. The Samsher is just too light for this specific task as i expected but I have been surprised before. I know for fact you can split these logs with a regular 15" AK. I feel the Samsher would shine on smaller green stalks, flexible saplings, heads etc. and would have no problem biting completely through with minimal effort. I have to add that i really think the Samsher is more on the fighter side of things but the edge is so stout that im still baffed to be honest. I enjoy experimenting with it to find its place. Now for the AK's I have to say as long as you dont have to carry this CAK monster too far and all you need to do is chop split and wreak havock on a fixed object then this is the one bad to the bone blade you need. For anything less than this 6" plus baked hardwood id probably grab the regular AK. The most interesting and unexpected trait between these AK's is their similarity in balance and handling. All great blades for their purpose! Thats why you cant just have one! Enjoy my friends!
. This blade being the opposite of what I was looking for at that time. But I just couldn't resist. :foot:
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