Ounce for ounce what cuts/chops the best?

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kgriggs8

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In a large blade like a Kukri/machete/ax/hachet/golok/bowie/ect. What packs the most cut per ounce? I have to say a U.S. Military issue machete. I think for the weight, it cuts better than anything I have tried. I have not seen anything that is lighter cut so well in all types of chores. It can cut small trees and clear brush like a lawn mower.

What beats a machete for the weight? This is only about weight verses cutting ability not the best chopper because an ax would probably win that if weight was not an issue.

Also what cuts the best verses effort? What takes the least amount of effort per swing but still cuts well? Again, I have to say the machete. I don't have to mussel the machete to get it to take chunks of wood out of a log. A Kukri is a lot more work by comparison.
 
Your question is very broad as "what cuts best" in the north woods is going to differ from "what cuts best" in the jungle, not even all jungles are created equal.

The machete is a fantastic tool and has applications even in places where they aren't tradtionally used. I carry a machete in PA more often than a hatchet. Here in Brazil I have never carried a hatchet. When I have to deal with very hard woods like fire-killed, seasoned candeia I sure wish I had an axe instead of a machete. Actually a saw is a better bet for such stuff. I'm willing to put up with my machete for the times I have to cut firewood to size. It wouldn't pay me to carry an axe just for that. I find the machete to be very much a multi-function tool while the hatchet or axe is more specialized.

What it comes down to is what tool lets you get the tasks done that you need to do and still have some arm left over for the next day. A major factor in that is to keep whatever you have SHARP and that alone will reduce the effort you have to use. Mac
 
It's usually hard to improve on what the locals use. Tool choices have evolved over hundreds of years to suit the local conditions. For wilderness travel in the Boreal Forest where I live you need 6 cutting tools in your kit:

1) The Axe. Splitting wood, cutting down trees and rough shaping
2) The Bow Saw: If using a wood stove..to cut wood to length
3) The Crooked Knife: Fine Shaping of wood
4) The Ice Chisel: To make your way to water for drinking/fishing
5) The Hunting Knife: Animal and Fish Processing and to do some light work tasks.
6) Files/Stones to keep 1-5 in shape.

If limited to one tool make it a good axe...

With this tool kit you can make a life in a harsh place. A machete wouldn't cut it up here. (Pun Intended)
 
There was a book written by a man who had been in the Burma campaign in WWII. He spent some time discussing the use of tools to cut the jungle. He said he would have liked a large selection of tools each to cut a specific thing. From machete to kukri for bamboo and an axe etc.The heavier the blade the bigger the stuff it can cut .
 
It's usually hard to improve on what the locals use.
Click to expand...

Very true, North61.

The only thing I'll add is most of the locals around here like their chainsaws! :) Pretty hard to beat for cutting.:D
I asked a fellow I knew in Fort Good Hope why he didn't save some $$ and get a good axe and a saw, instead of lugging the heavy and costly chainsaw around. He told me, "This way I always have some gas to start a fire.":eek: :eek:

An interesting perspective, I thought.

Jim
 
for "cutting" woods a buck saw or even folding saw is better then machete "ounce for ounce"
However it is not as versatile of course, but there is trade off for everything, even machete.
For slightly more weight (3-4 more ounces) a Valiant golok is better at chopping with better toughness and edge holding then US mil machete, Many will say it is also more comfortable to use. Of course it also costs muche more but it isn't unaffordable.
 
Machettes are fine for brush clearing and light wood chopping but was not designed for larger chores.

Oz for oz a folding saw is the best cutting tool in my experience, however as mentioned its has poor utility.

Skam
 
Wood machetes are not actually that light, a 1/8" thick blade with full stock is the same weight as a 1/4" thick blade with a full height primary grind. A golok or parang with a full grind can actually be lighter with much thicker stock due to the primary grind and more narrow blade. These are in general much better cutting tools than machetes, but they are *much* more expensive, of course you an also use fullers to lighten large blades further or use a distal taper to control balance issues.

A decent folding saw is fairly versatile, you can use them to cut ropes, saw light vegetation (including foods like carrots and such), and even to split wood as Thomas noted awhile ago, and cut bones and meats, I have even use them to cut up trout. They don't do this as well as bladed tools, and in some cases are really far beind, but they are not simply limited to cutting to length at which they excell, especially thick woods. However for general wood craft they are vastly outperformed by a long blade/small axe unless the wood is massive and far beyond anything needed to cut.

Saws are very light though, fairly easy to use even when injured and not overly skilled, and don't take up much space. With long blades a lot comes in the grind, a large bowie with a distal taper and fine cutting edge has little in common with a stubby tactical with a sabre grind and slab handle with a neutral balance of the same weight.

-Cliff
 
"Valiant golok is better at chopping with better toughness and edge holding then US mil machete, Many will say it is also more comfortable to use. Of course it also costs muche more but it isn't unaffordable."

Considering that I have gotten over 15 years of solid hard use out of my $15 U.S. Issue machete, I think I have got my money out of it. I can afford a nice Golok and that may be what I should be looking for.

To tell the truth, many of the cutting tools I have been trying lately are not preforming as well as I had hoped. My BAS Kukri is not bad but it is no match for a machete when it comes to any chore. It is a lot smaller and can be swung in tighter confines so I am impressed with what it can do for it's size but most other large knives I have tried are not much better than a lawn mower blade with a handle. The British Golok is a good example of a poor preformer.
 
Not exactly an answer to your question, but Ray Mears (as I understand from his book) suggests to have an axe, golock, (folding) saw and a knife if you want to be comfortable in any environment.
Saw is the safest, axe is good for colder climates when you need to chop a lot, and golock for warmer climates with high density vegetation, but at the same time golock is the most dangerous to use.
I am still figuring it out the answer for your question (my thread has almost identical question), but so far I came with the following answer: I will get what I need when I need it, i.e. if I get next year to Central Asia, then I will buy an axe, if I go to Brasil, then golock.
Cheers,
 
Jim Craig said:
Very true, North61.

The only thing I'll add is most of the locals around here like their chainsaws! :) Pretty hard to beat for cutting.:D
I asked a fellow I knew in Fort Good Hope why he didn't save some $$ and get a good axe and a saw, instead of lugging the heavy and costly chainsaw around. He told me, "This way I always have some gas to start a fire.":eek: :eek:

An interesting perspective, I thought.

Jim
Click to expand...

You know come to think of it my 12 pound chainsaw probably does cut more than 12X as much in a day as the 1 pound Swede Saw. Maybe pound for pound the chain saw is the way to go. After working like a bugger last week keeping the tent stove fed with my Swede saw I understand the attraction.
 
North61 said:
You know come to think of it my 12 pound chainsaw probably does cut more than 12X as much in a day as the 1 pound Swede Saw. Maybe pound for pound the chain saw is the way to go. After working like a bugger last week keeping the tent stove fed with my Swede saw I understand the attraction.
Click to expand...


AFter 10 miles through the bush this thinking will change some I'd suspect haha.

Skam
 
As a tangent to this subject, I will also mention that if you want those ounces to work to their maximum potential for you, everything else has to be right as well. Edge geometry must suit the task, and the handle on a chopper must keep the hand secure not only from slipping off the butt, but also from spinning out of the grip sideways or twisting. In a worst case scenario, an insecure knife can be deadly. And of course, the balance must be suited to the task, your physique, and also the way/methods you use. That balance thing seems to be widely misunderstood. I was thumbing through my new Knives annual, and even just saw a post here on another forum where people said a knife that may be used for chopping should balance just in front of the guard. Maybe the knife is properly balanced, but I'll bet my money that it's not. And it's not just as simple as saying "the balance point should be x inches in front of the guard."
 
the possum said:
And it's not just as simple as saying "the balance point should be x inches in front of the guard."
Click to expand...

That is the way it is presented though by almost everyone, I did it myself for a long time. I am going to address it in some detail in a few upcoming reviews of large knives based on the recent exchange we had. Goals of a proper balance are achieving enough power and speed on a strike, with the necessary versatility of impact location. Most people equate balance to heft as you noted, which is like equating cutting ability to sharpness, it makes sense initially but as you use more knives and see more geometries you realize there is more to the equation. Mike Swaim noted the difference many years ago when comparing a CS khukuri to a machete, I should have thought about it a bit more carefully then, he found that the Cs khukuri had too small a sweet spot, the blade was unbalanced with respect to excess vibrations outside a very narrow impact region, it however had lots of speed and power.

-Cliff
 
" A Kukri is a lot more work by comparison"

Depends.

Just because it's a kukri doesn't mean it's suited to any & all jobs.

Kukris come in a large variety of sizes / profiles / weights / balance.

? An axe is an axe is an axe ?

no


Then there's convex vs concave, etc edges.

Wood chop needs convex edge to prevent binding,

just like, you know, an axe.


Not saying a khuk will please everyone,
all the time,
in all circumstance.
Nothing would.


"What packs the most cut per ounce? "
Not sure it's the right question.

Dunno


Interesting thread comparing axe to khukuri:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204927



...
 
After much study it has been proven that the kukri machete has the strogest cleaving ability per weight since its extreme curve allows for it to always hit at an angle. The disadvantage is that it is unbalanced and ackward for most.
 
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