- Joined
- Sep 22, 2003
- Messages
- 13,182
I need to post some pics on this later but yesterday just for fun I took my GB mini and my Pen Knife out to a tree that fell behind my barn.
I remember Yvsa talking about reviews and how that we should put how long it took us to do the chopping and how many chops and all that. I didn't have anyone to time me but I did try to count most of the chopping.
What I found was weird to me, and if any of y'all have both maybe you could try it and see.
I found that the GB mini blade penetrated farther and cut better at the beginning of the cutting of something fairly thick, but that once you were down in the notch the Pen Knife seemed to be able to cut down in that narrow area, or cut the sides and expand the narrow area easier.
I found the GB seemed to cut stuff 1" or so better than the Pen Knife cause it cut deeper. When I say better I mean less like 2 vs 3 swings.
When I was cutting stuff 1/2" or so the pen knife seemed to cut better than the GB. Probably cause of the machete like shape.
Also it seemed like the GB seemed to not remain as keen edged as the pen knife. Now it may not be the hardening, cause the GB has the stock edge and the Pen Knife I have done a lot of work on to get it just right.
Generally they were very closely matched. But on stuff say 3" or thicker I found the Pen Knife tended to beat the GB by about 3 to 5 strokes to get thru the same stuff. Also despite the small handle many of us talk about, the GB was a little harder on my palm than the Pen Knife.
In conclusion I think the Pen Knife is as good at chopping and more all around than the GB mini. It is a few ounces heavier but not enough to make that a consideration. My main problem is the sheath. The sheath adds so much weight compared to just the thin axe head cover on the GB that even with the Pen Knife being slightly better the GB wins out on the pack.
I am going to try to see if I can find someone who can make a thin kydex sheath for it and take it instead of the GB though, cause it is a better overall chopper.
I remember Yvsa talking about reviews and how that we should put how long it took us to do the chopping and how many chops and all that. I didn't have anyone to time me but I did try to count most of the chopping.
What I found was weird to me, and if any of y'all have both maybe you could try it and see.
I found that the GB mini blade penetrated farther and cut better at the beginning of the cutting of something fairly thick, but that once you were down in the notch the Pen Knife seemed to be able to cut down in that narrow area, or cut the sides and expand the narrow area easier.
I found the GB seemed to cut stuff 1" or so better than the Pen Knife cause it cut deeper. When I say better I mean less like 2 vs 3 swings.
When I was cutting stuff 1/2" or so the pen knife seemed to cut better than the GB. Probably cause of the machete like shape.
Also it seemed like the GB seemed to not remain as keen edged as the pen knife. Now it may not be the hardening, cause the GB has the stock edge and the Pen Knife I have done a lot of work on to get it just right.
Generally they were very closely matched. But on stuff say 3" or thicker I found the Pen Knife tended to beat the GB by about 3 to 5 strokes to get thru the same stuff. Also despite the small handle many of us talk about, the GB was a little harder on my palm than the Pen Knife.
In conclusion I think the Pen Knife is as good at chopping and more all around than the GB mini. It is a few ounces heavier but not enough to make that a consideration. My main problem is the sheath. The sheath adds so much weight compared to just the thin axe head cover on the GB that even with the Pen Knife being slightly better the GB wins out on the pack.
I am going to try to see if I can find someone who can make a thin kydex sheath for it and take it instead of the GB though, cause it is a better overall chopper.
I love reading what people think about Khukuris, specially when it comes to Khukuris VS other choppers. Can't wait to see the pics. Did you get any pics of the wood you cut?