Questions for people who do the big knife thing.

Thomas ... yep

wowwwww ... wowwwww ... I'm thinking knife convention ... leave your blades at the door ... quick take a photo before they come back and post it as a personal collection ;)

or

The missus is waiting for you to come home after a big night out and leaves a noise maker at the back door and light globe removed :D
 
NaturalWorld said:
Guyon is definitely the man when it comes to choppers! Got that whole Busse & Becker thing on lockdown.

I think Bushman's checklist of why a chopper can be useful is clearly stated.

Many primitive folk put choppers of some sort to good use, and they often serve the role of multi-tool, also.

Igloos seem to come together pretty quickly; if you have a saw (looks like a cheap woodsaw here) and the right snow (wind-packed snow drift, deep), 2 experienced Inuit, and 30 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-x5QOSqP3E
Their work seems to favor the saw over a big knife, but I bet it'd still work.
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Yeah, I was considering collecting some of those myself but seeing as how he apparently owns them all I guess I won't bother...

I have no doubt that a couple pro-eskimos could nail up an igluu on 30 minutes but I imagine it would take me at least a day or two...getting those upper blocks in looks like it would take a lot of practise.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the first ten attempts I made failed completely...that's why I'm more of a quinzee guy.
 
the main advantage is the ability to baton.

when you chop down a small tree with a large knife or axe/hatchet its not a clean cut like you would get with a chainsaw.

at home you can split your firewood with an axe because you have a nice and safe platform and the logs are even and flush on both ends.

in the woods the ends taper from being chopped down,almost like how a beaver leaves them which leaves it pretty tricky to chop in halves or quarters and is damn unsafe to be doing far from civilization.

with a large fixed blade splitting logs by batoning is ideal and easy.

you also get much more cutting edge length with a large chopper than you get with an axe or hatchet.normally around 10 inches with the chopper and 3-4 with the axe.you could have a 20 inch hatchet with 3 inches of usable blade or a 15 inch knife with 10 inches of usable blade.its simple math.i also think you are less likely to miss the object your striking with the longer blade on a large knife than with the small blade/edge on a hatchet/axe.again,simple math.

and while not as important and rarely needed you also have the ability to stab with a large knife and the ability to pry.
 
NaturalWorld said:
Igloos seem to come together pretty quickly; if you have a saw (looks like a cheap woodsaw here) and the right snow (wind-packed snow drift, deep), 2 experienced Inuit, and 30 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-x5QOSqP3E
Their work seems to favor the saw over a big knife, but I bet it'd still work.
Click to expand...

I have seen old movies of them constructing igloos, and in those movies, they are actually using big knives, like really big butcher knives.

So maybe the saw is one of those pollutions of their traditional ways....

One thing I think I can say for certain, it would be very much preferable to use a knife to flense a whale as opposed to a saw or an axe. Maybe I should add that to my list....

Nah, too obscure.

Marion
 
On the big choppers... true that Busse and Becker are my main haunts, but I do have a few others... some Swamp Rats, a couple of nice ones from David Wesner, some HI khuks, a SY Dogfather, etc. If you want to see a really nice collection of choppers that span a wide range of makers, look back in this subforum for a post or two by Normark. His photos were my initial inspiration. To answer a couple of questions....

jca21 said:
what are those kitchen knife style lookin ones in the middle? thanks
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Becker Magnum Camp, or BK-5. Made by Blackjack (the stainless, shiny ones) and Camillus (the coated versions).

Marion David Poff said:
Do you happen to have a larger version of that image, the larger the better? If so, I would love to have it.
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I've got my doubts, but I'll check my desktop tonight to see if I have a larger version. I don't think I ever admitted this, but that photo is Photochopped. When I took the picture, I actually left out one of the knives I own, a Camillus BK-5. It kind of made me mad that I went to all that trouble to lay them out and take the pic and then forgot a knife. To represent the full collection of 39, I copied one of the knives already in the picture. So to some degree, it's a fake! :D

misanthropist said:
Yeah, I was considering collecting some of those myself but seeing as how he apparently owns them all I guess I won't bother...
Click to expand...

I don't own them all. There are some variations of the older Beckers I don't have. And I'm now aware of two prototypes, one of them the BK-8, that I don't own. Here are some prototypes not shown in that group picture.

BK-8 (only five made... I do know who owns one of them).
128905360_5pLoN-L.jpg


Doug Ritter/Ethan Becker collaboration prototype. Sort of a cross between the Campanion and the Crewman. I don't own one.
rskmkii-bk12_proto1.jpg


Prototype Becker neckers made by Camillus. Very few made. I have a couple.
445682890_sLitE-L.jpg


If you're interested in the range of Beckers out there, here are a couple of good threads...

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=609576

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608738

We now return this thread back to its regularly scheduled progress...
 
misanthropist said:
Oh...judging by that picture I thought you owned not just one of each model, but ALL OF THEM!
Click to expand...

Though I've gained a few, I've actually thinned that herd a bit. My purpose was to make a grown man cry, and since that goal was accomplished in this thread, my work here is done. :D

northern1 said:
the main advantage is the ability to baton.

when you chop down a small tree with a large knife or axe/hatchet its not a clean cut like you would get with a chainsaw.

at home you can split your firewood with an axe because you have a nice and safe platform and the logs are even and flush on both ends.

in the woods the ends taper from being chopped down,almost like how a beaver leaves them which leaves it pretty tricky to chop in halves or quarters and is damn unsafe to be doing far from civilization.

with a large fixed blade splitting logs by batoning is ideal and easy.

you also get much more cutting edge length with a large chopper than you get with an axe or hatchet.normally around 10 inches with the chopper and 3-4 with the axe.you could have a 20 inch hatchet with 3 inches of usable blade or a 15 inch knife with 10 inches of usable blade.its simple math.i also think you are less likely to miss the object your striking with the longer blade on a large knife than with the small blade/edge on a hatchet/axe.again,simple math.

and while not as important and rarely needed you also have the ability to stab with a large knife and the ability to pry.
Click to expand...


I think these are all good points about the big knife. :thumbup:

We should not, however, forget about the power of improvising. :p

PeanutBatoning.jpg
 
jca21 said:
thanks for the info and pics guyon. that bk5 looks wicked.


JC
Click to expand...

Since you like those, and since this is a big knife thread, here are a couple more pics for you:

MagnumCamps3.jpg


Magnums2.jpg
 
i tried doin some research on the net about specs and info. didnt come across too much.

i hope mr becker decides to bring these babies back during his conjunction with ka-bar.

i'd line up for atleast 2 of them

thanks again guyon

JC
 
jca21 said:
i tried doin some research on the net about specs and info. didnt come across too much.

i hope mr becker decides to bring these babies back during his conjunction with ka-bar.

i'd line up for atleast 2 of them

thanks again guyon

JC
Click to expand...

I believe he mentioned in his subforum that this model just didn't sell too well, so he probably wouldn't be bringing them back. I'm not 100% on that though.
 
I believe above most, its personal preference.

I enjoy using a RC6 more then anything, the last time I took a 4" blade into the woods it was a Grohman #3, and I had an axe with me. The axe broke:O:D
So, I was resourced to using the #3 for everything, now it is on the smaller side of 4" blades, but I vowed that day never to carry anything that small again as a primary knife, and never have. Even though I got by with using the #3, if I had a larger knife that trip would have been alot better. I processed enough wood to keep a fire going over night, we had 4 people in the group, three of which were girls and me.:D so the fire was necessary.

Up shot is, 6" blade, folding saw and a folder and im covered, and am comfortable. Throw in an axe when canoeing or car camping and Im overly set.
 
That's a good insight/experience Fonly :thumbup: Something to consider, as I have been sticking to the 4" range. It makes sense if one carries a folder/sak and saw/hatchet (which I do).
 
rksoon said:
That's a good insight/experience Fonly :thumbup: Something to consider, as I have been sticking to the 4" range. It makes sense if one carries a folder/sak and saw/hatchet (which I do).
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Yeah, if you were to have a hatchet, that would work fine too. If I had a solid hatchet of some type I would have been fine, but any who has tried to get the handle out of a broken ax knows its not that easy, yes you can do it, but I was not prepared to do so, not in the woods anyways.
 
Gah, sorry, I edited it and forgot to move the "(which I do)" behind "folder/sak". I only carry a fixed, folder, and sak, no saw or hatchet yet since I don't really do much wood harvesting and fire making out here in CA. But your observation on the big blade as back-up to the axe (or a hatchet or saw) breaking is a good one.
 
rksoon said:
Gah, sorry, I edited it and forgot to move the "(which I do)" behind "folder/sak". I only carry a fixed, folder, and sak, no saw or hatchet yet since I don't really do much wood harvesting and fire making out here in CA. But your observation on the big blade as back-up to the axe (or a hatchet or saw) breaking is a good one.
Click to expand...

Exactly, your area is going to determine what you carry as well. I've heard of a lot of people carrying small amounts of blade ware, or what have you because they stay in local area's and aren't remote. That is what I do alot of the time, It's hard get out somewhere when I dont see another human being, in fact its been years sense I had that chance, but its fun to play right?:D

Back in Nova Scotia, I got to play a on family property, were talking hundreds of acres. Now, I'm in an a time and place where I don't get any time to get out, its fun how ever to get out to a local park, or even a friends acreage.
 
Fonly said:
...but its fun to play right?:D
Click to expand...
Definitely :D

Fonly said:
Back in Nova Scotia, I got to play a on family property, were talking hundreds of acres. Now, I'm in an a time and place where I don't get any time to get out, its fun how ever to get out to a local park, or even a friends acreage.
Click to expand...


and I hear you :thumbup: Same here, and it only looks to get worse in the better part of the next decade for me :(
 
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