Exactly. When you're weight limited, as you definitely are on foot, you only spend weight on carrying items for redundancy if it is reasonably likely they'll be needed. Carrying something heavy, that you probably wouldn't need in dozens of lifetimes spent in the woods - not a good idea.
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Revisiting the "big blade" survival knife debate...
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Exactly. When you're weight limited, as you definitely are on foot, you only spend weight on carrying items for redundancy if it is reasonably likely they'll be needed. Carrying something heavy, that you probably wouldn't need in dozens of lifetimes spent in the woods - not a good idea.
You want a big knife to chop with? Think Khukuri!!! Get a Himalayan Imports Chirawa Ang Khola or an M-43. Either will chop rings around a Junglas. Pair one of those up with a Mora and then you'd have something. If I knew I was going to chop, I'd take an axe. If I didn't expect to chop but wanted that option in a pinch...Khukuri. Plus, while not an advocate of knives as defensive weapons, the Khukuri is probably the best edged weapon you could deploy should that need arise. It gives you the much more natural action of striking, it's heavy enough to do a lot of the work for you, light enough to recover, and it's sharp.
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i'd prefer a GOOD machete or larger chopper and a 4" skinner
a machete in the .125ish thickness range is a better weapon than a kukri IMHO, and will chop just as well... it will also weigh less than many of the monster kuks that i've seen.
a machete in the .125ish thickness range is a better weapon than a kukri IMHO, and will chop just as well... it will also weigh less than many of the monster kuks that i've seen.
Trail Edge
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I ended up going with the Cold Steel Kukri that is 13" of carbon steel as a choper (I haven't tried much), but then again, I haven't packed with it much either.
Junglas look cool, but that is one of those blades that you end up getting once you retire a knife that you use a lot. (In my opinion)
Good luck in your search, but some of us need to see the tool in action first.
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As far as how a knife like a Junglas fits into a wood processing system for hiking goes, I would say it is roughly interchangeable with a small axe. The axe may have a slight advantage in chopping, for splitting I prefer a large knife and also for slicing the knife will be superior. My preference is to carry a lightweight saw for making cross-cuts and a smaller knife for slicing tasks, the main functions of my large knife are de-limbing and splitting. In my experience a small, high quality axe is the best all-rounder, in that it can do everything to some degree, but I much prefer the combination of a saw, large knife and small knife, which in the end probably doesn't weigh much more than a small axe and will save a significant amount of time and energy. My choices at the moment are a cheap pruning saw, a Kabar Heavy Bowie and a Mora, you don't need to spend much money to have capable tools in the woods! I recently acquired a Wetterlings Hunter's Axe, which is very cool, but as I said doesn't really fit well into a lightweight, energy efficient wood processing system. I think more and more people are coming around to the idea that the combination of large knife and saw is the way to go for hikers as opposed to axes.
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Have you actually done any of this yourself, or are you only regurgitating what you've found on the internet?
If your outdoors knowledge is only what you've learned from Cliff Stamp, you really have no idea that you have no idea.
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your linked video exactly completely utterly fails to depict proper machete use. some goofball artlessly wailing away with a (clearly) unsharpened tool can hardly be seen as an indictment of the machetes suitability for chopping down trees.
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I can agree that a very good small axe, a Wetterlings or Gransfors Bruks will outchop a large knife by a fair margin, but this is completely irrelevant if you carry a saw which easily cuts logs faster and easier than any chopping tool.
Even so you can't deny that a standard machete really isn't designed for chopping thicker wood. The design of a machete is optimized for light vegetation, for thicker trees something with more weight is better, in other words, a Junglas!
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Himmalya Imports carry some light kuks - one of them less than 300g - that chop very well:
http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/reviews/face_off_II.html
http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/reviews/face_off_II.html
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well, ive never handled a junglas. if you can believe what you read on the internet (lol) then the junglas is heavier than a lot of machetes with substantially longer blades. i can see a shorter, heavier tool being better but i can see it being awkward, too. id have to use both to really decide for myself which worked better.
jdk1
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The Junglas works well for a variety of duties and that's the beauty of it. I like that it can chop wood, but makes a decent machete. Heavy choppers are only good at, well...chopping. Heavy chopping is not a priority for ME in a hiking blade. I could probably survive here 9 months out of the year by laying on bare ground in shorts overnight. The Junglas and CS Gurkha khuk (and discontinued LTC) perform well in clearing brush and also chop quite well. The versatility makes them so attractive in my book. I have all three and find they are the most useful big blades I have. My experience with Tramontina machetes has been very positive and my 12" is so darned handy. I could probably carry one all day and forget I had it. I still don't trust them for long term use though. A buddy has put his through hell and it's done great, but the handle is starting to move. If you break a Junglas, you were probably trying to break it. It's a very tough, well made knife. I think the Junglas is something that needs to be used before deciding about it's usefulness. Some in the great North like them a lot, but they probably have an axe at camp/in the truck. As the realtors say, location, location, location... Take care.
jdk1
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The Junglas is heavier than many machetes at 23 oz. Awkward it is not. It has incredible balance. You can cut tall grass with the flick of a wrist with one. As an aside, the sheath is awesome! Take care.
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I'd rather you shared your own experiences rather than quote internet, it'd be more informative. So do you really believe from your own experience that something can be 90% the equivalent of something else? And if you've chopped so much firewood, how could you possible favor a knife?
Regarding Cliff, he did try to apply repetitive comparative tasks to his tests originally, unfortunately his ego expanded and he stopped being objective.
demoteamone
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Ditto.
Not much of scientific, on the contrary Idiotic!
Monster outdoors knife are better than kitchen knive in kitchen use
[video=youtube;dQcBbTXMypk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQcBbTXMypk&feature=plcp[/video]
Recurve blade cutting better than straight blade....grass
[video=youtube;1bW5Vrm1QZ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bW5Vrm1QZ0&feature=plcp[/video]
How to cut a turkey with a chainsaw
[video=youtube;MWJbtJY3vG8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWJbtJY3vG8&feature=plcp[/video]
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This went downhill fast.
For the OP: I don't own any ESEE products, but that one's pretty high on the list if I were to buy one. I went Becker instead of ESEE, so I'll just say that I've got the somewhat comparable Becker version (the 9), and it's my favorite Becker of all. I hear the Junglas can outchop the 9, and the 9 is a very handy blade that can do reasonably well at small knife tasks, while still chopping like a much bigger and heavier blade. I say go for it. The worst thing that will happen is that you'll have a Junglas that you can try out, and see if you like it, and having another awesome knife is, in my opinion, never a bad thing.
For the rest of you: I really think the brand of person whose advice comes down to "carry some other tool that you didn't ask about and aren't interested in because it's marginally better" and then proceed to squabble over things like "how much better" it does at X task, could stand to tone it down a little. Did it ever occur to any of you that the OP maybe LIKES having a large knife that can do knife-related tasks quite well, and still handle chopping very well as well, and that maybe he doesn't even WANT an axe? Yes, there are better tools for various tasks than a knife. But some of us actually think it's fine, and more fun, to carry a knife that can do a wide variety of tasks very well, even if they're not the best, and don't feel proficient enough to do knife tasks with an axe. I'm aware it can be done. But by the same token, a knife is better at knife tasks, such as food processing. Blah blah blah.
I liken the argument that you should bring an axe because it's better at chopping to the argument that you should also bring your kitchen sink because it's better for washing dishes. Also, your tub and shower, because it's the best tool for taking showers. You can have fun with that, but please leave me in peace to enjoy dunking in a stream or lake, or having a "shower" under a waterfall. Let's all just take the tools that we feel comfortable with, let each other bring the ones that we prefer, and enjoy nature at our own pace and speed, shall we?
As far as I'm concerned, the Junglas is a fine knife and a fine chopper. It's well worth buying, and I support the OP in his quest to have a nice long knife for a chopper. While I also love HI khukuri, that's a matter of preference, and the Junglas will still doubtless be a worthy purchase for the OP.
For the OP: I don't own any ESEE products, but that one's pretty high on the list if I were to buy one. I went Becker instead of ESEE, so I'll just say that I've got the somewhat comparable Becker version (the 9), and it's my favorite Becker of all. I hear the Junglas can outchop the 9, and the 9 is a very handy blade that can do reasonably well at small knife tasks, while still chopping like a much bigger and heavier blade. I say go for it. The worst thing that will happen is that you'll have a Junglas that you can try out, and see if you like it, and having another awesome knife is, in my opinion, never a bad thing.
For the rest of you: I really think the brand of person whose advice comes down to "carry some other tool that you didn't ask about and aren't interested in because it's marginally better" and then proceed to squabble over things like "how much better" it does at X task, could stand to tone it down a little. Did it ever occur to any of you that the OP maybe LIKES having a large knife that can do knife-related tasks quite well, and still handle chopping very well as well, and that maybe he doesn't even WANT an axe? Yes, there are better tools for various tasks than a knife. But some of us actually think it's fine, and more fun, to carry a knife that can do a wide variety of tasks very well, even if they're not the best, and don't feel proficient enough to do knife tasks with an axe. I'm aware it can be done. But by the same token, a knife is better at knife tasks, such as food processing. Blah blah blah.
I liken the argument that you should bring an axe because it's better at chopping to the argument that you should also bring your kitchen sink because it's better for washing dishes. Also, your tub and shower, because it's the best tool for taking showers. You can have fun with that, but please leave me in peace to enjoy dunking in a stream or lake, or having a "shower" under a waterfall. Let's all just take the tools that we feel comfortable with, let each other bring the ones that we prefer, and enjoy nature at our own pace and speed, shall we?
As far as I'm concerned, the Junglas is a fine knife and a fine chopper. It's well worth buying, and I support the OP in his quest to have a nice long knife for a chopper. While I also love HI khukuri, that's a matter of preference, and the Junglas will still doubtless be a worthy purchase for the OP.
I personally carry a 3 blade kit in baldric fashion (BRK 3V Aurora, A2 Golok, 3V Pro scalpel, all DIB, awesome set 
) and I love it! I have a big splitter/chopper (golok), a standard size general purpose knife for small chores, like wood working , fuzz sticks etc (aurora) and a small blade for really precise cutting/carving (pro scalpel). This is what I carry... When im going to be camping out, I also bring my 20" BRK modified wetterlings (holy hell, this THROWS chips) and a Silky Zubat pruning saw (13" saw, soooo useful for bucking logs and cutting down trees quickly)
If im keeping light, I either bring the aforementioned BRK set, or the axe the saw and the Aurora. Im of the mindset that Id rather bring tools than equipment... Id rather build it then haul it, so the amount of tools works for me.. I only carry all this steel to basecamp, then just carry my brk baldric (with the 3 knives) when I go hiking.
This is my personal system refined over years of woods time (in my region, Rocky mountains and coastal temperate rainforests of BC), and YMMV... But I still HIGHLY recommend one of the new run of A2 goloks. (or a ~17-20" axe, ~4"knife, and saw, seriously google Silky Zubat and you will see one hell of a sheath saw.)
Cheers!
) and I love it! I have a big splitter/chopper (golok), a standard size general purpose knife for small chores, like wood working , fuzz sticks etc (aurora) and a small blade for really precise cutting/carving (pro scalpel). This is what I carry... When im going to be camping out, I also bring my 20" BRK modified wetterlings (holy hell, this THROWS chips) and a Silky Zubat pruning saw (13" saw, soooo useful for bucking logs and cutting down trees quickly)If im keeping light, I either bring the aforementioned BRK set, or the axe the saw and the Aurora. Im of the mindset that Id rather bring tools than equipment... Id rather build it then haul it, so the amount of tools works for me.. I only carry all this steel to basecamp, then just carry my brk baldric (with the 3 knives) when I go hiking.
This is my personal system refined over years of woods time (in my region, Rocky mountains and coastal temperate rainforests of BC), and YMMV... But I still HIGHLY recommend one of the new run of A2 goloks. (or a ~17-20" axe, ~4"knife, and saw, seriously google Silky Zubat and you will see one hell of a sheath saw.)
Cheers!