School me on choppers

C

calebpo

Joined
Nov 10, 2012
Messages
239
Hey folks,

I have collected folding knives for a little while but was never really into fixed blades. I recently picked up a jungalas and dismantled our Christmas tree for the fire pit. I fell in love with it. I have begun looking at nicer large fixed blades and would like any advice on what to look for and what not. I have heard there are chopping competitions, what are those guys using? Not averse to throwing a little money at something nice if it's appreciably better.

Thanks!
Caleb
 
Many of those competition choppers are pure custom jobs. A good, reasonably priced chopper that I swear by is the Becker 9. Or you could go a bit more exotic and start poking into the Himalayan Imports subforum here and check out some good kukris.
 
The junglas is generally regarded as one of the best bang for your buck choppers for sure. For the price the Becker BK9 is highly regarded performer., The lesser known Browning Crowell Barker competition chopper is an impressive knife and generally can be had for 100-120. I believe this knife falls within the competition standards, but not 100% sure.

Now here's my pitch for why you should consider Scrapyard, Swamprat, or Busse.
All are under the same company, and carry a lifetime unconditional warranty, much like Esee.
Scrapyard being the cheapest as far as price, but easily the best "performance to price" of the three. You'll need to find one on the Busse exchange, but a 911,1111, or the top performer 1311 can be had for around 250-300. The warranty transfers regardless of ownership.

Swamp rat is a little more expensive, and has the same steel as the Scrapyards,,same warranty, but instead of Res-c (handle material on Scrapyard knives, super grippy, very comfortable, like a higher end Kraton), you'll get micarta. Right now you can get a 9" blade chopper from their site for about 260.
Now if you really want to spend, you can get a Busse,, I'll let you Google all the info you want for that.
Carothers performance knives is putting out a killer Chopper, but not easy to come by.
Dan Keffeler has a competition chopper he designed, that's made by LT Wright,, I think it's O1 and about 250?

People also like the Cold Steel Trail master, great performance for the price as well.

I'll just leave this here for your drooling pleasure and some good info on choppers
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/838420-Bussekin-amp-Friends-Epic-Fail
 
I just used an old cold steel kukri this afternoon on my father in laws brush pile (which we proceeded to burn all afternoon). It was cheap, and it's held up for years.
 
mec003 said:
I just used an old cold steel kukri this afternoon on my father in laws brush pile (which we proceeded to burn all afternoon). It was cheap, and it's held up for years.
Click to expand...
Totally forgot about kukris,, definitely some amazing choppers for the price
 


Sometimes I carry a hatchet or small axe and a small knife, and sometimes I just bring a big knife, it's fun to test your skills with different tools. Also big knifes are just really fun.
Check out histories on the the Hudson bay knife and the Bowie, I think you'll come away with some sense of esteem for the larger patterns
 
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I have a couple CPM 3V steel fixed blades, my favorite being my larger blade from Robert Martin at tears of the sword. He does everything custom. You have a design, drawing, steel, etc. in mind, he will make it. His 3V HT is great too, I beat the crap out of my blade and it takes it. Easy to sharpen, gets very sharp, tough, and pretty good corrosion resistance. He is worth talking to if you want a custom.

I have had some Busse knives, they are good quality. A lot of them are thick stock, I prefer thinner stock, less than .180" thick, which you can find from Busse knives. They make lots of varieties of knives. I have some blades from Chris Cody at C3 knives, he makes good blades.
 
I don't do much chopping myself, I use a folding saw usually but I always thought the Spyderco Schempp Rock was a cool looking blade that is made for chopping. Not the cheapest option there though.
 
It's only a matter of time before someone mentions Carothers Performance Knives light chopper. Among the best of the best, and Dan Keffler just won some major chopping competition with one of his off the shelf.

Nathan (Carothers, CPK) just opened up a pretty order sales thread over on the Carothers sub forum.
 
TRfromMT said:
It's only a matter of time before someone mentions Carothers Performance Knives light chopper. Among the best of the best, and Dan Keffler just won some major chopping competition with one of his off the shelf.

Nathan (Carothers, CPK) just opened up a pretty order sales thread over on the Carothers sub forum.
Click to expand...

Check my post brother :D
I did forget the pre-sale thread thought
 
Carothers light chopper and Jungals

I did a review of these two over the summer and while I enjoy the Jungals the LC is better in damn near every way.
 
rcb2000 said:
The junglas is generally regarded as one of the best bang for your buck choppers for sure. For the price the Becker BK9 is highly regarded performer., The lesser known Browning Crowell Barker competition chopper is an impressive knife and generally can be had for 100-120. I believe this knife falls within the competition standards, but not 100% sure.

Now here's my pitch for why you should consider Scrapyard, Swamprat, or Busse.
All are under the same company, and carry a lifetime unconditional warranty, much like Esee.
Scrapyard being the cheapest as far as price, but easily the best "performance to price" of the three. You'll need to find one on the Busse exchange, but a 911,1111, or the top performer 1311 can be had for around 250-300. The warranty transfers regardless of ownership.

Swamp rat is a little more expensive, and has the same steel as the Scrapyards,,same warranty, but instead of Res-c (handle material on Scrapyard knives, super grippy, very comfortable, like a higher end Kraton), you'll get micarta. Right now you can get a 9" blade chopper from their site for about 260.
Now if you really want to spend, you can get a Busse,, I'll let you Google all the info you want for that.
Carothers performance knives is putting out a killer Chopper, but not easy to come by.
Dan Keffeler has a competition chopper he designed, that's made by LT Wright,, I think it's O1 and about 250?

People also like the Cold Steel Trail master, great performance for the price as well.

I'll just leave this here for your drooling pleasure and some good info on choppers
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/838420-Bussekin-amp-Friends-Epic-Fail
Click to expand...

I have been eyeing a battle mistress but they seem to range quite a bit Iin price. I also watched a video of the keffeler and was quite impressed. What other models besides the battle mistress should I be looking at from Busse?
 
Hickory n steel said:
Axes and hatchets are better, if large knives were as good then hatchets wouldn't exist.
Click to expand...

This is for breaking down stuff for the fire pit in the back yard. If this were purely utilitarian I'd use a chainsaw. This is about the pure joy of hacking branches and old chairs and anything else I can find with the biggest knife I own.
 
calebpo said:
I have been eyeing a battle mistress but they seem to range quite a bit Iin price. I also watched a video of the keffeler and was quite impressed. What other models besides the battle mistress should I be looking at from Busse?
Click to expand...
Keep an eye on the exchange and keep your PayPal loaded,,I'd say you can get a killer chopper with sheath in the 500-700 range. That Keffeler is a BEAST of the highest caliber, and will run you about 1400 if we're talking about the Sasquatch
From personal experience and reading, these in no particular order are some great performers, in no particular order and off the top of my head.
Basic 11
Ashbm
Cgfbm
Fbm
Nmfbm
BB13, the newest offering, a 13" blade,, a few have popped up on the exchange
MOAB
TTKZ
FFBM

*Not all of these will be found for that price range, just listing the top performers I can think of at the moment

Busse kin:
Scrapyard 1311 and the 1111 are killer
Swamprat Rodent 9
 
Update: there's a Basic 13 on the exchange now for a decent price, keep in mind it's SR101 not INFI though
 
TRfromMT said:
It's only a matter of time before someone mentions Carothers Performance Knives light chopper. Among the best of the best, and Dan Keffler just won some major chopping competition with one of his off the shelf.

Nathan (Carothers, CPK) just opened up a pretty order sales thread over on the Carothers sub forum.
Click to expand...
+1 to this OP,,
I'd put some serious consideration to getting on the pre order list
 
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