School me on choppers

You don't have to spend that much money on a chopper. CRKT has some nice choppers. Condor has a fairly extensive line. Figure out what you want the knife to do then look for a chopper that will meet your needs.
 
popedandy said:
You don't have to spend that much money on a chopper. CRKT has some nice choppers. Condor has a fairly extensive line. Figure out what you want the knife to do then look for a chopper that will meet your needs.
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I think it's the Camp 10(edit: that's a Kershaw)? Supposedly a great performer for the price.
But if we all stuck to "Cheaper knives that do just as good", the only thing we'd all have Moras and Opinels :D
 
Don't count out the machete as well. The Tramontina machete has been one of the best bang for the buck blades I've had. It's great for clearing brush and can definitely do some chopping, just don't try to baton with it.

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calebpo said:
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.
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I like your attitude! :D

The Blade show huge knife show is in your town of Atlanta, June 2-4. I bet you could find some amazing stuff there.
 
rcb2000 said:
I think it's the Camp 10(edit: that's a Kershaw)? Supposedly a great performer for the price.
But if we all stuck to "Cheaper knives that do just as good", the only thing we'd all have Moras and Opinels :D
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Ouch! That was like getting shot in the heart. :)
 
popedandy said:
Ouch! That was like getting shot in the heart. :)
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Haha I love my mora and my opinel maybe more. I always tell my buddy's, "I could get by in the woods just fine with a mora and a laplander saw,, but don't tell my wife that!"
 
Op, I had to take down Christmas tree with the choppers today. As usual the Carothers LC did better but the Jungals is no slouch.





I normally use a sawzaw to do this but this was more fun.
 
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
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This guy knows.. there are good choppers that do the job but anything from the Busse family is second to none due to the two proprietary steels they use.. both SR101 and INFI steel are noticeably tougher than 1095..to me at least..
 
This thread could use moar pics! :D



Some of the models that have been spoken about previously in this thread.

Top to bottom:
  • Scrap Yard Knife Co (SYKCO) 1311, 13.5" of SR-101 steel, 0.19" thick
  • Busse Basic Bolo 13 (BB13), 13" of INFI steel, 0.23" thick
  • Busse Custom Shop Test Team Killa Zilla, 12" of naked INFI steel, 0.22" thick
  • Busse Nuclear Meltdown Fusion Battle mistress (NMFBM), 11.5" of INFI steel, 0.27" thick
  • Busse War Train Fusion Battle Grade (BG WTF), 11.5" of SR-101 steel, 0.29" thick

ALL are beastly choppers!!! Which is the best? That's a really, really tough call. They are pretty comparable, and each has its own positive and negative attributes. The BB13 could probably be king, with the coating removed and thinned a bit behind the edge. But that custom shop TTKZ is no slouch either. She what I mean. Lol! ;)

The 1311 is definitely a best buy of the bunch. I recently saw one for sale on the exchange as low as $250 new/unused, and they regularly show up around $300. The others shown, well they cost a bit more... :p The BG WTF and BB13, being much more recent models, have been going for around $400 - $500. The other two custom shop satin pieces will set you back ever so slightly more... ($850 - $1,100+, if you can find them.)
 
I have rather unorthodox views on choppers. I don't want a steel with too much carbon (over about 0.8%). I dont want a hardness over about 56 or so, as I want to be able to sharpen it with a file. I'm not interested much in wear resistance. The choppers I use don't dull that way. That pretty well limits it to low alloy steels or plain carbon steels. I'd probably be ok with a Junglass, but it's relatively soft so it meets most of the criteria.
 
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If you want a great chopper that has a touch of personality then might I suggest you check out the knife makers section.
There are plenty of gentlemen who make some outstanding choppers.
Plus, a handmade knife has its own personality.


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Everyone knows I like the Skrama. Loads out there about it now. Its an interesting and practical design, so worth a look.
 
I modded and old Village Blacksmith market clever my dad gave me. 8" blade. 8" handle. 3lbs.
I made the scales from an old piece of black walnut from my acreage.
My son likes to camp out so I gave it to him for a camp axe / chopper.

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Binalith said:


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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Very nice Kuk. Where is that one from?
 
If you want some ideas for custom large knives look at the link below. I am a camp/chopper knife collector and the only advise I will give you on a large knife is if you plan to use it for more than just chopping make sure the edge is not too far from the handle so it is easy to do small work too. It should have a good finger choil so you can choke up or just a small sharpening notch. Knives with long choils that put the edge too far from your index finger are hard to use for small work. The Mtech and Khukuri in the above post are examples of what I would not want for double duty. Of course this is all just my opinion to each his own.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/681316-Show-me-your-custom-camp-knife-chopper
 
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