The Ultimate Chopper?

[countryboy]

Hello Everyone,

Been really busy at work latey and between work, my eight-month old , and my three-year-old I haven't had a whole lot of "online time" the past couple of months.
I was just wondering if any of you guys out there have had the chance to "test" or just plain beat the heck out of both a Busse Basic 9 and one of the Busse Paul's Hatchet. While I think Paul's Hatchet is a very cool piece, I just don't see how it can compete with my ole trusty Basic 9. If I have my specs right Paul's Hatchet is 14oz and 9.25 in. compared to the Basic 9's 14oz and 14.75 in. I just figure with the extra length, the Basic 9 has to out perform Paul's Hatchet, at least at chopping.
No disrespect to the Paul's Hatchet. I think it is a very cool design and if I weren't on a family-man's budget I would probably order one, or a half-dozen. Besides, I need to keep saving for a Satin Jack CG .
So let's hear it. Anyone done some SERIOUS chopping with the Basic 9 and the Paul's Hatchet?

-Clay

 

[Andrew Lynch]

I've wondered that myself. BTW, I bet Paul's Hatchet would be a great skinning and butcher knife...except for caping .On a side note, has anyone compared the chopping performance of the Basic #9 and the BM?

 

[Bagheera]

Hi Jerry,

While I'm waiting for the ZT knives delivery I willingly and without hesitation and being sound of mind volunteer myself as a Hatchet tester.
Just send the Hatchet to me in the Netherlands and I will test it alongside my Busse Basic 9 and I'll write a test report, this natuarly I'll do without any bias and I don't need any payment for the extensive testing that I'll do. Also I'll not hold you responcible for any chopped of fingers etc.

I just won't be returning the hatchet as postage will be to expensive

Does that sound as a good offer

Best Scouting wishes from Holland,

Yours, eagerly awaiting the ZT's to arrive,

Bagheera

 

[Cliff Stamp]

countryboy :

I just figure with the extra length, the Basic 9 has to out perform Paul's Hatchet, at least at chopping.

The advantage of hatchets over large knives comes on larger wood. As the size of the wood increases the penetration ability of the knife decreases in pretty much a linear manner. However the hatchet does not have the same problem. In fact the hatchet gets better penetration on wood larger than the face of the bit as you switch to a multi-hit pattern and thus you will get the same penetration as on much smaller wood. This means that you can continue to chop straight through the wood and not work on multiple sections which will greatly increase the number of hits required as well as the time.

So in short I would expect the larger Busse Combat knives to chop as well or better than the hatchet on wood up to the width of the bit of the hatchet. However as the wood gets larger the hatchet will pull ahead strongly and may overtake the larger knives. Thus if you are doing a comparison it would be informative to work on say wood of about 2.5" in diameter and then on the largest that a 4 hit pattern on the hatchet would give a complete cut, about 5" or so.


Note the type of wood effects the relative performance as well. For example my old style Battle Mistress will easily open up a piece of clear pine using a 2 hit pattern with sticks up to about 4-5" in diameter. This is a cut that is 8-10 inches wide and takes about 9-11 chops to complete. However on a piece of knotty black spruce, it will be near impossible to open up anything more than 1.5" thick, with requires a 3" wide cut and is much more difficult than a piece of pine twice its size. It is also a lot heavier to lift, but burns for *much* longer.

-Cliff

 

[Donald]

Cliff, good point.

Andrew, The BM is a better chopper in my limited experience/comparison, than the Basic 9 because the BM blade is wider and heavier.

I base this on chopping up a large limb, say 6"in diameter at its largest point of ear leafed acacia. This is fairly hard but brittle quick growing tree that contractors sometimes plant...at least in my Miami neighborhood. Being brittle the limb cracked and partially fell from a wind storm. I finished the job with a saw...for neatness.

Then I got to work with the Busse Basic 9 and the Busse Battle Mistress. Both worked fine. I found the wider, heavier blade of the BBM resulted in more chopping power.

Of course if one is going to be doing more carrying then chopping, one might prefer the Basic 9. Someones handle preference might also vary. My BBM is the straight handled one. Since the weight of the blade has to be picked up before the strike, some might find the lighter blade preferable.

I recall someone else doing some chopping comparisons and one of the comparisons was between the straight and the E model. They actually found the straight slightly better as I recall. This might be because of familiarity or perhaps the E model is slightly lighter. I have never handled them together. I think someone said the E model might be 1/4 " less in width. You might wish to look for that thread. There is another thread, perhaps in the wilderness forum, where someone discussed the mechanics of chopping.

Hope that helps.