Cobalt
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 1998
- Messages
- 17,722
Ok, was womdering what everyone has done with their HI's as for usage. Of course everyone knows that we all most likely have more HI's than we will ever use, but I have managed to use the hell out of my 15 inch AK. I used it to chop two full cords of wood which it did without loosing much of the edge. All I did was run a hone on the edge every half chord and it was almost shaving sharp. I threw it into a half plywood sheet several times (4) without a problem. It hit the handle once. No damage. Of course the blade is marred a little but nothing that can't be polished out should I want to make it look new. I was able to sev ere 3 inch branches with one blow and a couple of times I did that with a few that were almost 4 inches, but I think they may have already been cracked. Most of the wood was very dry and offered little resistance to the AK. With the wet wood I would go in at an angle and take 3 hits to crack or severe most logs in the 3-4 inch class.
The edge dulled somewhat by the end, but not enough that I would feel safe running my finger over it. A hone and it was very sharp again. There was no chipping or indenting of the edge except at the very tip of the blade where I think I hit the dirt or small gravel type rocks. It indented there but minimal and was easy to remove. A friend of mine now has it and will be using it to clear about a quarter acre with it of small trees.
With the exception of INFI and maybe CPM3V, There may not be a better big blade steel than 5160. My 1095 blades cannot take this abuse without chipping, at least in my old Ontario survival bowie which chipped quite a bit before it broke later on, due to my fault.
So what have you done with your HI???
The edge dulled somewhat by the end, but not enough that I would feel safe running my finger over it. A hone and it was very sharp again. There was no chipping or indenting of the edge except at the very tip of the blade where I think I hit the dirt or small gravel type rocks. It indented there but minimal and was easy to remove. A friend of mine now has it and will be using it to clear about a quarter acre with it of small trees.
With the exception of INFI and maybe CPM3V, There may not be a better big blade steel than 5160. My 1095 blades cannot take this abuse without chipping, at least in my old Ontario survival bowie which chipped quite a bit before it broke later on, due to my fault.
So what have you done with your HI???
. That was with my Gelbu Special; it has also been used to cut through deadfalls while trail clearing, and cleaving grapevines. It also makes a great home defense tool, very confidence inspiring. 
