What is The Best BIG Backwoods Knife?

From your description it sounds to me like you would be very happy with the Marble's Trailmaker. 10" of tough 5160 with a scary sharp convex grind, leather handle (or stag, micarta, they will actually even use buyer supplied material!), leather sheath and backed up by probably the best warranty in the business. Also, it looks like something you would use to dismember a tree, not a person.

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It's only a mistake if you fail to learn from it!
 
From your descriptions, I would go with either a Himalayan Imports 15" Ang Khola, if you want a dedicated shopper, or better yet, the Gelbu Special. IIRC, both are $150. The owner of HI, Kami Sherpa, a former Ghorka (aka gurka) has said that the GS is the best all-around Khukri there is. Drop by the HI forum and do a search on these sopics. Lots of people (including me) have posted on the different types of khuks Uncle Bill has, and which ones they like best. Certainly he has something for you. Even the Villager models are serious heavy duty knives, and usually less than $100.

Tom
 
What kind of chopping are we talking here? I mean I'd much rather carry a good steel axe with me for any kind of shelter/firewood/clearing type of tool, and keep a Busse for the more knife oriented chores.

Brandon

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I've got the schizophrenic blues
No I don't
Yes I do...
 
Trailmaster, or AK Kukri, you took the words right out my mouth (uhm ...keyboard). Then again you can meet halfway on the Himalayan Imports AK Bowie. The 5/8" thick blade is a great chopper.

see below http://members.aol.com/tibetitems/2000.html#new for 2000

The AK Bowie is the knife at the top of the page



[This message has been edited by not2sharp (edited 06-08-2000).]
 
I think it would be remiss not to mention Striders and Mad Dogs. These would be at the upper end of price range......
 
not2sharp,
Did you say 5/8" thick blade? If so, is this a crew served weapon?

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Semper Fi
 
If you are looking for something that will chop and draw the least attention to you, get a nice hatchet with about a 12-15" handle. If a hatchet is not your bag but you still want to be more traditional, go with a Marbles or some other type of bowie knife. Allen Blade's combat bowie looks like a nice one for a reasonable price. Newt Livesay's stuff is priced well too as are the khuks. But no matter what, big knives will draw attention, a hatchet won't draw a second look. And when properly sharpened, they will chop, chop well, and be very comfortable while doing it. And they are much lighter than your big knives.

If you haunt the second hand stores, you can find a nice hudson bay head and mount it on a nice hickory handle. The hudson bay head has a nice wide cutting edge combined with a small head and so are lightweight. I have an old Norlund with a tiny hudson bay head and a 12" handle that chops circles around my Becker Companion. Don't get me wrong, I like the Companion, but the little hatchet will kick it's butt chopping. With ease. It has good leverage and a nice thin edge. Lying around the campground or hanging on your belt or pack, most people won't even notice it.



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Hoodoo

The low, hoarse purr of the whirling stone—the light-press’d blade,
Diffusing, dropping, sideways-darting, in tiny showers of gold,
Sparkles from the wheel.

Walt Whitman
 
Bronco,

Yup. The thing is 5/8" thick at the spine. Comes fairly sharp too. It actually feels good.

The handle slabs are buffalo horn, and a little too slick, and the sheath needs to be replaced (the supplied sheath is a virtual model for everything you should avoid in a sheath). But the knife is a great chopper and conversation piece, and the shortfalls can be easily corrected.

The knife was originally designed on this site as an answer to the often asked "who makes the thoughest knife" question.

Bill Martiko produces the knife so you may want to talk to him at the Himilayan Imports site under Makers/Mfgrs.
 
BTW, In addition to chopping, I plan to use my AK Bowie knife as a paper weight to help hold down my roof during the next hurricane.

Comes in very handy in Florida.

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[This message has been edited by not2sharp (edited 06-08-2000).]
 
HI's 15" Ang Khola is a fantastic Big knife. Lately, I have been taken with the Mad Dog Bayou Hunter. It’s a more versatile blade and it carries much better than the Ang Khola. The Ang Khola needs a better sheath and the sharp contours of the but plate should be rounded. With these modifications, the Ang Khola would be my first choice.
 
OK, I'll bite.

1. Busse Battle Mistress
2. Livesay RTAK
3. Simonich SRT Trail Knife
4. Brend Model 2
5. All quality Khukuris
6. All quality Machetes

...not necessarily in order of preference.
 
#1 choice is Cold Steel Gurkha with 5/16" blade, #2 would be Cold Steel Trailmaster.
Both fine cutting/chopping tools.
 
Thanks you guys...I am now completley obsessed with knives, can't hardly get any work done. I dream of blade shapes. I dream on wood chips flying through the sky. This is as it should be. I'm slowly realizing that my quest will probably not end with one knife, especially if I keep hanging here!

Thanks not2sharp for the link to the HI bowie, I want it, but the sheath does look like a small problem right now.
Radarman, thanks for the note on coated blades. I try to never let anyone use my knives and I somewhat enjoy cleaning and oiling them at the end of the day, but if I was in a more humid climate I think I change my mind very quickly. I just got done sanding the black coating off my recon tanto, fool though you may call me, it looks like a nice knife now. But thank you, I will try to keep an open mind to coatings.
Hoodoo, thanks for the note on the Hudson bay hatchet, I have never have owned a good hatcheet and I will take a look.
DRockwell, what is a skinner cleaver?, sounds very interesting, especially the cooking aspect.
Colin, Mad Dog Bayou hunter sound good but I can't for the life of me find thier web site.
Blademan13, thanks for the note on the trailmaker, it a beauty, I think this will be the one i buy after a ghurka.
Thanks to not2sharp, for warning about the HI ghurkas addiction, I have it bad already and I just went to the site yesterday.
Finally thanks to Tom F for the tip about the Gelbu Special...that's the one I amd going to try to get first. You notice I say first.

So I am calling Bill Martino today to see what he has. I think his website is the best around, the photos of the shops, the blessings and the history are really what attracted me.

So that's my decision...Ghurka! Thanks to everyone that posted for your help and insight!

 
Welcome to the Forum.

CS makes severall top notch knives,
The Trailmaster works well as a generall camp knife handling any light chopping chores, food preperation and it's even tough enough for those hard chores.

Ths CS Gurka Kurki is a good chopper at least in the backyard on scrap lumber. I have not taken it out to the field yet but when I do I feel it should work well.


The 15" Ang Khola Khukuri is a first class general purpose do just about everything kind of knife. In the back yard test it chopped better than the CS Kukri and the hand felt better afterwords. very important to consider if you do a lot of chopping.

My latest addition is the HI AK Bowie. What can you say this is the biggest bowie knife in terms of blade spine thichness I have ever seen. At ".565 thick and 2 pounds 8 ounces this is a realy big knife. Short of a weekness in the metal I'm not sure how someone would go about breaking this thing perhaps one could try to pry the empire state building off it's foundation. Since I just recieved it other than a quick late night chop on some backyard lumber I realy have not put it through much of a workout. One thing and that is the scabbard is realy bad however it sounds like quite a few people are working on prototypes and like any new project there are always wrinkles to iron out.
I have been quite happy with the knives from HI and when you consider there made by people who truly use them day to day if it does not perform they probibly would not continue to make them.

As far as other makers like Busse, MadDog, Marbles, Chris Reeve just to name a few I do not have any first hand experinence with them but the fourm seems to hold there products in high regard.

Of coarse there is always a down side to everything and that is all of these knives are like Lays Potato Chips you can't just buy one.

Happy shopping and chopping.

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There is no man worth a leke,
Be he sturdy, be he meke,
But he bear a basilard.
 
WWII 18" is on the way. I'm getting this one for my pops for his B-day. He'll get it after I do a little testing. Hee Hee.
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